November 14, 2008

BOX SCORE

ELON, N.C. - The Longwood University women's basketball team dropped its season opener to UNC Wilmington on Friday night as part of the ISES Cancer Awareness Tip-Off. Freshman Sierra Fletcher/Utica, Ohio (Utica) led the team in points with 16, shooting a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line. Sophomore Cierra Baker/Windsor, Conn. (Windsor) had a game-high eight rebounds, while senior Anna Steg/Vienna (George C. Marshall) had seven. Longwood returns to action in the ISES Cancer Awareness Tip-Off on Saturday, November 15 as they take on host Elon at 7 p.m.
   
The Lancers would struggle to get things going out of the gate, finding themselves down by 10 within the first five minutes of the game, after two missed jumpers by senior Amber Sims/Lawrenceville (Brunswick Senior). Sims would redeem herself two minutes later, laying one in to spark a Longwood comeback. Steg would pull the game within one with 9:07 remaining in the first period after draining both of her free-throws. The Lancers were finally able to tie things up with a minute remaining in the period with a made layup by Sims putting the game at a 36-36 deadlock heading into halftime.
   
Both teams shot the ball well in the opening half, as Longwood was 13-of-24 (.542) from the floor while UNCW was 13-of-26 (.500).
   
With the score tied at 38-all early in the second half, a Seahawk layup at the 16:40 mark sparked the decisive run that lasted 6:50 and saw six different Seahawks players score. Longwood would trail by as many as 23 during the closing minutes before a layup by Brittanni Billups/Goldsboro, N.C. (Eastern Wayne) determined the final margin of 21.
   
Longwood shot 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from the floor and connected on 66.7 percent (6-of-9) of its attempts from the charity stripe in the second half while the Seahawks were .400 (10-of-25) field goal percentage and a .800 conversion rate (12-of-15) from the free-throw line.