At Winthrop, Longwood women finally get a win
A five-game losing streak and the absence of two starters are testing the Winthrop women’s basketball team right now.
The latest setback, a 63-60 loss to Longwood on Saturday at Winthrop Coliseum, showed the effects of the absence of center Schaquilla Nunn, out for the season with an ankle injury, and forward Erica Williams, missing for the last two games with a bruised left foot.
“It hurts our depth,” said Winthrop coach Kevin Cook after his team, down 11 points at the end of the third quarter, fell short on a fourth-quarter comeback. “When you’re missing key players, everyone else plays extended minutes. We’ve gotten worn down these last couple of games.”
Aliyah Kilpatrick scored 21 points and Jimecheia Banks added 13 for the Eagles (2-11, 1-3 Big South), whose starters all played at least 31 of the game’s 40 minutes. Kilpatrick and Banks played the entire game.
Deborah Headen scored 12 points and Kyndal Skersick added 11 for Longwood (4-9, 1-3), which won for the first time ever at Winthrop.
Winthrop trailed 54-41 after three quarters but trimmed the deficit to 61-60 on Kilpatrick’s 3-pointer with 26 seconds to play.
The Lancers hit one of two free throws on their next possession, then Winthrop’s Renata Rogers was fouled on a rebound with 6.6 seconds to play. She missed both attempts and Longwood hit one of two free throws to wrap up the win.
Turning point
The Lancers closed the first half on a 12-2 run to take a 34-31 lead at the break. But Cook said the third quarter, in which Winthrop was outscored 20-10, was an even bigger key to the game.
“At halftime we asked our players to come out and play strong defense,” he said. “We didn’t do that until the fourth quarter. Longwood saw that they could attack the goal against us and they did it. We waited too late to battle back.”
Critical
It was the free throws, Cook said – and not just the two late misses by Rogers. “It was the whole team,” he said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win, but when you’re 6-of-15 from the line it’s hard to take advantage.”
Star Contributions
Kilpatrick scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the second half and was the only reliable Winthrop player from the free-throw line, hitting 4-of-5.
Rogers scored nine points and her 15 rebounds – eight on the offensive boards – marked a career high for the second-straight game. Arianne Whitaker added 14 rebounds.
Overheard
Cook said that Williams’ status for the next game is uncertain.
On Deck
The Eagles’ play at 2 p.m. Saturday at Radford. The next home game is Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. against Presbyterian.
“We’ve got a week to prepare for Radford,” Cook said. “There’s no time for us to hang our heads.”
LONGWOOD 63, WINTHROP 60
LONGWOOD (4-9, 1-3)
Kemari Jones 4-10 1-3 11, Eboni Gilliam 0-8 0-0 0, Daeisha Brown 4-9 1-1 9, Micaela Ellis 0-5 1-2 1, Skersick 3-16 4-6 11, Ciarah Bennett 2-3 0-0 5 Ashlee Jones 3-5 0-0 7, Autumn Childress 3-8 1-2 9, Deborah Headen 4-7 3-3 12. TOTALS 23-71 11-17 63.
WINTHROP (2-11, 1-3)
Ronata Rogers 4-9 1-4 9, Arianne Whitaker 3-5 0-0 6, Aliyah Kilpatrick 8-25 4-5 21, Jimecheia Banks 5-10 0-0 13, Naima Jackson 2-7 1-4 5, Nuba Jackson 0-1 -0-0 0, CiiCii Buford 0-1 0-0 0, Kayla Atkins 0-0 0-0 0, Ezinne Mbamalu 3-8 0-0 6. TOTALS 25-66 6-15 60.
Longwood | 16 | 18 | 20 | 9 | - | 63 |
Winthrop | 20 | 11 | 10 | 19 | - | 60 |
Three-point goals: Longwood 6-18 (Childress 2-4), Winthrop 4-12 (Banks 3-6). Fouled out – Winthrop: Naima Jackson. Rebounds: Longwood 43 (K. Jones 11), Winthrop 51 (Rogers 15). Assists — Longwood 8 (Ellis 3), Winthrop 10 (Kilpatrick 4, Banks 4). Total fouls — Longwood 14, Winthrop 18. Technical fouls — None. A-290
This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 4:44 PM with the headline "At Winthrop, Longwood women finally get a win."