The Longwood Lancers women’s basketball team rolled past USC Upstate on March 7 at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee for their first Big South tournament win since their championship run in 2022. The Lancers held the Spartans to under 24% from the field in a smothering defensive display.
The Lancers finished second in the Big South during the regular season with an 11-5 record and were all set for the Big South tournament quarterfinal against USC Upstate on Thursday. Though the Lancers lost both their meetings with the Spartans in the regular season, it was all Longwood early, racing out to a 17-0 run to begin the game. The Longwood defense completely flattened USC Upstate as they didn’t make a single field goal in the entire opening quarter, with their only points coming from the free-throw line. The Spartans finally hit their first field goal halfway into the second quarter. Longwood forced 15 turnovers in the first half, while only allowing 12 points. Longwood went into the halftime break up 30-12.
Both teams came out of halftime shooting cold and the first basket wasn’t scored until almost four minutes had elapsed in the third quarter. The Lancers forced turnover after turnover in the third, as sophomore forward Frances Ulysse continued to get quality looks down low. She entered the fourth quarter with 15 points and seven rebounds. Longwood did not finish the game shooting very well, and was outscored 17-13 in the fourth, but the Lancers were able to rely on their defense to see the game out.
In the end, Longwood collected the 56-37 win and will move on to the semifinals. Ulysse's 15 points led the way for the Lancers, while sophomore center Otaifo Esenebhalu had 13 of her own.
Longwood’s 37 points allowed is the lowest they have given up this season to a D-1 opponent. The Lancers turned the Spartans over 31 times while scoring 24 points directly off turnovers. Despite the defensive dominance, Longwood's shooting left much to be desired, as they ended the day at just under 34% from the field. “We’ve been pretty consistent with [our defense] all year. Being able to force turnovers and score off those turnovers,” said Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery. “This is the time of the year where you want to be at your best.”
Longwood also grabbed 18 offensive rebounds in the game, their second-highest in Big South play this season. “Our assistant coach Landis McCoy talked to me early in the week about starting both [Esenebhalu and Ulysse] together… because of Upstate’s size and how poorly we rebounded last week, we thought that this would give us an advantage.”
The Lancers will take on Radford on Saturday, March 8 at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+. “I think we need to focus on little stuff and the stuff we missed today,” said Ulysse. "Something we don’t really do well is boxing out and getting after long rebounds. If we focus on that and [limit] fouls, we will be fine.”
