January 17, 2007
BOX SCORE
Farmville, Va.-- Longwood women’s basketball was unable to recover from an early second half run by the visiting Charleston Southern Buccaneers in Wednesday evening’s 59-51 loss at Willett Hall. Longwood (6-15) was led by the duo of Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) and Anna Steg/Fairfax (George C. Marshall) who recorded 21 and 12 points, while the Buccaneers’ (7-8) Pam Tolbert recorded a team high 18 points in the match-up. The Lancers will look to get back on track when they travel to North Carolina next week, to take on the Elon Phoenix on Wednesday, January 24, at 12:00 p.m..
Small tallied the first basket of the game 17:14 in, hitting a jumper from the right side for the 2-0 lead. CSU’s Natalie Caldwell put in the Buccaneers’ first two baskets of the game and tied the score at four a short time later. After a Longwood lay-up, CSU went on a 5-0 run capped off by a three from Tolbert at the 14:11 mark. The Lancers led by Steg, came storming back as the center hit a lay-up off a perfectly executed inbounds play and hit a pair of foul shots a short time later to put Longwood ahead by one with 12:40 to go in the opening half.
With Charleston Southern up by six with 7:30 to go, Abbey Freese/West Liberty, Ohio (West-Liberty Salem) sunk a three to cut the CSU lead to three, but Tolbert returned the favor and started a six point run to give the Buccaneers a 12-point cushion with under 4:30 to go in the half.
The Lancer defense took over from there, holding Charleston Southern scoreless for the final 4:11 of the half, going on a 11-0 run to close out the first. The run was highlighted on a buzzer beater by Small who hit fade away jumper in the lane, to give the Lancers a 27-26 halftime lead. With twenty minutes in the books, Steg was perfect from the floor going 4-4 and 2-2 from the foul line tallying ten points for the home squad.
The first six minutes of the second half proved to be the difference maker, as the Buccaneers came out of the locker room and opened up with an 11-0 run that Longwood would not recover from. Like the start of the game, Caldwell was the leading force, as the forward tallied seven of the the CSU 11 points during the stretch.
Small ended the six minute drought on a jumper and Longwood was able to bring the game within six after Courtney Dyer/Richmond (Monacan) laid in a lay-up on a fast break the next time down, putting the score at 39-33 in favor of the visitors. CSU continued to press the Longwood defense and pushed the lead back to eight two minutes later. Small hit a pair of free throws and a lay-up on the Lancers’ next possession to bring Longwood back within four with 9:27 to go. But that’s as close as the Lancers would get, as Charleston Southern built on its lead down the stretch to give the Lancers the 59-51 loss.
“The difference of the game was the opening six minutes of the second half,” stated head coach Pamela Bass. “The defense efficiency just wasn’t there like it was in the first half, where we played great basketball. I think the rebounding efforts of Anna Steg was tremendous and the numbers that Keiva Small put up tonight (21 points, 9 rebounds and five assists) just shows the hustle and the effort she brings everyday. But, we still need to get those three or four other players in double digit points to be solid. Overall our defensive effort in the first half is what we will take from this game and build on.”
Steg recorded her second double-double in as many games, pulling down a career high 16 boards, while Small who was all over the floor for the Lancers was a rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with nine. For the game Longwood shot 35.2% from the floor, but struggled from three point land in the second half going 0-8.
