Longwood holds on for 69-66 win over UNCG, ECU wins in overtime over Ohio

GREENSBORO, NC – Longwood University held on for a 69-66 victory over the UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team in the opening game of the 2005 UNCG/Marriott Thanksgiving Tournament Friday afternoon at Fleming Gym.

UNCG (0-2) junior KaLeah Latham led all scorers with a career-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds, while freshman Gini Grimsley scored a season-high 15 points. Junior Brittany Frazier had her first double-double at UNCG with 13 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds.

Jessica Wilkerson led Longwood (2-2) with 16 points, while Ashley Mason had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Amber Mason had six points and six assists.

Wilkerson knocked down two free throws with 0.7 second on the clock to secure a narrow victory for Longwood over the Spartans. Latham had brought UNCG to within one point, 67-66, on a layup with two seconds remaining after the Spartans had trailed by as many as nine points earlier in the second half.

Both teams suffered through shooting troubles in the first half as UNCG was 6-for-25 (25.0 percent) from the field, while Longwood got hot at the end of the stanza to finish with a 37.5 percent (12-for-32) shooting clip.

UNCG led 13-8 at the 8:07 mark after a pair of free throws by Latham. Longwood answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Leigh Mascherin and Wilkerson to give the Lancers a 14-13 advantage with 6:03 to play until halftime. Grimsley would score five straight points to give UNCG a 22-17 lead, but Longwood went on a 12-2 run to take its largest lead of the half, 29-24, on another 3-pointer by Mascherin with 36 seconds left.

The Spartans cut their deficit to 29-28 on two free throws by sophomore Jasmine Dixon with sevens seconds left, but Longwood’s Courtney Dyer sank a layup at the buzzer to send the Lancers into the intermission with a 31-28 lead. UNCG kept itself in the game by shooting 84.2 percent (16-for-19) from the charity stripe.

Longwood’s leading scorer Ashley Mason was held scoreless in the first half but came out of the break with consecutive layups to give the Lancers a 35-28 lead. The duo of Grimsley and Latham would bring UNCG back as they combined for 10 straight points to tie the game at 44-44 with 11:04 to go. Senior Caroline Blair followed with a running layup to put the Spartans up 46-44 at the 9:50 mark.

Longwood would take the lead for good, 49-46, on a 3-pointer by Claire Blevins at 7:57. The visitors would extend its lead to as many as nine points, 62-51, on Mascherin’s third 3-pointer of the game.

UNCG will take on the loser of the Ohio-East Carolina game on Saturday in the consolation game of the tournament. Longwood will be in championship game at around 3 pm.

GAME NOTES: UNCG had not played Longwood since a 101-82 victory on the road on January 26, 1991... UNCG head coach Lynne Agee is a 1971 graduate of Longwood... Agee is now 11-2 against her alma mater and 9-2 against Longwood head coach Shirley Duncan... UNCG is 0-2 for just the fourth time since the 1991-92 season... Jasmine Byrd dished out five assists but suffered through an 0-for-10 shooting day... UNCG won the battle of the boards, 45-36... UNCG shot 80.8 percent (21-for-26) from the free throw line.

AGATE
LONGWOOD 69, UNC GREENSBORO 66

LONGWOOD (2-2)
Wilkerson, Jessica 5-7 5-6 16; Mason, Ashley 3-7 5-8 11; Mascherin, Leigh 3-9 0-0 9; Mason, Amber 3-10 2-2 8; Small, Keiva 3-7 1-2 8; Freese, Abbey 2-6 0-0 6; Dyer, Courtney 2-4 0-0 5; Sims, Amber 2-4 0-0 4; Blevins, Claire 1-3 0-0 2; Wandeu, Nadege 0-0 0-0 0; Steg, Anna 0-1 0-0 0; Smith, Cassandra 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-58 13-18 69.

UNC GREENSBORO (0-2)
LATHAM, KaLeah 6-8 6-7 18; GRIMSLEY, Gini 5-10 4-5 15; FRAZIER, Brittany 4-9 5-7 13; BROOKS, Kemena 2-5 3-3 7; OTAMIRI, Irene 2-6 0-0 4; BLAIR, Caroline 2-5 0-0 4; CURRENT, Ashley 1-3 0-0 2; DIXON, Jasmine 0-1 2-2 2; LING, Ashley 0-1 1-2 1; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 0-1 0-0 0; BYRD, Jasmine 0-10 0-0 0; JACKSON, Shanika 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 21-26 66.

