WILLIAMSBURG - The William and Mary women's basketball team held the advantage for most of the second half Sunday at Kaplan Arena, but Drexel delivered a heart-breaking, desparation triple at the buzzer to steal the victory, 59-58.

The Dragons had to shoot 70% from deep (7-10) to beat the Tribe, with the final one doing the most damage. After two free throws by Emily Correal (Venetia, Pa.) put W&M ahead by four, 57-53 with 52 seconds left, Drexel's Jasmina Rosseel hit her third triple in four attempts on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to one. Coming back into the offensive end, junior Taysha Pye (Bronx, N.Y.) was illegally impeded and sent to the free throw line with two more shots. She made the first but missed the second, and the final 24 seconds began to spool off the clock. Drexel's first shot was off, but the Dragon's retained possession on a held ball with 14 seconds remaining. W&M's inbounding defense was superb, and it appeared that Taylor Hilton (Washington, D.C.) had stripped the ball out with 6.5 seconds on the clock but she was ruled to be out of bounds. Drexel's Kamile Nacickaite received the ball just beyond the arc on the second inbounds, and had to settle for a desparation heave as time expired through the arms of her defender when the Tribe defense was stifling all five Dragons on the court. Improbably, the ball went in, and delivered the thrilling but heart-breaking victory to the visiting squad.

In the first half, Drexel got out in front by as many as 10 before the Tribe began finding its range. A three-pointer from freshman Kaitlyn Mathieu (Waterboro, Maine) with 6:18 on the clock ignited an 8-0 run for the College over the next 90 seconds. Senior captain Lindsey Moller (Longmont, Colo.) drove the middle of the lane for a lay-up and the foul, and sank the following free throw to chop the lead to four. After a Drexel miss, Correal was fouled on her shot at 4:44, and converted both free throw attempts to bring the Tribe nearly all the way back at 18-20. The Dragons pushed the lead back to seven at the 3:20 mark in the half, just in time for another 7-0 run by the Green and Gold to tie the game at 25-25. Again it was Mathieu to start the run, this time with a lay-up, and a jumper by Pye and free throw from Katy Oblinger (Altoona, Pa.) brought W&M within two. With 35 seconds left, Hilton's dish found Pye open on the wings, and the junior's third basket of the half tied the score at 25-25. Drexel would pick up a final spinning layup in the paint, and went into the lockers up two at 27-25.

Coming out of the break, Correal cleaned up a missed three-pointer to knot the score again at 27-all just 25 seconds into the half. Drexel would stay in front over the next six minutes, but never by more than three points as the Tribe had an answer for every basket. Another 7-0 run saw W&M finally get ahead in the count on a fast-break drive by Pye at the 13:45 mark, and junior captain Katherine DeHenzel (Bowie, Md.) swished a three-pointer at 13:10 to cap off the run and put W&M on top, 38-34. The lead would grow as large as seven at the 10:26 mark, on another three by DeHenzel. The visitors clawed their way back into contention, and between the 4:29 and 2:19 marks, there were three tied scores and three lead changes. Pye carried the Tribe in the stretch, hitting all four of her free throws and a jumper to put the home team ahead 55-53. From there, the stage was set for the final minutes' action.

For the game, Pye led all players with 19 points and four assists, shooting 60% from the field and 70% from the line. She joined rare company with the day's performance, becoming just the fifth player in school history to score 10+ in at least 10 straight games. Correal had 11 points and a team-high four rebounds, hitting on five of her six free throw attempts. Hilton also scored in double-digits for the seventh time in eight games, shooting 50% for 10 points, two assists, and two steals. DeHenzel's two triples gave her six points for the game, and she matched Pye with four assists. As a team, the Tribe shot a blistering 55% in the second half (11-20), and outscored Drexel 22-11 off of turnovers.

William and Mary returns to the road on Thursday for its second game against James Madison in the space of two weeks, and will look to avenge its loss to the Dukes in their first meeting this season.