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The run’s not done, and the band is still together. Longwood women’s basketball, as announced earlier in the week, will keep playing in the WNIT with a trip up to Duquesne on Thursday night at 6 p.m.

The stakes? A 23rd win, a trip to the second round of the WNIT, and one more chance, at minimum, to keep achieving together on Thursday night at 6 p.m. at Duquesne.

“We have a really special group,” said Longwood sophomore guard Amor Harris. “We really connect on and off the court, so getting a chance to compete and feel and experience that together again is great. It’s exciting to have a chance to try and win and compete against another team.”

This season has been a special journey for a group that connected this summer and has continued to achieve throughout the year. Among the major milestones: a 22-win campaign that matches the team’s best season at the Division I level, a second-place finish in the Big South regular season standings, and a run to the Big South Championship game for the third time since joining the league.

“It’s awesome. Just from where we started back in the summer to where we are now, we’ve grown so much not just as basketball players but as teammates, coaches and players,” said Longwood Head Coach Erika Lang-Montgomery about the opportunity for this group to keep playing together. “So it’s really great to extend our season with this group because of the closeness that we have.”

The team’s eight-game winning streak that spanned much of December and January, along with a 6-0 start to Big South play, matched some of the best teams in program history dating back to the Shirley Duncan years.

Longwood women’s basketball focuses on defense 

The team did so with a ferocious defense that leads the nation in steals per game. The full court pressure and aggression led to a 13-win turnaround from a season ago for a team that was hungry for growth all season long.

Then they used that defense to great effect in the Big South Tournament, holding opponents to an average of 53.7 points per game in the three-game stretch.

“Looking back to last year, we were at home really soon,” said sophomore forward Otaifo Esenabhalu. “This year, we are getting an opportunity, another chance, since we didn’t come out successful with our goal of winning the Big South Championship. A 23rd win would surpass the 2022 championship team’s win margin, which is a goal we’ve had as well.”

While they missed the ultimate goal, a Big South title, the last week has provided the team an opportunity to refocus and recenter.

“It was tough. I was disappointed, being so close and not coming out successful was really disappointing for me,” Esenabhalu, who was a Big South All-Tournament Team selection, said. “Coach E reminded us that we have another chance at a championship. We can stay in those feelings or use that to drive us and attempt to win the WNIT. At the championship, Coach E made us sit and feel that feeling [while watching High Point receive the trophy]. Hopefully we never have to feel that feeling again. Next year, we can remember that feeling and how much it sucked.”

“We fought hard. It was tough,” Harris, who also earned Big South All-Tournament Team honors, added. “All you can do is move on and use it as a learning lesson. So taking that, and taking what we did this year into next year and using it to motivate me and everyone else that is coming back as well.”

Taking the next step 

The first step in that journey for the Longwood women’s basketball team begins on Thursday. The game will air on ESPN+, and tip is set for 6 p.m.

“For us to still be playing and getting ready for a game on March 20, it’s exciting,” Lang-Montgomery added. “It’s part of the vision I had for the program when I became the head coach, is that I wanted us to win championships and to play deep into March. We’ve gotten the opportunity. We’ve gotten the taste of being in a championship final in the Big South Tournament. Now we get the reward of playing in the postseason.”