The Longwood women’s basketball team is on a three-game losing streak after facing UNC-Asheville, Gardner-Webb, and Radford on the road.
The first of three away games saw the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs (7-18, 6-10) leave double overtime with an 88-77 victory against the Lancers (3-21, 3-12).
Injuries plagued Longwood as junior guard Kyndal Skersick—the team’s second leading scorer since junior guard Daeisha Brown’s season-ending injury—was sidelined less than six minutes into the contest.
Two early fouls limited junior guard, captain and lead scorer Raven Williams seven minutes in the opening half.
Junior guard Jaclyn Reagan and freshman guard Micaela Ellis stepped, leading a 6-0 run within the last three minutes of the first half to cut the Bulldogs lead from seven to one.
“With all of the adversity they have faced already this season, to go out there and battle for 50 minutes the way they did is incredible. Every time I looked up, we were carrying someone off the court injured, but the other ladies stepped up and played great,” said Longwood Head Coach Bill Reinson to Longwood Athletics’ official website.
The Lancers kept UNC-Asheville to .270 (10-of-37) from the field in the second half and took an 11point lead in the last five minutes.
Williams left the bench and went .500 (6-of-12) on field goals and from beyond the arc (2-of-4) to score 17 second half points.
With missed free throws and a pair of threes from UNC-Asheville senior guard Shonese Jones, the game was forced into its first overtime.
Extra time saw Williams sink a three-pointer with thirty seconds remaining to send the game into a second overtime.
The Lancers had a four-point advantage in the second overtime, but Jones’ eight points helped lift Asheville to victory.
On Saturday, Longwood traveled to Paul Porter Arena to face the Runnin’ Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb University (GWU) (11-14, 7-9) where GWU freshman center Alexus Hill and junior forward Olivia Parker combined 41 points resulting in an 80-53 victory.
The Runnin’ Bulldog pair made their mark early, scoring 11 of the first 13 points and building a 13-7 lead for Gardner-Webb. The pair completed the game with 18 points in the paint where GWU outscored Longwood 42-8.
Hill scored 22 points, a career-high, and finished with .750 (8-of-12) from the floor, plus six rebounds, four assists and one steal.
Also in double-digits, Parker had 19 points and 12 rebounds for her third straight double-double. Senior forward Jessica Heilig also finished in double figures with 11 points in addition to three rebounds and three assists.
With Skersick still injured, Headen was the lead scorer for the Lancers with 13 points, while Shannon Mosby and Ellis finished with nine points.
At the end of the first half, the Runnin’ Bulldogs held to an 11-point lead and came out with a 13-5 run that led to them being in control for the remainder of the game. Gardner-Webb put on a display of 15-of-29 (.571) on the offensive end in the last half and held the Lancers to 4-of-33 (.121) from the floor. Longwood ended with a season-low 15-of-59 (.254) from the field.
The squad then did battle with Radford, where Ayana Avery helped the Highlanders beat the Lancers, 55-45, Tuesday night.
At the start of tipoff, Longwood took the lead, but soon was overtaken by Radford, who would remain in control throughout the rest of the game. Missed three-pointers and a lack of rebounds were what spelled the end for Longwood. For the Lancers, Williams was the top scorer with 12, followed by Micaela Ellis with 10.
Avery was a major player in the win as she ended the night with 15 points, making her the leading scorer for the Highlanders. Aisha Foy ended the night with 12 points and Jayda Worthy with 11 points.
By the end of the first half, Radford had a 10-point advantage, 28-18, and would continue to dominate throughout the rest of the game. The Highlanders, with a little more than eight minutes left in the second half, would even achieve a 21-point lead. The Lancers would eventually shrink the gap, but still come up short of a win.
The defeat by Radford leaves the Lancer at 3-13 record in the Big South Conference.
