FARMVILLE, Va. -- The Longwood women's basketball team returns home to host UNC Asheville Saturday at the Joan Perry Brock Center in its annual Play4Kay Pink Out to raise awareness of the fight against all cancers affecting women.
Fans are encouraged to wear pink and free T-shirts will be given out to the first 100 students as well as first 100 fans in attendance.
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Play4Kay is the largest fundraising initiative of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. The fund is in honor of Olympic gold-medal-winning and Naismith Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and passed away in 2009.
The Lancers will also welcome 19 women's basketball alumnae and guests, who will be recognized during the the first-quarter media timeout.
STORYLINES
The game is the 33rd between the Lancers and UNC Asheville since 2004-05. The Bulldogs lead, 16-15, overall but Longwood has a 7-6 in Farmville.
â–ª Longwood beat UNC Asheville, 95-51, on Jan. 8 at Kimmel Arena. The 44-point margin of victory was the second largest in a Big South game for the Lancers, just less than a 46-point, 94-48, drubbing of Charleston Southern on Feb. 12, 2021 at Willett Hall.
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Kiki McIntyre leads the NCAA in steals through games of Feb. 20 with 109. She became Longwood's all-time single-season steals leader after swiping seven at Presbyterian on Feb. 15. She is currently eight steals away from 200 in her Longwood career.
â–ª Longwood is averaging 70.6 points per game, which leads the Big South and is 85th in the country. The Lancers have scored 70 points per game in only two seasons in their Big South history, both under Rebecca Tillett. The 2020-21 team scored 71.1 points per game while the Big South championship team of 2021-22 scored 71.5 points per game.
â–ª Longwood is creating 25.22 turnovers per game, which is tops in the NCAA, as of games played through Feb. 20. The Lancers have forced the most total turnovers (681) of any team in the country. Further, Longwood has caused more turnovers than the opposition in 22-of-27 games this year, going 17-5 in those contests. Longwood also leads the Big South in turnover margin at plus-6.93, 16th in Division I.
SCOUTING UNC ASHEVILLE
UNC Asheville enters play 2-24 overall and 0-13 in the Big South, having not won a game against Division I competition this season. The Bulldogs average 57.2 points per game while giving up 66.8. Abigail Wilson and LaImani Simmons lead the Bulldogs in scoring at 10.5 points per game apiece. Wilson is Asheville's top rebounder at 5.7 boards per game.
First-year UNC Asheville head coach Tynesha Lewis and
assistant coach Chasity Melvin, NC State graduates, played for Kay Yow and the Wolfpack.
LAST TIME OUT
Longwood shot better than 50 percent from the floor for a fifth time this season and limited Gardner-Webb to three made field goals in the first half for a 75-46 victory Wednesday.
The Lancers led from start to finish and had three score in double figures — including a career-high 14 points from freshman
Lili Booker off the bench — as Longwood earned its second consecutive win and third straight against Gardner-Webb.
Longwood shot 52.9 percent, knocking down 18-of-34 shots from the field, in the second half after going 14-for-28 before halftime. The Lancers held GWU to 27.7 percent from the floor and just 13 field goals — a season-best defensive effort against Division I opposition.
Gardner-Webb misfired on its first nine shots and didn't make a second-quarter field goal, helping Longwood to its first win in Boiling Springs since 2020-21. With the victory, the Lancers also completed a regular-season series sweep of the Runnin' Bulldogs for the first time in 12 seasons.
EIGHT IN A ROW
Longwood enjoyed an eight-game winning streak from Dec. 6 versus South Carolina State to Jan. 22 against Radford.
The Lancers outscored the opposition by an average of 20.9 points per game and also shot 47.3 percent from the field while limiting opponents to just 36.8 percent from the floor in the stretch.
The streak included Longwood's program-best Big South start at 6-0. It was the first time LU won its first six conference games since the 1999-00 season, when Shirley Duncan's Lancers were 20-9 overall and 14-4 in the Division II Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference.Â
MCINTYRE BIG SOUTH HONOR
Kiki McIntyre was named Co-Big South Player of the Week on Jan. 6, averaging 12 points, six steals and 3.3 rebounds per game in a 3-0 week. Her 10 steals against Presbyterian Jan. 2 tied the Big South record for steals in a league game, last accomplished by Towson's Tanya Belair, on Dec. 17, 1993 against Winthrop. It is currently tied for the fourth most steals in Division I women's basketball this season.
HARRIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Amor Harris was named Big South Player of the Week Dec. 10 after earning MVP in the Shirley Duncan Classic. Harris averaged 17 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Her 24 field goals and 51 points in the tournament were the second and 10th most, respectively, in the NCAA for the week ending Dec. 9.
Harris was the second LU player this season to claim weekly honors, joining
Frances Ulysse, who was named Co-Big South Player of the Week Nov. 18.
NON-CON SUCCESS
Longwood went 9-5 in regular-season non-conference action. It marked the best out-of-conference record for the Lancers since Shirley Duncan's 1987-88 squad was 10-9 outside of Mason-Dixon Conference play. That team finished 14-13 overall.
GETTING VOTES
Longwood received three votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 on Jan. 14 and 21, respectively. Prior to those polls, Longwood last appeared in the final poll of the 2021-22 season.
LUCKY 7
The Lancers played half of their 14 non-conference games in the Joan Perry Brock Center this season. That reflects a stark contrast from 2023-24 in which Longwood played seven consecutive non-league games away from Farmville from Nov. 15 at James Madison to Dec. 17 at William & Mary, traveling approximately 4,534 miles in that span.
Longwood finished regular-season non-conference play 9-5, including going 5-2 at home.
FIVE IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Longwood has had five players score double figures in three games this season. The Lancers first accomplished it in a 80-66 win at Queens on Nov. 18, then at UNCW on Dec. 29, an 84-68 victory. LU also did it Jan. 8 at UNC Asheville, a 95-51 win.
CONSECUTIVE BIG SOUTH HONORS
Mariah Wilson was named Co-Big South Player of the Week Jan. 13, averaging 20 points, five rebounds and three steals per game. Wilson shot 63.6 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from downtown and made all eight free throws for the week. After
Kiki McIntyre also earned Co-Big South Player of the Week Jan. 6, it marked the first time Longwood claimed Big South Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks since Jan. 11 and 18, 2021, when Kyla McMakin and Akila Smith did so.
LET'S PLAY TWO!
Forward
Montgomery Bedford, who was recruited to Farmville to play women's lacrosse for the Lancers, walked onto the women's basketball team this fall. Bedford is believed to be one of just four dual-sport student-athletes on Division I women's basketball rosters this season.
The others are Santa Clara forward Lauren Glover (women's volleyball); Cincinnati guard Daylee Dunn (track and field) and Cal State Fullerton guard/forward Samantha Schuler, (track and field).
Bedford is the first two-sport athlete to play women's basketball at Longwood since Mallory Odell did it from 2017-21 (softball).
MS. 1,000
Guard Kiki McInytre reached 1,000 career points Dec. 29 at UNCW with a layup at the 4:42 mark in the second quarter. She now has 1,133 in her time at Longwood (2023-25) and Division II St. Leo (2020-23).
FIRST TO 10 WINS
The Longwood women's and men's basketball teams combined for a 10-4 record to start the season. Longwood was the first of 13 institutions in Virginia that sponsors both sports to double-figure victories.
Norfolk State also started 10-4 with the Spartans' women's team collecting a 57-54 win at the SEC's Missouri on Nov. 10.
The Lancers are currently fifth in the state with 35 total wins.
REVISITING THE DUNCAN CLASSIC
Longwood won three games in three days Dec. 6-8 in the Shirley Duncan Classic, its first home in-season tournament since 2010-11.
Amor Harris scored a career-high 23 points on 10-for-19 shooting off the bench to lift the Lancers to a 67-60 win over South Carolina State in the opener.
Harris added a team-high 12 points Saturday as Longwood overcame a 10-point third-quarter deficit to beat William & Mary for the first time since 2013, 53-44.
Longwood then rolled to an 81-54 victory over McNeese Sunday, receiving 16 points, and nine steals to go with seven assists from
Kiki McIntyre.
