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FARMVILLE, Va. – Boosted by a combined 22 points from seniors Autumn Childress and Micaela Ellis, along with eight fourth quarter points from Kate Spradlin, the Longwood women's basketball team earned a 66-56 come-from-behind win over Milligan on Education Day Wednesday afternoon inside Willett Hall.
The senior duo of Childress and Ellis fueled a second half rally in which Longwood (2-6) was able to erase an 11-point Buffalo lead from the early stages in the second half. Childress' fifth double-double performance of the season, along with a season-high 12 points from senior Casey Ripp and the efforts of Ellis and Spradlin helped the Lancers negate a dominant 23-point, 17 rebound performance from Milligan forward Sarah Robinson.
"We've been really struggling to score lately," said Longwood head coach
Bill Reinson. "Milligan came out on fire and made a bunch of threes. Give them credit. They came to play and they played extremely hard. It took us a long time to make up the deficit, but I never saw our girls lose focus."
After allowing the Buffaloes to make nine three-pointers in the opening half and shoot .438 from the floor in the opening half, Longwood locked in defensively throughout the second half in allowing the Buffaloes just 16 second-half points on 7-of-28 (.250) shooting. The Lancers keyed in on the perimeter, allowing Milligan just 1-of-9 three-point field goal in the second half and limiting Robinson to four points in the second half.
"We were able to adjust in the second half to make sure we close out better and didn't give them any open looks," Childress said. "After we made that adjustment, they only made one three-pointer in the second half. That was huge for us to be able to stop what they want to do, which is shoot the three."
Childress continues her dominant start to her senior season, as she secured her Big South-leading fifth double-double performance. Coming into Wednesday's game as the lone player in the conference averaging a double-double this season, Childress finished the game 6-of-12 from the floor with 13 rebounds in 36 minutes.
"Autumn played another terrific game today," Reinson said. "She's beginning to spoil us with these double-doubles."
A product of Midlothian, Va., Childress has been especially good inside Willett Hall this season, as the 5-10 guard has averaged 14.0 points along with 12.5 boards in Longwood's four home games with a double-double performance coming in three of those four games.
"I was a lot more focused today than last game," Childress said. "When I focus on my defense first, my offense just comes. Focusing on defense and playing with confidence really has helped me so far this season."
Meanwhile, Spradlin buried the go-ahead three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter to give Longwood its first lead of the day and a lead that the Lancers would never relinquish. She was set up on the play from one of a season-high six assists that Ellis finished with and that basket ultimately paved the way to a 13-3 run to close the game and secure Longwood's second win of the season.
Spradlin and Ripp, who scored in double figures for the first time in her Longwood career, combined for five of Longwood's six three-pointers throughout the afternoon, as Longwood's pair of sharp shooters combined for 20 points.
"Casey and Kate played with great energy and really gave us a boost on the defensive end," Reinson said.
Ellis added eight points to go along with her six assists that led directly to 17 Longwood points. Three of her six assists came in the game's final five minutes, as she moves to within 15 dimes shy of joining Longwood's top 10 all-time list in career assists.
In addition, Kristina Antonenko scored all 11 of her points in the first half, as the junior college transfer finished 4-of-9 from the floor to better her .438 field-goal percentage that ranks sixth in the Big South.
Robinson, who scored her 1,000th point earlier this season against Point University, scored 18 of her game-high 23 points in the first half, as she made eight field goals, including four three-pointers. The performance from Robinson comes one season after she neared a double-double against the Lancers. Â
The game was played in front of local middle schoolers from Prince Edward County Middle School and the Fuqua School, who had the opportunity to gain an educational experience on the Longwood campus before taking in the game.
"We'll use the next seven days to shore up our defense," Reinson said. "Conference play isn't too far away. I think we'll be ready for the challenge."
Longwood will have a week off to prepare for its final game prior to the holiday break, as the Lancers travel to Eastern Michigan for a 4 p.m. opening tip. That game will mark a homecoming for senior captain and Oak Park, Mich., product Micaela Ellis.
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