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FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood appears to be getting quite comfortable in close games inside Willett Hall.

On a day when the alumni of the Longwood women's basketball program was honored, the Lancers provide an all-around team effort with five players finishing the game in double figures to earn a 79-71 victory over Charleston Southern Saturday afternoon inside Willett Hall.

The Lancers have won three of the past four games inside Willett Hall that have come by eight points or less. In each of the three wins, Longwood has had contributions from everybody on the floor and that proved to be no different on Saturday.

"We played pretty well today," said head coach Bill Reinson.  "There were a lot of contributors. We got a little careless with the ball at the end but gathered ourselves nicely. Raven, Deb and Kyndal all came to play today, which was nice."

During a decisive 24-8 run midway through the second half that ultimately decided the outcome of the game, Longwood had six players find the scoring column. That stretch was indicative to the type of team-effort it took for the Lancers to defeat the Buccaneers, as Longwood had contributions on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.

As a team, the Lancers shot .466 (27-of-58) for the game and recorded a season-best 20 assists. Raven Williams recorded six assists in the opening half on her way to her second double-double of the season. The junior finished the afternoon with a team-high 19 points and a career-high 10 assists.

"I had three of my assists on the same out-of-bounds play that we ran in the first half," Williams said. "In the second half, I started to look for my teammates more and help them find ways to score."

After having just four points at Presbyterian a week ago, Williams was able to quickly get into the flow of the game with nine points and two assists within the first seven minutes. The 19 points from the junior is the fourth time she has finished one point shy of her career-high and marks the 10th time in the past 12 games she has finished with 16 or more points.  

Longwood hit a season-high 16 free throws on the afternoon paced by Emily Nylen with an 8-of-9 performance from the charity stripe. The 6-5 sophomore enjoyed her best game of her collegiate career, finishing the afternoon with a career-best 14 points, four rebounds, one block and one steal in 29 minutes of playing time.

"Emily had her best game in a Lancer uniform and she continues to improve," Reinson said.

Nylen – who came into Saturday's game third in conference play in blocks per game with 2.13 – asserted herself on the offensive end, as her teammates fed her the ball on the down low. The game for Nylen marked her first collegiate game in double figures.

"It was exciting to know that I contributed on the offensive end with scoring," Nylen said. "Coach Reinson called me last night to tell me that he was going to increase my minutes more and today I thought it went well."

Robbins recorded the first back-to-back games in double figures in her Longwood career, as she bettered her 12 points at Presbyterian a week ago with a career-high 14 points Saturday afternoon.  

"All of my coaches and teammates have been really encouraging to me to shoot more, so I've been really taking that all in and I've been really focusing on being more productive on the offensive end," Robbins said.

"Once again, Brenna Robbins was terrific," Reinson said. "When she is making her outside shots, it makes us very dangerous to play against."

Kyndal Skersick finished in double figures for the fourth straight game, as she tallied 10 points. Deborah Headen recorded 15 points in 38 minutes of playing time, as she has notched double figures in seven of her last 10 games.

Freshman Micaela Ellis made her impact on the defensive end of the floor, as she was credited with two key steals in Longwood's big second-half run.

"Micaela Ellis was outstanding defensively and made a couple of big shots," Reinson said.

Longwood will look to keep the momentum going, as the Lancers kick off the second half of the conference schedule against Winthrop inside Willett Hall. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m.

"Today, we played really well as a team and we had five players in double figures to show for it," Robbins said. "That goes to show that when we play as a team we can be very successful."

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