FARMVILLE, Va. – Three double figure scorers along with Longwood's top offensive and defensive performances of the season led the Lancers to a 66-56 win over Presbyterian Saturday afternoon inside Willett Hall in a game in which Longwood never trailed.

One game after its worst defensive performance of the season Tuesday at Charleston Southern – allowing the Buccaneers to shoot .509 as a team – the Lancers put the clamps down on the defensive end of the court in limiting the Blue Hose to .346 (18-of-52) for the game. That defensive performance was spearheaded by the Longwood backcourt which limited Big South second-leading scorer Cortney Storey and her 17.3 points per game to just six points on 2-of-8 shooting.

"The ladies really bought into what we were doing and they did a very good job of executing it," said Longwood head coach Bill Reinson. "Our team defensive effort was the best I've seen this year. We need to continue that improvement."

Along with its defensive prowess, Dayna Rouse (14), Kate Spradlin (11) and Micaela Ellis (11) each finished in double figures, as Autumn Childress finished two points shy of collecting her sixth double-double of the season with eight points, 11 rebounds. That group led a Lancer squad that saw all nine players who saw game action find the scoring column and saw Longwood (3-10, 1-1 Big South) shoot at least .500 for the first time since Dec. 26, 2016 against Delaware State. In addition, Ciarah Bennett posted a career-high eight assists one game after scoring a season-best 18 points at Charleston Southern.

"Today was a team win from top-to-bottom," Reinson said. "It started with coach [Sherrie] Tucker's game plan, which was terrific. We had some outstanding individual performances."

Rouse, who's surging into conference play, has finished in double figures in two of the last three games with her season-high 14 points with 10 of those points coming in the second half.

"Dayna Rouse gets more confident every day and her performance tonight was a product of that," Reinson said.

Bennett, who has started in each of Longwood's last two games, finished the day with six points along with her eight assists and five rebounds in 33 minutes. Her eight assists led directly to 18 Longwood points, as the Lancers finished the afternoon with 17 assists as a team.

"I've been trying to get my teammates involved within the offense before worrying about my shot," Bennett said. "As a group, we were focused on executing the game plan that
Coach Tucker put together and getting a win."

A product of Camden, N.J., Bennett is off to a strong start in Big South play, averaging 12.0 points to rank second on the squad behind only the 13.5 points from Spradlin.

"Ciarah Bennett continues to impact games," Reinson said. "She's difficult to defend and adds another dimension to our team."

In addition, Longwood had 11 points from Ellis and Spradlin. For Spradlin, it marked her third consecutive game of her career to go along with her five rebounds, three assists and a steal in 36 minutes. Meanwhile, Ellis scored all 11 of her points in the second half and collected two assists, moving within two assists of moving into Longwood's all-time career top 10 assist leaders.

"Kate [Spradlin] and Micaela [Ellis] were solid all night long," Reinson said.

Childress, who returned to the Longwood lineup Tuesday at Charleston Southern after missing three games due to injury, finished two points shy of collecting her Big South-leading sixth double-double of the season. The conference's leader in rebounds with 10.2 per game, Childress added 11 rebounds to her total to collect her sixth game with 10-plus rebounds.

Presbyterian (3-10, 0-2 Big South) was paced by Kacie Hall with 19 points while Mattie Kennedy added 11 and Janie Miles finished with 10 points.

"We'll enjoy this win tonight and get back to work tomorrow," Reinson said.

Up next, the Lancers will play its second straight game inside Willett Hall, as Longwood hosts Gardner-Webb Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 11:30 a.m. That game will mark the second home Education Day for the Lancers, as Longwood will host local elementary school kids.

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