The Longwood women’s basketball team defeated Radford 88-73 in overtime on February 5 in the Joan Perry Brock Center. Four players scored in double figures as the Lancers improved to 7-2 in conference play and 16-6 overall. Longwood now sits ahead of Radford in the Big South and trails only High Point with seven games to go.
Early on, Longwood opened with a slim lead, but Radford stormed back to take a 16-14 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, both offenses caught fire. The Highlanders and Lancers traded blows throughout the frame — Longwood shooting 60% from the field in the second to Radford’s 44%.
Graduate guard Malea Brown was especially crucial for Longwood, going 3-3 from deep in the second frame, leading the Lancers to a 38-36 lead at halftime.
While both teams shot well in the first half, neither team began the second half as strong and made most of their points from the foul line. Junior center Otaifo Esenabhalu continued to inch toward a double-double as the game stretched into the fourth quarter.
While Longwood held the lead since the second minute of the game, the lead never grew to more than eight. Senior guard Jasmine Peaks, who hadn’t scored all game, made a few clutch buckets down the stretch. However, this wasn’t enough to pull away in regulation. Radford guard Angelina Nice drilled an off-balance three pointer to tie it at 69, forcing the game into overtime.
Longwood ran out the gates in the first few possessions of overtime, where Brown and Peaks went back to back on long range three-pointers. The Lancers never looked back, holding Radford to only four points in the extra frame.
Peaks finished with 15 points and six assists to go with six rebounds. Esenabhalu secured her 11th double-double of the season, grabbing 14 rebounds and scoring 18 points on a perfect 6-6 from the floor. Junior forward Frances Ulysse led the Lancers in scoring with 21 points.
“This is our house. We just needed to keep doing what we have been doing,” Head Coach Erika Lang-Montgomery said. “We got some big rebounds down the stretch and defended the three-ball well. They took several of them, but we were able to get rebounds and stops when it mattered.”.
Peaks, in her first year at Longwood after transferring from Wichita State, has started every game for the Lancers. She averages just under nine points per game, but has scored nine points or more in five of her last seven games.
“That’s the kind of player Jasmine is,” Lang-Montgomery said. “She played 38 minutes and took care of the ball really well for us. What she did earlier in the game… putting her teammates in the right positions to score. It was great to see her knock down those free throws and she had that big three-pointer [in overtime] as well,” Lang-Montgomery said.
The Longwood women’s basketball team has now won three straight and look to bring their momentum into their matchup against UNC Asheville at home on February 7. This game will be both Senior day and the Play4Kay Pinkout. The game will tip off at 2 p.m., and will also air on ESPN+.
