The Longwood Lancers women’s basketball team lost a heartbreaker as they fell short of March Madness on Sunday in Johnson City, Tennessee. The High Point Panthers rolled back from their deficit and punched the ticket after outscoring Longwood by 11 in the fourth quarter to prevail 59-53.
Longwood women’s basketball entered Freedom Hall Civic Center on Sunday with a dream of going to March Madness for only the second time in the program’s Division I history. The Panthers were standing in their way, a team that went 13-3 in Big South regular-season play.
Longwood ended the first quarter, shooting over 50% from the field. The Lancers drilled their first six 3-point attempts, with the first miss being put back for a layup. The score was 35-32 in favor of Longwood at halftime. Longwood senior guard Malea Brown scored 12 points in the first half.
While the Lancers had the lead, their momentum dwindled after High Point cut the deficit to two points, prompting a Longwood timeout. The Lancers’ adjustments clearly worked as they got solid looks at the basket, especially for sophomore guard Amor Harris. As the fourth quarter started, a lid appeared on the Longwood basket, while High Point, led by star center Neveah Zavala, couldn’t miss down the stretch. Longwood only put up six points in the final frame. Brown led the Lancers with 14 points and went a perfect 3 for 3 from downtown.
The Lancers fell short of what would have been an underdog story for the ages.
“I am still incredibly proud of the young women I get to coach every single day,” said Longwood head coach and Big South Coach of the Year Erika Lang-Montgomery. “We had an amazing season… I thought we battled and competed. The game went almost exactly how I thought it would go.”
Longwood women’s basketball was picked seventh in the preseason poll and made a mockery of that selection very early in Big South play as they started 6-0.
“Those polls don’t tell the whole story. No one knew who our team was or what we could be,” said Lang-Montgomery. “We didn’t feel like we were a seventh-place team, so we were trying to prove that to others.”
Graduate student point guard Kiki McIntyre finished the season second in the country in steals and broke the Big South single-season record in steals.
“It was honestly a blessing,” McIntyre said, reflecting on her Lancer career. “I had so much fun.”
