ROCK HILL, SC— Erica Williams recorded a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds while
Marissa Cantrell scored a season high 18 points to lead Winthrop's women to a 78-72 Big South Conference win over Longwood on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Eagles snapped a 17-game losing streak and gained their first win in conference action against an opponent that entered the game without a Big South win as well. Winthrop is now 2-17 (1-6 BSC) while Longwood drops to 3-15 (0-7).
In addition to the performances of Williams and Cantrell, Winthrop got 14 points from
Danyael Goodhope—all in the second half. Longwood had two double-double performances from Eboni Gilliam who scored a career-best 27 points on 13 of 19 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds and Autumn Childress who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
In a game that saw nine lead changes, Winthrop trailed by nine in the first quarter at 18-9 when Ciarah Bennett connected on a 3-pointer with 2:18 left in the period. The Eagles closed the gap to five at the end of the quarter after Williams scored inside and
Naima Jackson made a 15-foot jumper.
Winthrop outscored the Lancers 19-13 in the second quarter behind the scoring of Williams and Cantrell who combined to score 14 points. Longwood led 26-17 with 7:29 left in the first half when Cantrell connected on back-to-back jumpers from the left wing to fuel a 13-0 run and put the Eagles ahead 30-26. Longwood reclaimed the lead at 31-30 when Ashlee Jones nailed a 3-pointer at the 1:43 mark, but Cantrell's layup with 36 seconds left gave the Eagles a 32-31 lead at intermission.
Winthrop came out in the second half and took a 37-33 lead after Cantrell's steal and layup and
Angela Coello Perez' 3-pointer. However, the Lancers answered with an 18-6 run behind Gilliam and Childress who combined to score 15 of those points to give Longwood an eight-point lead at 51-43 with three minutes left in the third quarter.
Winthrop responded with a 22-9 run that spanned the final two minutes, 40 seconds of the third period and the opening 5:24 of the fourth quarter to take a 65-60 lead. Goodhope led that rally with 10 points. Winthrop built a six point lead at 69-63 on a full court drive by Jackson with 2:55 remaining in the game, but that advantage was short-lived as Longwood answered with a 9-2 run to take a 72-71 lead on a follow shot by Micaela Hall with 1:16 left.
Jackson gave Winthrop the lead for good on a 18-footer from the left corner and the Eagles closed out the victory by converting five of six free throws in the final 26 seconds.
Winthrop will now try to win its second conference game in a row when it travels to Lynchburg, VA on Saturday to face Liberty at 7 p.m. in the Vines Center.
