January 25, 2009

BOX SCORE

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Longwood University women's basketball team fell at Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and in-state opponent Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon 73-57. The Lancers fall to 5-13 on the season while the Hokies improve to 9-10. Longwood was led by sophomore Krystal Garrison/Fredericksburg (Courtland) who recorded a game-high 17 points, while freshmen Sierra Fletcher/Utica, Ohio (Utica) and Morgan Smith/Williamsport, Md. (Williamsport) pulled down a team-high five rebounds. Longwood returns to action on Thursday, January 29 hosting Mount St. Mary's in Willett Hall at 7 p.m.
   
Garrison led all players in points scored with 17 points, shooting 6-18 from the field with five makes from behind the three point arc. Shanel Harrison was the Hokies leading scorer with 15 points, while teammate Utahya Drye recording the games lone double-double. Drye knocked down 14 points, while grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds which all came on the defensive end. Fletcher and Smith led the Lancers in rebounding each grabbing five boards.
   
The two teams kept things close in the first five minutes of the game with the Hokies holding an 8-3 lead with 16:01 to play. It would not take the Hokies long to find their rhythm, jumping to a 16 point advantage (30-14) with 8:57 remaining in the half. Longwood would battle back to cut the Virginia Tech lead to 34-28 with just over two minutes in the half courtesy of a layup by Garrison in the paint. The Hokies would drain three more points before the end of the half to take a 39-30 lead into halftime.
   
The Lancers came out of the locker room strong in the opening minutes of the second half cutting the Hokie lead to four. Garrison would sink a three-pointer with 16:59 on the clock with an assist from junior Becky Fernandes/Fort Belvoir (Bishop Ireton) to make the score 41-37. Fernandes would lay one up just two minutes later to cut the Virginia Tech lead to three points. The two teams would battle back and forth for the next couple of minutes before Virginia Tech took control of the second half, slowly pulling away from the Lancers. Harrison would sink one of two free-throws with 00:42 second left to play in the game to help the Hokies reclaim their 16 point lead (71-55). Fernandes would make a layup in the paint a few seconds later to chip away at the lead, but Laura Haskins would give the Hokies the 16 point victory with 00:14 seconds remaining with a good jumper.
   
Longwood shot 35.7% (20-56) from the field compared to Virginia Tech's 50.8% (30-59). Longwood had the advantage from the free throw line shooting 64.3% (9-14), while Virginia Tech shot 60% (9-15).