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It was the moment that all the work and practice is for. The fourth quarter of a Commonwealth clash for the ages, across state lines in Tennessee, a back-and-forth battle between two in-state rivals desperate to keep their seasons alive. The Longwood women aren’t going home yet.

In a thrilling Hercules Tire Big South Tournament semifinal that saw 16 lead changes, Amor Harris scored 15 points, Kiki McIntyre added 13 points and six rebounds, and the Lancers dominated the fourth quarter to close out a thrilling 73-65 win over Radford Saturday night at the Freedom Hall Civic Center.

The No. 2 seeded-Lancers’ surprising and magical season extends to Sunday evening at 6 p.m., when they’ll play top-seeded High Point in front of a national television audience on ESPN2. At stake: a trip to March Madness and the NCAA Tournament.

‘We were on a mission’

“Still catching my breath,” said Big South Coach of the Year Erika Lang-Montgomery, who guided Longwood, predicted to finish seventh in the preseason poll, to a 20-win regular season and the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. “We were just determined. We were on a mission to be that last Virginia team standing.”

Two rivals who split their pair of regular-season contests gave fans an unforgettable dose of post-season excitement in a game that pitted Longwood’s ferocious, nationally renowned defense against a sharp-shooting Radford squad whose 11 3-pointers brought them back from a 9-point halftime deficit to hold a 63-61 lead midway with 5:44 remaining.

The Highlanders wouldn’t score another basket. Otaifo Esenabhalu scored a pair of layups at the 4:21 and 3:30 marks that put Longwood ahead for good, as the Lancers scored 10 unanswered points down the stretch and won the final quarter 23-14.

“I’m just really proud of the effort my team gave for 40 minutes,” Lang-Montgomery said. “We talked about adversity coming, and how we had to fight and battle, and we did that.”
Mariah Wilson added 11 points for the balanced Longwood attack, while Malea Brown scored 12 and Frances Ulysse had nine. Longwood took excellent care of the basketball, with just 11 turnovers, their second lowest total of the season.

“I think our fight was what was most important,” Wilson said of the Lancers’ fourth-quarter steadiness after they had lost the lead in the third. “We play better when we play together. We took some quick shots in the third and that gave them a chance to catch back up.”

Longwood women extend their season

The win extends at least one more day what was already a memorable season for Lancer fans, with 20-plus wins for just the second time in program history.

McIntyre said the chance to play top-seeded High Point for a chance to go on to March Madness was a dream come true – but there’s still work for the Longwood women to do.

“It feels amazing to get to that moment,” McIntyre said. “I’m so excited, but we’re not there yet. We’re ready. Tunnel vision right now.”

“It’s going to be a heavyweight fight,” Lang-Montgomery said. “You’ve got two very good basketball clubs that want only one thing, and there’s only one of it to go around. We split in the regular season. We just have to go out and take it one possession at a time and hopefully play our best basketball tomorrow.”