ROCK HILL, SC – Freshman Jah'che Whitfield scored a career-high 19 points Saturday afternoon as the Winthrop women's basketball team downed the Longwood Lancers 77-69 in the team's conference opener.

Winthrop improved to 5-9 overall and 1-0 in the conference while Longwood fell to 1-10 overall and 0-1in the Big South.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The two squads played a very even first half.  Winthrop led for most of the first quarter, leading by as much as six with 54 seconds left in the period.  The Eagles held a five-point edge after the opening 10 minutes.

After Winthrop increased its lead to seven early in the second quarter, Longwood slowly chipped away and took its first lead since early in the first quarter at 27-26 with 5:47 left in the half.  The teams traded buckets over the last five minutes of the half and the Eagles came out ahead 36-34 going into the break.

Winthrop held the Lancers scoreless over the opening 4:29 of the second half and in that time increased its lead to 13 at 47-33.  After the Eagles went up by 13, Longwood went on a 14-4 run and cut the Winthrop advantage to three with 1:19 remaining.  Longwood managed only one more point and the Eagles led 55-49 heading into the final quarter.

The beginning of the fourth quarter was low scoring but Longwood slowly got within one with 2:15 remaining.  Winthrop was able to keep the Lancers at bay from the free-throw line as the Eagles went 10-for-12 from the charity stripe over the final 2:05 of the contest to take the 77-69 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Kem Nwabudu scored a game-high 20 points while Jah'che Whitfield scored a career-high 19 points in the victory.  Anika Riley led the Eagles with nine rebounds.

Both teams shot well in the contest as the Eagles connected on 44 percent of their shots including 66 percent in the first quarter.  Longwood finished at 47 percent from the field.  Longwood edged out the Eagles on the boards, pulling down 39 rebounds to Winthrop's 37.

WHAT'S UP NEXT
Winthrop continues with a three-game home stretch to open the conference season as the Eagles host Charleston Southern Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.