January 19, 2011

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Longwood University women's basketball team dropped a 61-57 decision at USC Upstate of the Atlantic Sun Conference on Wednesday evening in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Lancers (3-13) were led by senior Krystal Garrison | Fredericksburg (Courtland) and sophomore Heather Tobeck | La Porte, Texas (La Porte) who scored 12 points each while the Spartans (8-8) were paced by Tee'Ara Copney with 14 points. Longwood led 55-45 before Upstate went on a 16-2 run over the final 6:07. It marked the fourth loss by  four or less points in the past four games for the Lancers. Longwood returns to action on Monday, January 24, when it travels to Asheville, North Carolina, to take on UNC Asheville of the Big South Conference at 7 p.m..

Longwood jumped out to a 14-6 lead after a layup by Tobeck with 12:48 remaining in the first half. Upstate cut the lead to two, but sophomore Chelsea Coward | Mechanicsville (Hanover) hit a jumper, followed by a three-pointer by Garrison, to put the Lancers up 21-14 with 7:31 remaining. Sophomore Crystal Smith | Richmond (Meadowbrook) hit a jumper to put Longwood ahead 25-16 with 4:58 remaining. The Lancers led 27-23 at halftime.

The Lancers pushed the lead to six at 29-23 on the first possession of the second half, but the Spartans went on a 12-6 run to tie the game at 35-35 with 16:12 remaining. Upstate pulled ahead by four, but the Lancers went on a 16-2 run over the next 7:18 to pull ahead 55-45 with 6:42 remaining. Tobeck scored six-straight points during the run and Garrison added four. Juniors Morgan Smith | Williamsport, Md. (Williamsport) and Brittany Jones | Richmond (North Florida) and Crystal Smith also added baskets during the run. Kim Roach made a pair of free throws to pull the Spartans within one at 55-54 with 4:48 remaining. Copney came up with a steal and made the fast-break layup to put the hosts ahead for good with 4:27 remaining. Logan Castlebury made one of two foul shots with 4:16 remaining and neither team scored over the next 2:44 before Lauren McRoberts made a layup to give Upstate the 59-55 lead. Copney made a pair of free throws to push the Spartans ahead 61-55 with 0:17 remaining. Coward made a layup with 0:08 remaining to make the final score 61-57.

Longwood shot 34.8% (23-66) from the floor, including 7.1% (1-14) from behind the arc, and 52.6% (10-19) from the foul line. Garrison (5-11 FG) and Tobeck (4-8 FG) each scored 12 points for the Lancers while Morgan Smith added eight points (3-8 FG). Coward grabbed a team-high and season-best 10 rebounds while Tobeck added nine rebounds. The Lancers outrebounded Upstate 51-46 and scored 11 second-chance points. The Lancers had 13 steals and scored 17 points off of 25 Spartan turnovers. Longwood outscored the hosts 22-14 in the paint.

The Spartans shot 30.3% (20-66) from the floor, including 38.1% (8-21) from behind the arc, and 86.7% (13-15) from the foul line. Copney scored 14 points (5-15 FG) with eight assists while Kendra Wallace added 13 points (5-12 FG). Chelsea McMillan added a game-high 14 rebounds. Upstate scored 23 points off of 25 Longwood turnovers.