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Down as many as 19 points late in the first half and 14 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Longwood women nearly completed an improbable comeback before falling, 55-50, to Charleston Southern in Big South Conference action at the Joan Perry Brock Center on Saturday.

The Buccaneers (10-12, 6-3), who led from start to finish, shot 53.8 percent in the first half, building their largest lead of the game with less than two minutes to go before halftime.

The Lancers (16-7, 7-2) — winners of three straight games against CSU entering play — rallied in the fourth quarter, causing seven of the visitors’ 34 turnovers on the day in the final stanza to to give themselves a chance.

“I think that’s just being resilient,” Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery said of the comeback. “When you’re at home, you’re playing in front of your fans, you want to compete, you want to play with pride. And I thought we challenged our team with that in that second half, and I thought they responded.”

Longwood used a 9-0 run early in the fourth, slicing the deficit to just five at 44-39 with 6:51 remaining when Malea Brown picked off a Kesunti Nichols pass, racing the other way for a layup, after Kiki McIntyre knocked down a 3-pointer following Longwood’s smothering defense forced a shot-clock violation.

“We turned them over quite a bit. We were able to get some stops that led to scores,”  Lang-Montgomery said. “We had some good possessions on defense where we forced some shot clock violations, which gave us opportunities and possessions to score, and we were able to convert on those.”

Longwood women attempt a comeback

Charleston Southern responded, however, as Nichols hit a layup with four-and-a-half minutes to play to restore a double-digit advantage at 51-40. The Lancers fought back, again, though.

McIntyre split a pair for free throws and then Mariah Wilson drained a trey, cutting the lead to 51-44 with less than three minutes on the clock. Longwood tallied six of the next eight, shaving the lead to 53-50 when McIntyre canned two more from the line and intercepted a Caelan Ellis pass. She converted the layup with 53 seconds left.

CSU’s Madison Adamson missed two foul shots and Otaifo Esenabhalu gathered the rebound with 43 seconds. McIntyre missed a triple try out of a timeout and the Bucs put the game away at the line.

Malea Wilson scored a team-best 12 points and added for steals, while McIntyre tallied nine points, grabbing three offensive rebounds and six steals to go along with four assists. Esenabhalu chipped in eight points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Catherine Alben scored a game-best 19 points and hit four 3-pointers, leading the Bucs to their  fourth consecutive victory.

What’s next for Lancers?

Longwood is back in action next Saturday at Radford. Tip time at the Dedmon Center is 6 p.m., on ESPN+.