FARMVILLE, Va. – If records were meant to be broken, then Longwood senior point guard Tra'Dayja Smith is a wrecking ball.

In the latest record-setting performance of her Lancer career, Longwood's floor general tied the program's single-game record by dishing 15 assists to spearhead a runaway 94-48 win over Charleston Southern Friday evening in Willett Hall.

Smith's career-high 15 helpers matched the previous school record set by Micaela Ellis against Winthrop on Feb. 11, 2017 and sent Longwood (10-8, 9-4 Big South) to its program-record ninth Big South win of the season.

The entire Lancer offense benefited from Smith's benevolence as the 5-5 native of Houston, Texas, connected with six different teammates to engineer Longwood's highest scoring game of the season and second 90-point outburst of 2020-21. Thirty-nine of Longwood's 94 points came on Smith's assists, including nine of the Lancers' season-high 13 three-pointers, while she scored eight points of her own.

"​In practice we have been talking about sharing the ball more and making that extra pass, and tonight I felt like we did that," said Tra'Dayja Smith. "My teammates made it easy for me by hitting shots."

Four Lancers scored in double figures, including Kyla McMakin who led all players with 27 points and five three-pointers. Akila Smith added 16 points and 10 rebounds for her Big South-leading 10th double-double, while Anne-Hamilton LeRoy added 15 points and four treys, and Adriana Shipp finished with 13.

"What a really great night for our women," said Longwood head coach Rebecca Tillett. "Coming off two weeks off, as a coaching staff, you are always like, 'I hope we are going to keep playing the way we've been playing.' We had a practice a couple practices ago where the intensity and competitive level was so high, I was like, 'We need an opponent. We need to play someone.' So I was really excited for our women. Certainly from a defensive standpoint, as you guys have all heard us talk about a lot of times trying to get better in that area, tonight was a special night for us on the defensive side of the ball, and then offensively, to share the ball like that and have so many women play efficiently, which is always the goal for us."

Already the owner of Longwood's single-season assists record, which she set in her debut season as a junior in 2019-20, and one of only two triple-doubles in Longwood's Division I era, Smith also took over the Big South's assist lead with 93 on the year following Friday's performance. Meanwhile, the third-place Lancers continued their ascent up the Big South standings, trailing only first-place High Point (13-2) and second-place Campbell (8-3).

"I'm excited about DayDay tying that record for assists, sharing the ball," added Tillett.  "Super special for our team and our program, and she does so much for us.​"

As potent as the Longwood offense was on Friday night, the defense was every bit up for the task. The Lancers held the Buccaneers to just .254 (15-59) from the field, the lowest they've held an opponent this season and the second time the Lancers have held a Big South opponent below .300 from the field in 2021. Their stifling defense forced 18 total turnovers, swiping 11 steals and swatting eight shots, led by a six-steal, four-block performance from the versatile Akila Smith.

The combination of the Lancer offense and defense was on full display in the opening quarter, as they surged to a 29-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Lancers hit 12-of-20 shots in the opening frame, while holding the Buccaneers to 3-of-15 shooting from the field. 

Longwood never relented, as they led wire-to-wire while outscoring Charleston Southern in every quarter. The Lancers held 20+ point edges in points off of turnovers (30-6), points in the paint (44-16), and fast break points (39-5). 

Now winners of seven of their past nine games, Longwood will have a shot at another Big South sweep in Saturday's rematch against Charleston Southern. That game will tip off at 3 p.m. on ESPN+.

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