CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As a player, it's everything you work for. As a student or alum, it's what you dream about when your school has never done it.
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A chance to play for a conference tournament title, one victory away from a first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament.
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On an epic double Championship Sunday, Lancer Nation will get to experience that thrill twice.
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Kyla McMakin led a balanced scoring attack with 22 points, and
Tra'Dayja Smith and Anne-Hamilton Leroy added 14 each as Longwood(20-11) beat UNC-Asheville 81-56 Saturday night to advance to the finals of the Hercules Tires Big South Women's Basketball Tournament – thrilling a Longwood contingent at Bojangles Coliseum who just hours earlier had watched the Lancer men accomplish the same feat, also for the first time.
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The Lancer men had to gut out a 16-point comeback to make their final. The women, by contrast, dominated from the opening tip – seizing a 30-point halftime advantage as they improved to 20-11 overall, and won their 13
th game in 14 outings dating back to mid-January.
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Playing its best basketball of the year, Longwood faces regular season co-champion and No. 1 seed Campbell in the title game Sunday at 8:30 p.m., broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
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"Our women have worked so hard for this," said Head Coach
Rebecca Tillett. "I'm just thrilled for them to have this opportunity."
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Another milestone: By advancing to the final, the Lancers are assured an invitation to the Women's National Invitation Tournament (NIT) even if they were to fall in Sunday's conference title game.
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In short, that means adding unprecedented post-season basketball to the list of Longwood milestones for 2021-22. A program that finished 3-27 in head coach
Rebecca Tillett's first season three years ago, is now guaranteed either a first-ever NCAA or WNIT post-season appearance.
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Longwood took command in the first-quarter, hitting four 3-pointers and racing to a 26-10 lead. A minute into the second period, McMakin and Kennedy Calhoun each converted a driving layup and a foul shot to extend the lead to 21. Their shooting just got hotter from there, while they dominated the boards. Tra'dayja Smith's 3-pointer moments before halftime lifted them to a 49-19 advantage at intermission.
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Tillett was more impressed with the defense – following a comparable effort in the quarterfinal against Hampton.
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"To come out and be dominate again defensively," she said. "That was the knock on us. We could score, we couldn't defend. Well, we took that personally."
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After both a men's and women's tournament full of thrilling finishes and overtimes, both brackets ended up with the top two seeds playing one another in the finals.
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Campbell, which swept the regular season series with Longwood, is the only team that's beaten the Lancers in more than six weeks. And with more post-season play now guaranteed for the Lancers, the season won't end Sunday regardless of how the title game turns out.
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But by dominating early, Longwood not only gave their fans time to savor the win – Tillett was also able to rest some starters during the second half. Nobody played more than 31 minutes. Big South Player of the Year
Akila Smith had a modest nine points – but the Lancers outscored Asheville by 41 points during the 28 minutes she was on the floor.
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Between the relatively fresh legs, the momentum they're carrying from the regular season, and their dominating semi-final performance Saturday, Longwood has every reason to think it can win Sunday.
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"I think it means a lot – history for sure, at a minimum we're going to the WNIT," Tillett said. "To have the opportunity to go to the NCAA tournament. This group has been about making history."
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