Longwood women’s basketball (3-17, 3-8) lived and died in the second half in their last two games against Charleston Southern University (4-15, 0-10) and Winthrop University (11-9, 7-4).
When the team played Charleston Southern, on Saturday, Jan. 24, it was an evenly matched game during the first half; 37 all going into the second half. Then, in the second half the Lancers exploded past the Buccaneers; outscoring them 42-34.
Junior guard Raven Williams posted a career high in assists (10), while scoring 19 points in the 79-71 win over the Bucs.
“She (Williams) is very important. We don’t like to sit her down a lot, and I’m sure I didn’t sit her down a lot today (Saturday). But she’s really solid, she doesn’t make those mistakes that the other ones make sometimes. It’s always good to have someone that seasoned on the court to help you out,” said Head Coach Bill Reinson after the team’s win.
Tuesday, Jan. 27, night the Lancers hosted the Eagles of Winthrop University in Longwood’s Pink Out game hosted by Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.
In their first matchup, the Eagles soundly defeated Longwood, finishing with a dominant 81-48 win.
Junior forward/center Schaquilla Nunn and sophomore forward/guard Erica Williams led the attack by scoring over half the team’s points (43). The duo rebounded a combined 28 times, two away from matching Longwood’s team total.
The Lancers came out and surprised Winthrop in the first half, taking a 12 point lead into the locker room.
Winthrop came out of halftime and went on an 8-2 run in the first five minutes of the half. Eventually breaking down the Lancers lead, the Eagles took over with just under six minutes left in the game.
After that the teams, traded the lead until Winthrop’s sophomore guard Aliyah Kilpatrick made the game-tying and game-winning free throws with six seconds left in the game.
Nunn and Williams each recorded another double-double against the Lancers, again leading the offensive effort with 17 second half points and 16 rebounds combined.
“We got a lot of good shots that we normally make, and we did make them down at the end. It was one of those situations where they just didn’t go, and it kind of snowballed on us and we didn’t pick it back up until it was a little bit too late,” said Reinson. “I’m proud of their effort, and they played very hard.”
The Lancers will travel to North Carolina to face the Big South No. 6 seed Campbell University on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m., before coming back to Farmville to host Big South No. 2 seed High Point University on Monday, February 2 at 7 p.m.