Heading into the week, the women’s basketball team was coming off a tough overtime loss to Presbyterian, and looking to bounce back with a road trip to Boiling Springs, North Carolina, to take on the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs, a team that they had defeated in their conference opener by a score of 80-70 back on December 28.
The game started with the Lancers having to play catch-up, trailing by as many as 13 points in the second quarter. However, late in the second, junior guard Allysah ‘Cookie’ Booth and freshman guard Kyla McMakin combined for 10 points in the final five minutes of the quarter to cut the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ lead to only 7 points at halftime. The team then came out of the locker room on fire, going on an 18-4 run and leading by as much as 9 points late in the third quarter.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs then rallied in the fourth, taking a two-point lead with under a minute to go. Then, with 12 seconds remaining, Dayna Rouse made a basket to even to score at 70 points each. The game seemed destined for overtime, but unfortunately for Longwood, Gardner-Webb’s Savannah Plentovich had other plans. Plentovich nailed a three-pointer with just over a single second remaining on the clock, sealing the Lancers’ fate with a final score of 73-70.
“There’s still a lot of season left. Sometimes, close losses hurt more than other losses," said Tillett. "We take some positive that we are right there with everybody in this league. We’re getting to a point where we’re building momentum towards the postseason.”
This game and the Presbyterian game were lost by a combined 8 points. Tillett added, “We’ve shown that we can come back in games. We are working on improving our decision-making. We’ve probably played more close games than anyone else in the league, so when we get into the postseason, and it’s time, we’re gonna have a ton of experience.”
The game was so close due in-part to a career performance from sophomore forward Akila Smith. Smith achieved her first collegiate double-double by racking up 12 points and 12 rebounds. Smith said, “It felt good because my coaches really pushed me and I worked hard for it. It was a big accomplishment for me, but we didn’t get the win so it was still kind of disappointing.” In the past, Smith had been known for her defense and rebounding skill. In this game, she finally broke out on offense, going 6-of-10 from the floor. “My defense translated to offense. It was really my teammates putting me in the right position," said Smith.
Next up for the team was the Hampton Lady Pirates, a team that had beaten them 72-55 in their previous matchup, who made the trip to Willett Hall. Unfortunately for the Lancers, history repeated itself as 18 turnovers and a 31-point performance from Hampton’s Laren Vanarsdale put the road team ahead early and often.
A fourth quarter rally and the third double-double of the season from Kyla McMakin (18 pts, 11 rbs) did not prove to be enough as the Lancers dropped their third straight, 90-76. However, Akila Smith did have an outstanding performance on the defensive end with eight blocks and junior transfer guard Tra'Dayja Smith finished with a team high 19 points.
The Lancers now sit in 8th place in the Big South Conference at 6-8 and 10-13 overall, which would, at the moment, allow them to host a playoff game inside of Willett Hall.
Next up for the women’s basketball team is a date with in-state rival Radford on Tuesday, followed by a road-trip to Campbell before finally returning to Farmville to face the Winthrop Eagles on Tuesday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m.
Freshman guard Kyla McMakin looks to navigate the Hampton defense late in the first quarter of this past Saturday's game. The Lancers would eventually fall to the Lady Pirates by a score of 90-76. McMakin had her third double-double of the season in the loss with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
