Women’s basketball played Wake Forest University (WFU) and the University of Florida (UF) during this past week. The team will also face opponents this season such as Virginia Tech, University of Virginia and Clemson University.
The Lancers lost to WFU on Nov. 15, 2014, 64-60. “We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and still had a chance to make some shots at the end to win,” said Head Coach Bill Reinson.
The team had an easier non- conference schedule last year, according to Reinson.
“We were very young last year... this year we are getting older, the majority of our players are juniors,” said Reinson. “If we are going to contend for the Big South Conference championship we have to play against good teams.”
The most recent game team played was against UF on Nov. 17, 2014. Due to the distance between schools, the Lancers flew to swamp territory, Gainesville, Florida, to take on the Gators.
The team was unable to compete with the Gators, losing 91-46.
“The Florida game was only a game for six or seven minutes. For whatever reason we could not stop the bleeding,” said Reinson. “We need to see where we stand, we were feeling good after the Wake Forest game, it was a little dose of reality...that we are not as far along as we hope,” said Reinson.
One thing to consider with these past games is the atmosphere the Lancers had to face. “Florida had a pretty good crowd it was very difficult to hear...that helps us as well learning to communicate on the fly and talking to each other on the court,” said Reinson.
The Lancers have one more away game before coming home to Willett Hall on Monday, Nov. 24.
“No doubt our crowd is terrific and they support us very well. It is much different playing at home when people are cheering for you; as opposed to playing on the road where people cheer when you make a mistake,” said Reinson.
Junior guard Daeisha Brown led the team in points scored during both the WFU (29) and UF (17) games.
“When Dae Dae [Brown] is healthy she is always fun to watch...her play the first two games was outstanding, she went into an ACC school with 29 points and a SEC school scored 17 points” said Reinson.
Brown played most of her sophomore year in the point guard position. Her career totals include 390 points, 128 rebounds, 63 assists, 62 steals and two blocks, according to Longwood’s athletic website.
Another player on the team with impact is junior guard/forward Khalilah Ali. Ali suffered a knee injury during the Big South tournament last season, and provides a defensive presence with a total of 25 blocks in her career. “Ali was very good she recovered well from her knee, she was very aggressive against Wake Forest,” said Reinson.
When asked about Ali’s recovery Reinson said, “I would say she is 90-95%.”
One of three assistant coaches to Reinson is Wanisha Smith. Smith played in the WNBA for the Detroit Shock. When asked about how playing in the WNBA translated into her coaching style Smith said, “The caliber of teams we are playing those type of kids are going to be the ones that are going to be in the WNBA...it’s giving us some good looks and good competition and preparing us for the Big South Conference. There is still a bitter taste in our mouth [losing in the first round of Big South tournament], one we have to get back there and two it would be great to actually win it this time.”
According to Smith, the factor that wins conference games is team defense. “We are going to focus a lot of our season and practice on our defense and rebounding,” said Smith.
Brown had one final comment to say about fans expectations, “The fans should look forward to a winning season...I think we can go to the championship and, I think we can win.”
