December 30, 2009

BOX SCORE

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - The Longwood University women's basketball fell at Gardner-Webb University of the Big South Conference 72-58 on Wednesday night in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Longwood (4-11) was led by senior Becky Fernandes/Fort Belvoir (Bishop Ireton) with a season-high 20 points and five rebounds. Gardner-Webb (11-2), which received 11 votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, was led by Margaret Roundtree and Dominique Hudson who each scored 13 points. The Lancers return to action on Monday, January 4, when they travel to Buies Creek, N.C., to take on Campbell University at 7 p.m.. Longwood defeated Campbell 72-55 earlier this season in Farmville.

Both teams struggled to score at the beginning of the game. Longwood had a 4-2 lead at the first media timeout with 15:55 remaining in the first half. GWU went on a 14-3 run over a 5:30 period to grab an 18-9 advantage with 8:19 remaining in the first half. The Lancers went on a 9-2 run over the next 2:39 to pull within two points at 20-18 with 5:24 left in the half. Sophomore Brittanni Billups/Goldsboro, N.C. (Eastern Wayne) scored five points, three of them at the foul line, during the run. Sophomore Emma Zieverink/West Chester, Ohio (Lakota West) made Longwood's only three-point field goal of the first half with 1:49 remaining to put Longwood ahead 27-26. Fernandes added a traditional three-point play and the teams went into the locker room at halftime tied 30-30. The two teams were nearly identical statistically in the first half as Longwood shot 31.3% (10-32) from the floor and Gardner-Webb shot 32.0% (8-25). Both teams grabbed 24 rebounds and each had eight turnovers.

The second half started the same way the first half ended as the lead changed five times in the first five minutes of the period. Freshman Heather Tobeck/La Porte, Texas (La Porte) scored on back-to-back trips down the floor to put the Lancers ahead 35-32 with 17:21 remaining. Fernandes converted another traditional three-point play with 15:34 remaining to put Longwood ahead 38-36. The Lancers would not score another field goal until junior Krystal Garrison/Fredericksburg (Courtland) made a layup with 7:48 remaining. The Runnin' Bulldogs went on an 18-5 run during the span to take a 56-43 lead. GWU would not look back, extending the lead to as many as 21 points. Sophomore Morgan Smith/Williamsport, Md. (Williamsport) scored the last five points of the game to make the final score 72-58.

Tobeck scored nine points with five rebounds for the Lancers and Zieverink added seven points and three rebounds. Longwood shot 26.2% (16-61) from the floor and 13.3% (2-15) from behind the arc. The Lancers converted 68.6% (24-35) of their free throws. GWU outrebounded Longwood 50-37, including 26-13 in the second half.

Courtney Epps (11), Sandra Vaitkute (10) and Teonika Webb (10) also scored in double-figures for GWU. The Runnin' Bulldogs shot 48.0% (24-50) from the floor, including 64.0% (16-25) in the second half. Gardner-Webb had eight more turnovers than Longwood, committing 23 while Longwood had 15 giveaways.