Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – The Longwood University women's basketball team fell, 71-61, in the squad's season opener at the University of Richmond (1-0) of the Atlantic-10 Conference on Friday afternoon in Richmond. The Lancers (0-1), who led for almost the entire first half, were paced by senior Chelsea Coward|Mechanicsville (Hanover), who notched a double-double with 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in 36 minutes of play. Longwood will play its home opener on Monday, November 12 when the team welcomes the United States Air Force Academy to Willett Hall in Farmville for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Freshman Daeisha Brown|Richmond (Huguenot) posted a team-high 18 points in her collegiate debut. Senior Crystal Smith|Richmond (Meadowbrook) and freshman Raven Williams|Richmond (Monacan) added to the offensive effort with seven points apiece. Brown and classmate Khalilah Ali|Suffolk (Woodrow Wilson) (5p, 5r) both earned their first-career starts in the outing.

Longwood won the opening tip and senior Mieke Elkington|Hamilton, New Zealand (Cochise College) (6p, 2r) scored a quick three-point jumper to give the Lancers a lead that they would hold onto for all but two seconds of the half. Coward then scored eight-straight points, making it a 13-6 Longwood advantage with 14:10 remaining in the first period. The Lancers would create a seven-point buffer, its largest of the game, twice more in the half, when junior Milena Bubnjevic|Leskovac, Serbia (Northwest Florida State College) (2p, 1r) hooked in a layup to make it 19-12 and when Elkington made a bucket from beyond the arc to make it 24-17 with less than eight minutes to play in the half.

Richmond retaliated with seven unanswered points to tie the game for the first time at 24-24 with 6:26 left in the first. The teams traded buckets for the remainder of the half, with the Lancers holding onto a slim advantage, until the Spiders pulled ahead for the first time in the game on a jumper by Kristina King with just two seconds left on the clock, sending her squad into halftime with a slight, 35-34 lead.

Coming out of the break, the Lancers quickly regained the lead when Brown put in the go-ahead layup to give LU a 36-35 edge. Richmond answered with a 24-2 run to take a 59-38 advantage with less than 11 minutes to play. Brown broke the silence for Longwood with another bucket from the paint, sparking an 8-0 Lancers run to cut the team's deficit to 59-46 with just over eight minutes to go. The Lancers outscored the Spiders, 15-11, in the final minutes of the game, but could not overcome the margin and succumbed to the 71-61 loss. 

As a team, Longwood shot 34.3 percent (23-67) from the field, compared to 38.5 percent (25-65) for Richmond. The Lancers shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Friday's game marked the 16th meeting between Longwood and Richmond in the sport of women's basketball. Richmond now holds a 9-7 advantage in the all-time series.