LYNCHBURG, Va. – Senior guard Autumn Childress showed out with 22 points and 15 rebounds for her Longwood Division I record 13th double-double of the season, but Charleston Southern used late free throws to overcome a fourth quarter Longwood rally to knock off the Lancers Thursday night 72-62 in the opening round of the 2018 Big South Women's Basketball Championship.

Childress secured her Division I record 13th double-double at the 5:41 mark of the third quarter, but it was the Buccaneers who ended Longwood's (7-23, 5-13 Big South) season behind four double-digit scorers. The Midlothian, Va., product secured 15-plus rebounds for the sixth time on the season.

Charleston Southern was able to overcome the banner night from Childress, who was honored prior to the game for her All-Big South Honorable Mention accolade. Ke'Asia Jackson, who scored 16, while Shelby Wilbanks, Njeri Nelms and Rachel Burns joined her in double figures as the quartet combined for 55 of the Buc's 72 points.

Childress, who finished just two points shy of her career-best mark set in Saturday's win over Winthrop, led the way offensively for the Lancers with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting while freshman Que King added a season-high 13 and Stephanie Guihon had 10.
 
Childress led a fourth quarter comeback effort that saw Longwood hold Charleston Southern without a field goal for the game's final eight minutes. With that defensive effort, Longwood was able to trim a 21 point deficit to seven points in the game's final minute.
 
"The fourth quarter shows that we're a resilient group that's not going to go down without a fight," Childress said. "As a senior, that's all I can really ask for out of my teammates."

The opening round loss to No. 8 seed Charleston Southern (11-19, 5-13 Big South) was the end of the illustrious careers of Childress, Micaela Ellis, along with Casey Ripp, who joined the squad prior to the season after playing on the Longwood club basketball team for the past three seasons.

Playing their third all-time Big South Tournament contest versus the Buccaneers, Longwood was unable to overcome a strong second quarter that saw Charleston Southern outscore Longwood 24-12 and carry a 41-22 lead into the break, one the Buccaneers would hold the rest of the way.

Thursday's loss ends the Longwood season after the Lancers had won their final three home contests and four of their previous seven entering the tournament.

Both Childress and Ellis have been staples in the Lancer lineup, as Ellis played in all 120 contests since she came to Longwood with 96 starts. Childress, who led the conference in rebounding, ends her career with 42 starts in 88 career appearances.

Childress was the lone player in the Big South to average a double-double this season as she set career-high marks in scoring, rebounding, shooting percentage, free throws made, assists, blocks, steals and minutes per game.

Meanwhile, three-time captain Ellis turned-in career-best performances in scoring, free throws made, free throw percentage, three-point field goals made, blocks and steals. Ellis also became the only Lancer to be a three-time captain in Longwood's Division I era.

Charleston Southern will move on to play top-seeded and host Liberty Friday at noon in the quarterfinals round of the Big South Championship.

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