Harris earned MVP honors while McIntyre and
Otaifo Esenabhalu – who recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds against the Cowgirls – were named to the all-tournament team.
As a team, the Lancers caused 31.7 turnovers and tallied 18.3 steals per game in the tournament.
STUDENT-ATHLETES
Kiki McIntyre and
Bailey Williams were named to the 2023-24 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team®. To be eligible, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 and be starter or key contributor to their team.
THREE'S COMPANY
The Lancers went 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) from 3-point range against Winthrop Jan. 11. It marked the third time this season and fifth in head coach
Erika Lang-Montgomery's Longwood tenure that the Lancers made that many from distance.
Longwood also went 9-for-20 (45 percent) at Norfolk State on Nov. 7 and 9-for-27 (33.3 percent) Nov. 10 against Hood
Longwood buried 10 from downtown in an 88-59 homecoming win over Chowan Nov. 12, 2023 and nine more in a 77-64 loss at Presbyterian on Feb. 8, 2023.
The Lancers are 15-13 under Lang-Montgomery when they make at least five 3-pointers in a game.
REBOUNDING MACHINE
Sophomore
Otaifo Esenabhalu is currently 55th in the NCAA in total rebounds with 230. She is also 78th in rebounds per game at 8.5. She leads the Big South in the latter category and is second in the former.
Esenabhalu is also second in the Big South with 10 double-figure rebounding games.
BAND OF THIEVES
Longwood made a season-high 25 steals in its 105-38 victory over Webber International Dec. 18. The Lancers have now secured at least 15 steals in a game 19 times under
Erika Lang-Montgomery. The Lancers are 15-4 in those contests. Longwood is averaging 14.4 steals per game this year, which is currently second in the NCAA.
Kiki McInytre leads the nation in total steals with 109.
Mariah Wilson and
Malea Brown are tied for second in the league and 25th nationally with 67 steals. McIntyre is also second in the country in steals per game at 4.04.
Longwood led the Big South and finished 21st in the country in steals per game at 10.7 last season. McIntyre led the league at 2.77 per game, good for 20th in the NCAA, while she collected 83 total steals, which also led the league and was 29th in the country.
SPREADING THE LOVE
In 22 of the first 27 games of the season, at least eight players put their names in the scoring column.
In the Nov. 10 102-21 homecoming victory over Hood, 12 of the 13 players on the roster scored points.
BENCH PRODUCTION
Longwood outscored the opponent bench in 13 games in 2023-24 and has done so in 19 of the 27 games this season.
The Lancers posted an overwhelming 62-8 edge from its reserves – the largest margin of the season – as Longwood drubbed Webber International, 105-38 on Dec. 18.
Longwood is averaging 28 bench points per game in 2024-25, good for 16th in NCAA Division I and first in the Big South.
CONSECUTIVE DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Otaifo Esenabhalu posted back-to-back double-doubles in the wins over Hood on Nov. 10 and at American on Nov. 13.
She tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds against the Blazers and game highs of 10 points and 13 boards versus the Eagles. They were the first consecutive double-doubles for a Longwood player since Akila Smith accomplished the feat on two separate occasions in the Lancers' Big South championship season of 2021-22. Smith last did it at North Carolina A&T (Dec. 29, 2021) and Presbyterian (Jan. 1, 2022), both Longwood victories.
Esenabhalu has five double-doubles on the season and seven in her career.
MATCHING BEST D-I START
The Lancers won three of their first four games to start the season for only the third time at the Division I level.
Longwood won its first three games of the 2006-07 season, beating American, Norfolk State and North Florida, before falling at William & Mary that year.
 In 2013-14, the Lancers dropped the opener at Seton Hall before defeating William & Mary, Utah Valley and Xavier.
ULYSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore forward
Frances Ulysse was named Big South Co-Player of the Week on Nov. 18. She averaged 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in a 1-1 week that featured Longwood's first win over American since the 2006-07 season.
WINNING THE FIRST ONE
The Lancers' season-opening 81-70 win against Lincoln (Pa.) on Nov. 4 at the Joan Perry Brock Center marked Longwood's first victory to begin a season since defeating Campbell, 71-48, in the Lancer Classic at Willett Hall on Nov. 12, 2010.
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