WASHINGTON – American knocked down 11 3-pointers and three players scored in double figures to overcome a pesky Longwood women's basketball team, 81-68, in the season opener for both teams at Bender Arena on Monday.
The Lancers held a slim 16-15 advantage through the first quarter when junior
Malea Brown hit a driving layup with time running down in the period, but the Eagles took control from there.
Riley DeRubbo scored a game-high 22 points, including draining 7-of-8 shots from 3-point range. Molly Lavin added 15 points and Emily Johns 12 for American, which shot 47 percent for the game overall.
"Our goal for the season wasn't to go undefeated," said head coach Erika Lang-Montgoery. "We played hard and fought. We lost to a senior-laden team that executed well offensively tonight. We'll go back home and begin preparations for a very good Delaware squad."
Redshirt senior
Adriana Shipp-Davis poured in 15 points to lead three Longwood players in double digits. Senior
Janay Turner tallied 13 points and graduate
Anne-Hamilton LeRoy recorded 13.
The Lancers scored the game's first four points on a jumper by freshman
Otaifo Esenabhalu and layup from
Frances Ulysse and Turner again pushed the edge to 11-7 with 2:29 to play in the quarter.
DeRubbo capped a 9-1 Eagles run to start the second quarter with a trey to make it 24-17 with 8:04 to play in the first half.
After a Shipp-Davis layup and Turner 3-pointer off an
Alyssa Chapman feed cut the deficit to 24-22 with 6:16 left, American used an 8-0 run finished off with a Bailey Garbee triple for a 34-24 lead.
The Eagles led, 36-27, at intermission.
Turner converted a layup two-and-a-half minutes into the second half to make it a 40-32 game, but that was as close as Longwood got the rest of the way. American's lead grew to 11 by the end of the third and 17 (66-49) with under six minutes to play.
Twelve Longwood players saw the floor in the game with six making their debut for the Lancers.
The Lancers are back in action Thursday, travelling to take on the Blue Hens at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del. Tip time is 7 p.m.
