November 16, 2009

Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. - The Longwood University women's basketball team fell in its home opener to USC Upstate 71-59 on Monday night in Willett Hall in Farmville. Freshmen Crystal Smith/Richmond (Meadowbrook) and Chelsea Coward/Mechanicsville (Hanover) each scored 13 points for the Lancers. Longwood returns to action on Friday, November 20, when it hosts Utah Valley University at 5 p.m. in Willett Hall.

Longwood (0-2) jumped out to an early 9-0 lead just 3:10 into the game. Upstate (2-0) got on the board with a pair of free throws by Sharniece Wadelington to cut the lead to 9-2. The Lancers would expand the lead to 15-3 with 11:51 remaining in the first half before the Spartans would score their first field goal, a jumper by Lauren McRoberts to make the score 15-5 with 9:14 remaining in the half. Coward scored six of Longwood's first 15 points. The lead ballooned to as many as 18 points after a pair of Crystal Smith free throws with 3:40 remaining. Upstate rallied to end the half, going on a 11-0 run over the last 3:09 to cut the lead to 30-23 at halftime.

Crystal Smith scored the first five points in the second half, a three-pointer and a pair of free throws, before the Spartans started cutting into the lead again. The Lancers had a 50-41 lead with 9:49 remaining in the game but a jumper and three-pointer by Courtney Hawkins and another three-pointer by Kendra Wallace cut Longwood's lead to 50-49 with 8:51 remaining. Upstate pulled ahead for good after a Hawkins three-pointer with 4:04 remaining, giving the Spartans a 59-57 lead. A jumper by freshman Heather Tobeck/La Porte, Texas (La Porte) with 2:31 remaining cut the lead to four, but Longwood would not score again and Upstate went 4-for-4 from the free throw line to make the final 71-59.

Longwood shot 52.0% in the first half but only 35.5% in the second half and 42.9% for the game. Upstate rebounded from 8-for-32 shooting in the first half to go 19-for-34 (55.9%) in the second half.

Sophomore Brittanni Billups/Goldsboro, N.C. (Eastern Wayne) added 11 points for the Lancers while senior guard Becky Fernandes/Fort Belvoir (Bishop Ireton) scored six points and grabbed 12 rebounds while dishing out three assists in 27 minutes. Tobeck recorded three more blocks, adding them to her eight points and five rebounds. Crystal Smith had eight assists. The Lancers out-rebounded the Spartans 41-34 and had 10 second chance points.

USC Upstate was led by Tee'Ara Copney with 16 points while Chelsea McMillan had 15 points, all in the second half, and a team-high eight rebounds. Hawkins also scored 15 points and KoKo Richardson had 13.