January 14, 2011

Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. - The Longwood University women's basketball team fell to visiting Liberty University of the Big South Conference 75-71 on Friday evening in Willett Hall in Farmville. Longwood made a season-high 12 three-pointers, including eight in the second half, in a game that was close throughout and featured six ties and seven lead changes. Sophomore Crystal Smith | Richmond (Meadowbrook) led four Lancers (3-12) in double-figures with 14 points (4-6 3FG) and five assists while senior Krystal Garrison | Fredericksburg (Courtland) added 13 points (3-8 3FG). Devon Brown paced the Flames (9-7) with a game-high 27 points. Longwood returns to action next Wednesday, January 19, when it travels to Spartanburg, South Carolina, to face USC Upstate of the Atlantic Sun Conference at 7 p.m..

The Lancers led 11-9 with 14:34 remaining after Garrison drained a three-pointer. Avery Warley made one free throw for the Flames before Crystal Smith followed with another three to push the Longwood lead to 14-10. The Flames' Jelena Antic made a layup but sophomore Chelsea Coward | Mechanicsville (Hanover) answered with Longwood's third-straight three-pointer to push the lead to 17-12 with 13:20 remaining. Longwood pushed to a nine point advantage and its largest lead of the night after a pair of free throws by Garrison at 31-22 with 7:12 remaining in the first half. The Lancers led 39-38 at halftime.

Liberty opened a 10-point lead with 10:45 remaining in the second half. Garrison made a three-pointer and Coward followed with a jumper to cut the lead to 61-56 with 8:53 remaining, but the Flames pushed the advantage back to eight. Junior Morgan Smith | Williamsport, Md. (Williamsport) scored the next nine points for Longwood, all three-pointers, over a 3:21 span to tie the game at 68-68 with 3:35 remaining. Dymond Morgan put the Flames ahead, but a three-pointer by Crystal Smith gave Longwood the 71-70 lead with 2:13 remaining. Brown made a layup to put the Flames ahead 72-71 with 1:51 remaining. Coward missed a three-pointer with 1:32 remaining and that would be the last time the Lancers had control of the ball until there were just :12 remaining in the game. The Flames missed a pair of three-pointers, but grabbed the offensive rebound both times before Brown drained her fourth three-pointer of the night to put Liberty ahead 75-71. The Lancers got a shot off, but Warley controlled the rebound to secure the victory for the Flames.

Longwood shot 42.4% (25-59) from the floor, including 38.7% (12-31) from behind the arc, and 81.8% (9-11) from the foul line. The Lancers did not attempt any free throws in the second half. Crystal Smith paced the Lancers with 14 points, while Garrison added 13 points. Junior Brittanni Billups | Goldsboro, N.C. (Eastern Wayne) scored 12 points (6-9 FG) while Coward contributed 10 points (4-13 FG) and Morgan Smith added nine points (3-4 3FG). The Lancers dished out 19 assists, one shy of their season high, and recorded 13 steals. Longwood received 37 points from its bench. The Lancers turned 18 Liberty turnovers in to 15 points.

Liberty shot 49.2% (30-61) from the floor, including 38.5% (5-13) from behind the arc, and 66.7% (10-15) from the foul line. Brown scored a game-high 27 points, while Antic added 16 points and Warley scored 13 points with a game-high 12 rebounds. Liberty outrebounded Longwood 40-30 and scored 18 second chance points. The Flames outscored the Lancers 46-8 in the paint. Liberty turned 19 Longwood turnovers in to 18 points.

Longwood is now 15-13 against Liberty in women's basketball and drops to 11-2 against the Flames in games played in Farmville.