University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, March 5
Johnson City, TN
8:30 PM
UNC Asheville
12-18,7-9Big South
58
vs
72
Longwood
21-9,11-5Big South
1
2
3
4
F
UNC Asheville
7
15
21
15
58
Longwood
15
17
18
22
72
Women's Basketball Falls to Longwood in Big South Conference Championship Quarterfinal on Thursday
03.05.2026 | Women's Basketball
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - UNC Asheville Women's Basketball fell to Longwood in the Big South Conference Championship Quarterfinal by a score of 72-58 on Thursday (Mar. 5) at Freedom Hall.
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Longwood began the game on a 9-0 run through the first five minutes, before Asheville responded with a 7-2 run over the next two minutes with scores from Journee McDaniel and Nia Green along with a triple from Aileen Marquez. Longwood scored the final four points of the first quarter to take a 15-7 lead to the second.
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Longwood stretched its lead to 10 early in the second quarter, before the Bulldogs rallied to get back within three with two minutes to play in the half. Buckets from D'yanna Maxey and Green along with a split pair of free throws from Maxey cut the deficit to six, before Longwood pushed it back up to nine. Nia Green would score Asheville's next six points to cut the game to 25-22 with just over two minutes to play in the half, before Longwood would close the half on a 7-0 run to take a 32-22 lead to the break.
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Longwood held its double-digit lead through the first seven minutes, before Asheville put together a small run to cut the deficit to seven headed to the fourth. Longwood stretched its lead to as many as 16 four minutes into the period, before back-to-back buckets from Maxey cut the deficit to 12. After a few empty possessions, back-to-back three-pointers from McDaniel and Marquez cut the deficit to six with under two minutes to play in the period. Asheville was able to slim the deficit to five, before Longwood scored the final bucket of the period to carry a 50-43 lead to the fourth.
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Asheville cut the deficit to five with the first score of the fourth quarter, before Longwood pushed the lead to 10 three and a half minutes in. A Marquez three-pointer cut the deficit to eight with four minutes to play, before Longwood was able to finish the game off at the free throw line.
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Asheville shot just 28.4 percent (21-74) from the field in the game, along with just 25 percent (7-28) from long range and just 50 percent (9-18) from the foul line. Asheville scored 18 points off turnovers in the game along with 26 points in the paint, 16 points on second chances, eight points on fast breaks and 12 points off the bench. Green scored a game-high 21 points making nine out of a career-high 23 field goal attempts, while Marquez also scored 12 points on four made three-pointers and McDaniel also scored 10 points in the game. Maxey scored eight points in the game, while Orianegbena scored four points and Jamaria Freeman had three. Green completed her league-leading 10th double-double of the season with 12 rebounds, while McDaniel also had 11 rebounds in the game for a double-double. Orianegbena also had nine rebounds in the game, while Marquez had two and Maxey, Freeman and Kristen McMillan each had one. Maxey paced the offense with five assists in the game, while McDaniel had two and Orianegbena and Marquez each had one. McDaniel matched her career-high with four steals in the game, while Green, Maxey and Freeman each had two steals in the game. Green and McDaniel each had two blocks in the game, while Freeman also had one rejection in the game.
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This concludes the 2025-26 UNC Asheville Women's Basketball season.
About Women's Athletics Presenting Partner First Bank
First Bank is the banking subsidiary of First Bancorp and is headquartered in Southern Pines, North Carolina, with total assets of approximately $12.1 billion. As a state-chartered community bank, First Bank operates 113 bank branches in North Carolina and South Carolina and a nationwide SBA platform. Since 1935, First Bank has taken a tailored approach to banking, combining best-in-class financial solutions, helpful local expertise, and technology to manage a home or business. First Bancorp's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "FBNC." Visit our website at www.LocalFirstBank.com. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.
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Longwood began the game on a 9-0 run through the first five minutes, before Asheville responded with a 7-2 run over the next two minutes with scores from Journee McDaniel and Nia Green along with a triple from Aileen Marquez. Longwood scored the final four points of the first quarter to take a 15-7 lead to the second.
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Longwood stretched its lead to 10 early in the second quarter, before the Bulldogs rallied to get back within three with two minutes to play in the half. Buckets from D'yanna Maxey and Green along with a split pair of free throws from Maxey cut the deficit to six, before Longwood pushed it back up to nine. Nia Green would score Asheville's next six points to cut the game to 25-22 with just over two minutes to play in the half, before Longwood would close the half on a 7-0 run to take a 32-22 lead to the break.
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Longwood held its double-digit lead through the first seven minutes, before Asheville put together a small run to cut the deficit to seven headed to the fourth. Longwood stretched its lead to as many as 16 four minutes into the period, before back-to-back buckets from Maxey cut the deficit to 12. After a few empty possessions, back-to-back three-pointers from McDaniel and Marquez cut the deficit to six with under two minutes to play in the period. Asheville was able to slim the deficit to five, before Longwood scored the final bucket of the period to carry a 50-43 lead to the fourth.
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Asheville cut the deficit to five with the first score of the fourth quarter, before Longwood pushed the lead to 10 three and a half minutes in. A Marquez three-pointer cut the deficit to eight with four minutes to play, before Longwood was able to finish the game off at the free throw line.
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Asheville shot just 28.4 percent (21-74) from the field in the game, along with just 25 percent (7-28) from long range and just 50 percent (9-18) from the foul line. Asheville scored 18 points off turnovers in the game along with 26 points in the paint, 16 points on second chances, eight points on fast breaks and 12 points off the bench. Green scored a game-high 21 points making nine out of a career-high 23 field goal attempts, while Marquez also scored 12 points on four made three-pointers and McDaniel also scored 10 points in the game. Maxey scored eight points in the game, while Orianegbena scored four points and Jamaria Freeman had three. Green completed her league-leading 10th double-double of the season with 12 rebounds, while McDaniel also had 11 rebounds in the game for a double-double. Orianegbena also had nine rebounds in the game, while Marquez had two and Maxey, Freeman and Kristen McMillan each had one. Maxey paced the offense with five assists in the game, while McDaniel had two and Orianegbena and Marquez each had one. McDaniel matched her career-high with four steals in the game, while Green, Maxey and Freeman each had two steals in the game. Green and McDaniel each had two blocks in the game, while Freeman also had one rejection in the game.
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This concludes the 2025-26 UNC Asheville Women's Basketball season.
About Women's Athletics Presenting Partner First Bank
First Bank is the banking subsidiary of First Bancorp and is headquartered in Southern Pines, North Carolina, with total assets of approximately $12.1 billion. As a state-chartered community bank, First Bank operates 113 bank branches in North Carolina and South Carolina and a nationwide SBA platform. Since 1935, First Bank has taken a tailored approach to banking, combining best-in-class financial solutions, helpful local expertise, and technology to manage a home or business. First Bancorp's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "FBNC." Visit our website at www.LocalFirstBank.com. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.
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Team Stats
AVL
LWU
FG%
.284
.426
3FG%
.250
.214
FT%
.500
.733
RB
46
50
TO
19
20
STL
10
13
Game Leaders
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
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