FARMVILLE, Va.- Raven Williams scored a game-high 19 points and had five steals to lead Longwood (1-11,1-2 BSC) to a 63-59 victory over the Gardner-Webb University women's basketball team (4-8, 0-3 BSC) in a Big South Conference matchup on Sunday afternoon in Willett Hall.
Jessica Heilig returned after missing the Runnin' Bulldogs previous game at Kennesaw State scoring 16 points and hauling down 10 rebounds. Heilig also added three blocks, and Olivia Parker and Candace Brown each scored 11 and 10 points respectively, to round out the double-figure scorers for Gardner-Webb.
Gardner-Webb won rebounding battle 43-39, grabbing 18 misses on the offensive end, and turned the offensive rebounds into 10 second chance points compared to just eight for Longwood.
The Runnin' Bulldogs outscored the Lancers 40-22 in points in the paint, but Longwood hit nine shots from behind the three-point arc on 21 attempts to just one by GWU.
Heilig attempted a game-high 12 free-throws but managed only to covert four of the 12 attempts from the charity stripe, and as a team, the Runnin' Bulldogs shot 25 free throws compared to just seven from Longwood, but struggled at the free-throw line hitting just 10 of the 25 attempts.
Emily Nylen scored the game's first points for the Lancers which was followed by three-pointers from Williams and Deborah Headen as the Lancers opened on an 8-2 overs the game's first two minutes.
Longwood continued to hold the lead in the first half extending its advantage to as much as 15 points, 26-11 with 10:54 to go in the opening period.
Kiera Currie would come right back and score a layup for GWU to cut the defecit to 13 for the Runnin' Bulldogs, and Gardner-Webb ended the half on a 17-2 run, limiting the Lancers to just two points over the remaining 10:54 of the opening half, as both teams headed into the locker room tied at 28.
Neither team would lead by more than two over the first 10 mins of the second half. Parker went 2-2 from the free-throw line to tie the game at 47 with 6:35 left, but Longwood would answer with a quick 9-0 run to take a 56-47 lead, as Breanna Robbins and Headen both hit three-pointers and Williams scored a layup and hit the ensuing free-throw to convert the old fashioned three-point play.
Gardner-Webb however would answer back with a 12-2 run of its own to take a 59-58 lead with 2:47 remaining.
After moving the ball around nicely on the offensive end, the Lancers kicked it out to Kyndal Skersick who hit the three-pointer to give Longwood a 61-59 advantage with 1:52 to go.
Brown missed a layup and Heilig grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled, but missed both free-throws, while Headen went 2-2 from the charity stripe as Longwood went on for the 63-59 victory for its first conference win of the season.
Gardner-Webb has a quick turnaround for its next game when it hosts Radford for the conference home-opener on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena.
