Lancers Take Down Bulldogs, 66-57
December 15, 2007 | Women's Basketball
FARMVILLE, Va. – Despite a season-high 15 points and 10 rebounds from redshirt-sophomore Laura Povilonyte and an additional 15 points from sophomore Margaret Roundtree, the Gardner-Webb women's basketball team was unable to overcome a 17-point first-half deficit Saturday afternoon, falling to Longwood by a 66-57 score in non-conference action.
The Bulldogs drop to 2-9 on the season while the Lancers improve to 6-6 on the year.
For the game, Jenny Sprouse had nine points, all of which came from behind the arc. Dominique Hudson had a team-best five assists and six rebounds while Roundtree chipped in seven boards.
Once again, the early struggles by head coach Rick Reeves' team was due to turnovers. GWU committed 21 first-half turnovers and trailed by as many as 17 with 8:44 remaining in the first half, largely because of the miscues.
After an early three-pointer by Jenny Sprouse that gave the Bulldogs their first and only lead of the game at 3-2, the home squad ran off six straight points for an 8-2 lead thanks to the errors by GWU.
The bucket by Odessa Williams at the 8:44 mark gave the Lancers a 27-10 advantage. The lead was due to the struggles with ball handling and shooting by the Bulldogs, as the squad did not hit a shot for close to a four-minute stretch and after a Povilonyte score, the team was rendered scoreless for another three minutes.
However, Reeves' team was not about to quit. The team quietly got a handle on their mistakes and stepped up the defense while grabbing every missed shot and loose ball en route to a 15-0 run that spanned 8:21 of the half. After pulling within two at 27-25 on Roundtree's jumper, Amber Sims connected on two free throws with 23 seconds remaining to put the Lancers up four. Five seconds later, Keiva Small stole the ball and hit a lay-up to put Longwood up six heading into the intermission.
After falling behind 33-25 in the opening moments of the second half, the Bulldogs once again pawed their way back into the contest. Povilonyte and Roundtree hit back-to-back shots for the team while Monique Hudson drained a three en route to a small spurt that pulled GWU within two.
Longwood was able to regain a small lead thanks to Williams and Small, but Povilonyte tied the game at 41 apiece with 14:34 to play in the contest. However, a 12-1 run by the Lancers once again put the home team ahead as the Bulldogs were unable to hit any of their shots for a period of five minutes.
Solid team play allowed GWU to close the gap after Longwood took a seemingly commanding lead. The Bulldogs held the Lancers without a point for four minutes while Reeves' team went on a 9-0 run to pull within three. During the run, Monique Hudson canned two free throws, Roundtree hit a lay-up, Sprouse drilled a three-pointer and Povilonyte accounted for the other two points from the charity stripe.
Down by six with 2:38 to play, Sprouse connected on her third three-pointer of the day to cut the margin to 60-57. However, it would be the last points for the Red and Black on the day as turnovers and missed jumpers forced the Bulldogs to foul. Unlucky for them, the Lancers made the free throws, putting the final margin at 66-57.
The Bulldogs will look to end the losing streak on Monday at
home against UNC-Asheville. Tip-off is slated for a 7 p.m. start in
the LYCC.
