The Longwood Women’s Basketball team has had a surprisingly positive season to date but hit a bit of a rough patch last week, losing two straight games to Big South opponents High Point and Liberty. The Lancers also lost scoring leader Crystal Smith during the High Point game. The team has conference oppo- nent Coastal Carolina coming up tomorrow, and Campbell on Satur- day. Although the Lanc- ers are below .500 now, optimism remains high due to their 6-3 conference record.
While the Liberty and High Point losses were both by double digits, it’s worth not- ing that those teams were expected to finish 1-2 in the conference. Those defeats brought the team’s road record to 4-10 on the season. “They were consid- ered the top two teams in pre-season, and we played them on the road. Every game is going to be difficult, so we prepare for each game the same way,” second- year head coach Bill Re- inson said Tuesday.
The squad also had a very unfortunate turn of events when leading scorer (16.4) and as- sists leader (4.2) Smith injured her ankle. She then missed the rest of that game and the Liberty game; her return date has not been de- termined yet. He does believe she will be back soon, though, saying, “She is a competitor, so I am certain she will be back sooner rather than later.” The loss puts a hole in the Lancers’ lineup due to her well- documented leadership and scoring abilities.
The Lancers have conference foes Coastal Carolina and Campbell as their next two games. In the last games against these teams, the Lancers won at home with comeback victories with a late win over Campbell on Jan. 17 and a sizeable second-half comeback over Coastal two days later. Reinson recognizes that both these teams are very talented and are going to be difficult to beat, especially on the road, adding, “We are very confident that we can beat any team in our conference if we play to our capabilities. Conversely, if we don’t play well, we can lose to any team in the conference.
“Coastal Carolina is a very talented team who can score against anyone. They were very effectiveinthefirsthalf of our game here in Farmville. We must do a good job of defending them and still be able to attack on the offen- sive end. Campbell will show us the half-court trap again. We struggled with it a little bit the last time. Offensively, they shoot the ball very well and attack the offensive glass.
“Both games will be tough tests, especially on the road.”
