Last season, Longwood women’s basketball ended with a 4-26 overall record, 1-17 in conference, finishing eighth in the conference in scoring and last with the amount of points scored against.
In order to turn their fortunes around, the team is breaking out a new offensive and defensive strategy. On offense, they will play an fast paced system that revolves around fast breaks and three point shooting.
“The ideal situation is to constantly attack, and constantly put pressure on the opponent,” said head coach Bill Reinson. “We have an opportunity, I think, to be the only team in our conference to play at that pace, and that’s what we’re looking for."
On how the offense fits the team’s personnel, senior point guard Micaela Ellis said, “We mainly have guards on our team, and our bigs aren’t super tall. So, our advantages are that we’re quick and can get the ball up the court faster.”
A season ago, the team shot just 23.8 percent from behind the three point arc, putting them at eighth in the conference.
Redshirt sophomore Kate Spradlin lead the team in three pointers made (39) and three-point shooting percentage (38.2) last season.
With the new offense in place, Spradlin believed the new game plan will bolster their attack.
She said, “We have a lot of guards that like to play fast so that’ll play right into our hands.”
“I’m really excited about it especially because we’re aiming to take a lot of threes every game,” she added. “I think making three-point shots raises the energy level a little bit. It’s almost like the equivalent in the men’s game.”
Along with guards like Ellis, Spradlin and sophomore guard Jada Russell, forwards including senior guard Autumn Childress and junior guard Kristina Antonenko, can also knock down three-point jumpers.
With the bigs being able knock down those outside shots, Ellis said, “It helps us because it stretches the defense out. It makes bigs come out, and they can’t just stand in the paint.”
With that court spacing, Ellis believes it will create driving lanes for her and the other guards.
On defense, the Lancers look to play a full-court press to force turnovers which will create easy scoring chances.
“It just speeds the game up, and plays into our favor," said Ellis.
Creating turnovers was an issue last season, as they finished seventh in the Big South with 203 steals, averaging 6.8 per game. The team also finished with a negative turnover differential, giving up nearly 60 more turnovers than their opponents.
Reinson said, “It’s supposed to be an attack system. We’re supposed to be pressing both full court, and half court.”
In order to keep the team from being winded, he added the team plans to rotate their players to maintain pressure on their opponents.
Reinson also noted after a team gets past half court and tries to run their offense, Longwood will stay in a trap/press oriented scheme.
“We’re not gonna let them run their offense,” he said.
Continuing in their pursuit to be a dark horse in the Big South, the Lancers embark on their final days of practice until they travel to Marshall on Nov. 10 to open their season.
