Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. – Sophomore Daeisha Brown/Richmond scored a game-high 25 points and added six rebounds to lead the Longwood University women's basketball team in a 64-55 loss at Big South Conference opponent Coastal Carolina University (11-11, 7-6) on Saturday afternoon at the HTC Center. The Lancers battled in the first half to take a 32-29 advantage into halftime before the Chanticleers, who scored 31 points at the foul line, used a 15-1 run to pull away in the early minutes of the second half. Sophomore Deborah Headen/Herndon added to the Longwood offensive effort with eight points, while classmate Khalilah Ali/Suffolk also totaled six rebounds in the decision. Angelica Henry paced three double-digit scorers for CCU with 17 points. Longwood (6-16, 3-10) will return home to host Big South opponent Charleston Southern University on Thursday, February 6. Tipoff for that contest is slated for 7 p.m.

"It's tough to win when you go seven minutes without scoring," said head coach Bill Reinson. "We had some great looks at the basket early in the second half, but they just wouldn't fall for us. Coastal scored almost half their points from the free throw line. That is a definite problem moving forward. I thought we played hard defensively, but we can't give up that many free throws."

The Chanticleers put the first four points of the game on the board before Headen hit a layup and a three and freshman Brenna Robbins/Erie, Pa. scored on a put-back to give the Lancers a 7-4 lead with 16:01 remaining in the half. CCU responded with five-straight points to pull in front, but redshirt-senior Heather Tobeck/La Porte, Texas drained a three-pointer and Brown followed with a jumper to put the Lancers back on top, 12-9, at 13:45. CCU quickly regained the upper hand with nine unanswered points, giving the home squad an 18-12 buffer, their largest of the half, with just over 10 minutes to play in the period. The Lancers would not stay down for long, however, using a 7-1 spurt that was capped by a layup from Brown to knot the score at 19-19 at 6:32. The squads continued to battle in the back-and-forth contest, tying on two more occasions in the next two minutes before the Chants scored five in a row to take a 28-24 advantage with 3:35 to go. The home team's lead was not safe in the waning minutes, though, as Brown scored six of the last seven points of the half to give the Lancers a 32-29 edge at the break.

Coming out of halftime, Longwood struggled to find the basket for the first seven minutes, while CCU tallied 11 unanswered points to pull ahead, 40-32, at 13:16. Brown ended the silence for the Lancers with a free throw, but the Chants responded with four more points to take a double-digit lead, up 44-33 with 12:14 to go. Over the next two minutes, Brown and Ali tipped in layups and Ali converted on the front end of a pair of free throws to cut the difference to eight, 46-38. The teams traded baskets until Tobeck and Brown scored on back-to-back possessions for Longwood to make it just a six-point game at 50-44 with 6:07 remaining. Coastal Carolina answered with a 9-3 spurt, taking its largest lead of the night, 59-47, at 3:35. The Lancers worked to pull within eight points on two occasions in the final minutes, the last of which came with just 37 seconds to go, but the home squad scored the last point of the day to secure the 64-55 decision.

Brown scored 11 straight points for the Lancers between the end of the first half and the early part of the second. She logged nine field goals en route to her 25 points and added three steals in the outing, as well. Sophomore Kyndal Skersick/Orlando, Fla.and Tobeck registered seven points apiece on the day. As a team, the Lancers shot 28% (18-65) from the floor, including 31% (4-13) from beyond the arc, and 65% (15-23) from the line in the outing.

In addition to Henry, AJ Jordan and Alexx Puckett also turned in double-figure points with 16 and 14, respectively. Puckett turned in a team-best nine rebounds, as well. Coastal capitalized at the line, going 31-38 (82%) from the charity stripe. As a whole, Coastal Carolina shot 37% (15-41) from the field and 38% (3-8) from three-point territory.

Saturday's contest marked the sixth meeting ever between Longwood and Coastal Carolina in the sport of women's basketball. With the Chants' victory, the all-time series is now tied, 3-3.