FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood came within one basket of upsetting the reigning Big South champions, and a record crowd in Willett Hall watched them do it. 

Behind a monstrous fourth quarter from Big South Freshman of the Year frontrunner Kyla McMakin and a record-breaking crowd of 1,812, Longwood (8-7, 4-2 Big South) took preseason favorite, Radford, to the wire before the Highlanders held off the Lancers' final possession to preserve a 62-61 win in Willett Hall. The loss is only the second in Big South play this season for the Lancers, whose 4-2 conference start remains the program's second-best since joining the conference in 2012-13.

McMakin and Radford guard Khiana Johnson put up dueling 20-point games, with McMakin taking over with a 17-point fourth quarter that gave Longwood an opportunity to win on the final possession. The Lancers got three looks at the basket seconds before the buzzer, but Radford (5-10, 3-3 Big South) survived McMakin's long jumper and ensuing putbacks from Mallory Odell and Dayna Rouse for the one-point win.

The effort took place in front of the largest-ever Willett Hall women's basketball home crowd, surpassing the previous program record of 1,374 fans. More than 1,000 of those fans made the trip to Longwood from local elementary and middle schools for the women's basketball team's annual Education Day.

"It was amazing to have all the fans here to come together, and the atmosphere was so great," said freshman Kyla McMakin. "It was the best game to play in, to have all these people cheering for you is excellent. It is something that you will remember for the rest of your life playing in this game. I think some people could shy away from this atmosphere, but I think the team did a really good job of taking it in and feeding off the energy."

That crowd was treated to a showdown between two of the Big South's top guards, with Johnson pouring in 20 points, and McMakin matching a career-high with 29. Johnson carried Radford in the first quarter with 10 points, but McMakin saved her best for last with a fourth-quarter flurry that saw her hit seven field goals, including three three-pointers. Two of those treys came back-to-back in the game's final 1:41, trimming Radford's 62-55 lead to one point with 43 seconds to play. Johnson missed a contested layup on Radford's final possession, but the Highlanders' interior defense -- led by a 13-rebound, two-block effort from 6-4 center Sydney Nunley -- held off Longwood's final charge.

"I believe my team and all of us together are not the kind to shy away," McMakin added. "It doesn't matter if your first or last, we are going to play you the same way. We came out with that mentality, and some of us have chips on our shoulders because we were ranked low in the preseason poll. We do a good job coming out to play no matter who we are up against."

Nunley added 10 points, while Makaila Wilson scored 14 for the Highlanders.

 "I am really pleased with our women's effort to get three shots off at the end with a chance to win at the buzzer, said head coach Rebecca Tillett. "We kept fighting; we would cut it to five, they would make a run, then we would cut it to five again. We did almost everything we needed to do, they outrebounded us by one. We knew rebounding was going to be critical to the game. We thought we needed to make six three-pointers to beat them and we made five. We were right there on our goals for the game." 

Joining McMakin in double figures for Longwood was her fellow freshman Anne-Hamilton LeRoy, who added 13. Point guard Tra'Dayja Smith, just two games removed from her triple-double against Charleston Southern, dished a game-high eight assists. 

Longwood will now turn its attention to the third-ranked offense in the Big South when the Panthers of High Point University visit Willett Hall on Jan. 18. Tipoff between the Lancers and Panthers is set for 3 p.m.

"Looking ahead to High point, it is interesting because High Point, like Radford, is also different than us, finished Tillett. "They love to shoot the three-point shot. Hopefully, we can get a lot of fans out to see us stop those three-pointers."



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