November 24, 2008

Richmond Game Notes (pdf)

Live Stats  I  Live Audio

FARMVILLE, Va. - The Lancers head into their game against Richmond after dropping its road contest against Atlantic Sun Conference member Campbell, 53-42, on Saturday afternoon in Buies Creek, N.C. Sophomore Cierra Baker led the Lancers in points, knocking down eight baskets. Senior Anna Steg was the teams leading rebounder, grabbing six (two offensive, four defensive). 
   
Richmond (3-0) secured its third win of the season with a 62-48 victory over the Albany Great Danes (0-4) on November 22. With the win, the Spiders boast their best record since the 2004-05 season. Sophomore Brittani Shells scored a game-high 16 points. Richmond started the game on a 10-2 run and never looked back. The Spiders have never trailed in their past two games.  
   
This marks the 14th matchup between these two sides with Longwood leading the series 7-6. The last time these two sides met was November 29, 2007 in which the Spiders defeated the Lancers 62-45 in Richmond. Becky Fernandes and Baker both knocked down four points for the Lancers.

A Lancer Win Would
• Give the Lancers their second home victory of the year
• Push Longwood over .500 (3-2 overall)
• Keep control of the series record in Longwoods favor 8-6

A Lancer Loss Would
• Make the Lancers fall below .500 for the first time this season
• Give Longwood its first home loss of the season since January 9, 2007

The Last Time Out
• The Lancers last met Richmond on Nov. 29 of the 2007-08 season, with the Lancers falling 62-48
• The last meeting between these two teams took place on Richmonds' court
• Junior Becky Fernandes and sophomore Cierra Baker both netted four points
• Fernandes also pulled down eight rebounds
• Longwood shot 33% (16-49) from the field, while Richmond shot 47% (22-47).
• Brittani Shells was the games leading scorer with 17 points.

It's Like Taking Candy From A Basketball Player
Sophomore Cierra Baker has been a thief for the Lancers all season, coming up with a team-leading nine steals in the first four games ... Baker is averaging a little over two steals a game (2.3) while also recording four blocks this season ... Freshman Sierra Fletcher is the only member of the Lancers anywhere near Baker, coming up with six steals, three of which came in the Lancers loss to Campbell.

Offering Plate
Longwood has knocked down 49-79 attempts from the free-throw line shooting .620 as a team ... Freshman Sierra Fletcher leads the team in shooting percentage with a perfect 100% ... Fletcher is 10-for10 from the charity stripe, while teammate Cierra Baker is 10-of-14 for a .714 shooting percentage.

I?Got It
Longwood has managed to pull down 135 rebounds as a team with three quarters of them coming on the defensive end ... The team has grabbed 90 balls on the defensive end and 45 offensively ... Senior Anna Steg leads the team in total rebounds with grabbing 24. Amber Sims and Cierra Baker are tied for second on the team with 19.  

I'm Open
The Lancers have shown very unselfish play up to this point dishing out 45 assists to their opponents 36 ... Becky Fernandes leads the team in assists with 11, while Cierra Baker has seven ... Amber Sims and Sierra Fletcher aren't far behind with five assists each.

New Kids on the Block
The Lancers youth movement have been more than productive for the team this season with all seven freshmen seeing action ... The freshmen currently total 92 of the Lancers 228 points scored this season, which makes up 40% of the teams scoring ... Sierra Fletcher currently leads all freshmen in baskets made, scoring 33 points for an average of 8.3 points a game ... In the teams 53-42 loss to Campbell, Fletcher netted seven points, while Brittanni Billups scored six. 

Up next
The Lancers return to the road to face BIG?EAST conference member Syracuse on November 30 at 2 p.m. in Syracuse, N.Y. Longwood will return home following the Syracuse game to host George Mason on December 4 at 3 p.m. in Willett Hall.