Halftime: Longwood 31, UNC Greensboro 28. 3-point goals-Longwood 8-29 (Mascherin, Leigh 3-8; Freese, Abbey 2-6; Wilkerson, Jessica 1-3; Small, Keiva 1-2; Dyer, Courtney 1-3; Mason, Amber 0-6; Mason, Ashley 0-1), UNC Greensboro 1-9 (GRIMSLEY, Gini 1-4; BROOKS, Kemena 0-1; BYRD, Jasmine 0-3; JACKSON, Shanika 0-1). Fouled out--Longwood-None, UNC Greensboro-None. Rebounds-Longwood 36 (Mason, Ashley 11), UNC Greensboro 45 (FRAZIER, Brittany 11). Assists-Longwood 17 (Mason, Amber 6), UNC Greensboro 12 (BYRD, Jasmine 5). Total fouls-Longwood 25, UNC Greensboro 19. A-218.

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East Carolina outlasts Ohio in overtime women’s basketball action

GREENSBORO, NC – East Carolina outlasted Ohio for a 71-68 overtime victory in the opening round of the 2005 UNCG/Marriott Thanksgiving Tournament Friday afternoon at Fleming Gym. The win puts the Pirates in tomorrow’s championship game against Longwood.

ECU (1-1) was led by Cherie Mills’ 21 points and five rebounds, while Jasmine Young added and Jessica Slack chipped in with 11 and 10 points respectively.

Rachel Frederick led Ohio (1-3) with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Katie Reihmann had 12 points off the bench, while Lauren Revesk had 11 points for the Bobcats.

With Ohio leading 63-61 in the final minute of regulation, ECU’s Slack nailed a jumper with 26 seconds left to send the game into overtime. The two clubs traded five point runs in overtime which culminated in a 68-68 tie with less than a minute left. Impris Manning converted one of two free throws to give East Carolina a 69-68 advantage. Manning then came up with a steal at the other end of the court and was fouled. She calmly canned two free throws to give the Pirates a 71-68 lead with 18 seconds to go.

The first half saw neither team lead by more than five points and featured six ties. Frederick gave Ohio an early 13-8 lead with a 3-pointer at the 13:59 mark of the first half. The Bobcats still led 21-20 at the 7:41 mark, before LaCoya Terry converted a layup off her own steal and Jessica Slack drained a 3-pointer to give East Carolina its largest lead off the half, 25-21, with 5:01 to go until intermission.

The Ohio-Longwood match up will be at 3 pm. Longwood edged the host Spartans 69-66 in the first game of the day. Ohio and UNCG will clash at 1 pm.

AGATE
EAST CAROLINA 71, OHIO 68

OHIO (1-3)
FREDERICK, Rachel 8-11 7-8 27; REIHMANN, Katie 4-7 0-0 12; REVESZ, Lauren 4-7 3-4 11; REDD, Simone 1-7 4-4 6; IGLEHART, Ciara 1-4 4-4 6; MYERS, Chandra 0-0 2-4 2; WARD, Quintana 1-5 0-0 2; HASHIVON, Vicky 1-3 0-0 2; JENKINS, KeyAuna 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 20-24 68.

EAST CAROLINA (1-1)
MILLS, Cherie 8-13 5-5 21; YOUNG, Jasmine 4-10 1-2 11; SLACK, Jessica 4-13 0-0 10; DAYS, Nicole 3-5 2-8 8; TERRY, LaCoya 4-12 0-3 8; COLEY, Catherine 2-4 0-0 4; MANNING, Impris 0-7 3-4 3; HONESTY, Jessica 1-4 1-2 3; DOWNEY, Ebonee 1-4 0-0 2; HUSAROVA, Gabriela 0-3 1-2 1; MILLS, Amanda 0-0 0-0 0; HORTON, LaToya 0-5 0-2 0. Totals 27-80 13-28 71.

Halftime: Ohio 30, East Carolina 30. End of Regulation: Ohio 66, East Carolina 66. 3-point goals-Ohio 8-17 (FREDERICK, Rachel 4-5; REIHMANN, Katie 4-6; REDD, Simone 0-1; IGLEHART, Ciara 0-1; WARD, Quintana 0-2; HASHIVON, Vicky 0-2), East Carolina 4-21 (YOUNG, Jasmine 2-7; SLACK, Jessica 2-8; TERRY, LaCoya 0-1; MANNING, Impris 0-1; DOWNEY, Ebonee 0-2; HUSAROVA, Gabriela 0-2). Fouled out--Ohio-REVESZ, Lauren, East Carolina-MILLS, Cherie. Rebounds-Ohio 49 (FREDERICK, Rachel 12), East Carolina 41 (DAYS, Nicole 8). Assists-Ohio 13 (WARD, Quintana 5), East Carolina 17 (YOUNG, Jasmine 4). Total fouls-Ohio 24, East Carolina 19. A-218.

- UNCG -