WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The
William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team fell in a hard-fought, back-and-forth
game to the Navy Midshipmen on Friday night, 61-58, at Kaplan Arena. With the loss, the Tribe falls to 1-2 on the
season, while the Mids improve to 1-2 on the year.
Jaclyn McKenna continued the strong start to her junior
campaign against Navy on Friday night, leading four Tribe players in
double-figures with 17 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Senior guard Katherine DeHenzel had another
terrific all-around game, totaling 11 points, eight assists, five steals and
four rebounds. Junior Janine Aldridge
and freshman Kyla Kerstetter each added 10 points for the College.
Navy came out hot to start the game on Friday night, taking
an early 14-5 lead over the Tribe. The
Tribe would respond over the next 5:23 minutes of action, tying the game at
17-17. The run was started with a
McKenna layup, but Kerstetter was the standout in the run, contributing on both
ends of the floor. In the stretch,
Kerstetter scored five points, including a three from the top of the key to tie
the game with 5:27 left in the first half.
The last five minutes saw the Midshipmen reclaim a
five-point advantage, but William and Mary stuck around, cutting the Navy lead
to just two at the break, 26-24.
In the first half, McKenna led the College with 10 points on
4-of-6 shooting from the floor while also grabbing six rebounds. Off the bench, Kerstetter filled the stat
line, totaling five points, two blocks, two steals and an assist. Junior Chanel Murchison also added four
points in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, the first eight minutes went back and
forth, with the Tribe tying the game, only to see Navy respond and take the
lead right back. At the 11:15 mark, Navy
extended its lead to six, 45-39, but the College came right back to take its
first lead of the game.
Down six, the Tribe cut the lead in half on an Aldridge
three, 45-42. After a Navy bucket pushed
the lead back to five, William and Mary reeled off the next eight points of the
game. Down one, 47-46, junior Emily Correal hit a jumper from the right baseline to give the College its first lead
of the contest. The next trip down,
McKenna made a nice move in the paint and converted a layup, boosting the
College's lead to 50-47.
Undeterred, the Midshipmen scored the next seven points,
retaking the lead at 54-50, and setting the stage for a dramatic final four
minutes. After a DeHenzel layup,
Aldridge drilled her second shot from behind the arc to give the lead back to
the Tribe, 55-54, with 2:52 remaining.
In their next three possessions, the Mids were able to get
points each time while the College was unable to get a bucket. Down six with 24 seconds left, the Tribe was
going to need to some clutch shooting and some misses at the free throw line
from Navy.
The lead was cut to three, 61-58, on a McKenna 3-pointer
from the top of the key. After a miss on
the charity stripe, the College had the ball, down three, with 8.2 second
left. On its final possession, McKenna's
three from the left wing fell short as time expired, giving the win to Navy,
61-58.
For the game, the Tribe shot 24-of-56 (42.9%) from the floor. The College also had 16 assists on its 24
made field goals while only turning the ball over 12 times. The Tribe had 21 points off 16 Navy
turnovers, but the Mids were able to out-score the College in second-chance
points, 13-3.
Rounding out the scoring for the Tribe were Murchison and
Correal, who had six and four points, respectively. Correal also had four rebounds and two
assists on the night.
The William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team will
return to action on Monday, November 21 when it hits the road to play in-state
rival Virginia Tech. Tip-off in
Blacksburg is scheduled for 7 p.m.
