GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG's women's basketball team improved to 3-3 overall with a 81-60 win over Longwood at home Saturday afternoon. The Spartans were paced by seniors Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) and Jazmine Missouri (Largo, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) who had 24 points and 15 points, respectively.

Saturday marked the sixth-straight game Mason has tallied the game-high and her sixth 20-point performance of the season. Missouri's six-for-eight from the field and three free throws was a career-high for the senior guard.

Jade Scaife's (Fort Washington, Md./Archbishop Spalding) career-high 14 rebounds in her second career double-double where she also tallied 14 points. A total of four Spartans scored in double figures in Saturday's 21-point victory, the most since five players had double figures in UNCG's season opener against Pfeiffer.

UNCG rushed out to an early 6-2 lead in the opening minutes and held an 8-4 lead at 6:35. The Lancers responded with a 6-1 run over the next minute and a half to lead for the first time, 10-9, after a pair of free throws from Daeisha Brown. UNCG bounded back and pulled ahead by eight, 21-13, with an 11-3 run capped off by a layup from Mason with 29 seconds left in the first period.

The Spartans had a six-point advantage entering the second period and opened the frame on a 6-0 run to lead by its largest margin, 29-15, with 8:08 on the clock. A trey by Longwood's Micaela Ellis at 3:56 brought the Lancers within seven, 35-28, but UNCG held on for a 43-35 advantage at the break.

Mason led all scorers with 18 points in the first half as the Spartans shot an impressive 50 percent from the field. UNCG held a 19-17 advantage in rebounds in the first half and kept LU to shooting 38.7 percent from the field in the half.

Longwood slowly chipped away in the third period, making it a five-point game with 4:35 on the clock when Eboni Gilliam made it 49-44 with a layup. UNCG would end the half on an 11-0 run to lead by its largest margin, 16, with one period to play.

UNCG maintained a double-figure lead for the entire final period and took its biggest lead of the game of 26 points with less than a minute to play. The Spartans outscored Longwood 21-16 in the final frame for an 81-60 final score.

The Spartans shot just 31.6 percent from the field in the second half but dominated in the paint outscoring Longwood 25-12 and outrebounding the Lancers 33-15. LU shot 30 percent from the field and connected on just two-of-nine attempted shots from three-point range in the final half.

Overall, UNCG shot 39.1 percent from the field in the win and held Longwood to 34.4 percent. UNCG tallied 52 rebounds and scored 45 of its 81 points in the paint.

The freshman duo of Arielle Harvey (Loganville, Ga./South Gwinnett) and Ashley Bearden (Concord, N.C./Jay M. Robinson) each tallied their first career points. They each had two points with Bearden adding two rebounds as well.

The Spartans hit the road for a Tuesday night non-conference game at USC-Upstate for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

-UNCG-