WASHINGTON — Sophomore Otaifo Esenabhalu posted a her second consecutive double-double with a game-high 10 points and 13 rebounds as the Longwood women’s basketball team pulled away from American in a 59-41 non-conference victory at Bender Arena on Wednesday.
Longwood cemented its advantage, holding the homesteading Eagles (0-3) scoreless over a nine-minute stretch spanning halftime, which saw the lead grow from to 31-23 at the break to 40-24 with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter.
With the win, Longwood’s first over American since a 66-59 triumph to open the 2006-07 season, the Lancers matched the best four-game start in their Division I history. Longwood also won three of their first four games to begin the 2013-14 and 2006-07 seasons.
“I’m super proud of how our team played tonight,” Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery said. “We struggled a little bit offensively, but made shots when it counted, but really it was our defense. It’s becoming our identity and we knew that we were going to have to battle for 40 minutes and hopefully be able to come out on top of it.”
The Longwood defense forced 27 Eagles’ turnovers and collected 16 steals, including five each by Malea Brown and Kiki McIntyre, to keep the American offense out of sorts. AU shot just 29.3 percent from the field, making only 17 field goals in the game.
For the fourth straight game, at least eight players scored for the Lancers, who received nine points and nine rebounds from sophomore Frances Ulysse, nine points from classmate Amor Harris, of nearby Alexandria, Va., and eight points apiece from seniors Brown and Mariah Wilson.
“It’s just a reflection of our culture,” Lang-Montgomery said of getting contributions from everyone on the roster. “We’re a team that really loves and cares for each other, and so, we want to make sure that we’re playing unselfish basketball every night.
“It doesn’t matter who’s the hot hand tonight. It’s just as long as we play, accomplish the mission and get the job done together. And that’s what we did.”
Longwood outrebounded a bigger American team, 48-44, with the help of 21 offensive boards that led to 10 second-chance points.
The Lancers used an 11-0 run over the final five minutes of the first quarter for a 16-8 lead heading to the second. Junior Jaci Bolden had five points in the stretch. Longwood took its first double-digit lead of the night as Brown stripped AU’s Anna Rescifina of the ball and went the other way for a layup and a 18-8 edge on the first possession of the second quarter.
Harris followed a minute later with a fastbreak layup after another Brown steal for a 12-point advantage. A Wilson 3-pointer and Lili Booker later pushed the lead to 27-16 with 5:38 remaining in the half.
A 3-pointer from American’s Elizabeth Archer with 1:45 remaining in the half moved the Eagles to within 31-23, but they did not score for the next nine minutes. The Lancers limited American to six points in the third quarter as AU went just 1-for-12 from the field and hit three foul shots. In the period.
The lead did not dip below double figures in the final 10 minutes as Longwood cruised to victory.
Longwood is back in action at Georgia Southern at 11 a.m., on Saturday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
