WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The
William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team won its third game in a row on
Wednesday night, defeating the Longwood Lancers in Kaplan Arena, 76-43. With the victory, the Tribe improves its
record to 4-2 on the season, while Longwood falls to 1-6 on the year with the
defeat.
Senior guard Taysha Pye led three Tribe players in double
figures, scoring an efficient 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting in just 19 minutes
of action. Classmate Katherine DeHenzel
had 11 points, four assists, and three steals on the night while junior center
Jaclyn McKenna added 11 points and grabbed five boards. All 13 players on the roster played in the
victory Wednesday night, with 12 scoring at least two points.
In the opening minutes, it looked as if the College was
going to have another difficult game on its hands. The teams went back and forth in the first
seven minutes of the game and at the 13:41 mark, the contest was tied at
12-12. Over the next three plus minutes,
however, the Tribe went on an 11-2 run to open a 23-14 lead over the
Lancers. In that stretch, five players
scored with freshman Kyla Kerstetter ending the run with a 3-pointer from the
right wing. On the day, Kerstetter
finished with eight points on a perfect 3-of-3 from the field while also
collecting four steals.
Longwood promptly answered the College's run with one of its
own, reeling off seven straight points to cut the margin to two with 8:19 to
play in the first half, 23-21. The
two-point deficit would be as close as the Lancers would come, however, for the
rest of the game as William and Mary ended the first frame on a 13-4 run to
take a 36-25 lead in to halftime.
At the break, the Tribe was led by Pye who had nine points,
while junior Janine Aldridge and McKenna each had seven. As a team, the College went 14-of-37 (37.8%)
from the floor in the first 20 minutes while forcing 12 Longwood turnovers.
In the second half, W&M dominated the Lancers, not
letting the lead get below 11 points. In
the final period, the Tribe shot a blistering 15-of 28 (53.6%) from the floor
as a team, running away with its third win in a row.
Aldridge continued to rebound the ball well for W&M,
grabbing a team-best 10 rebounds to go with seven points and four steals. Junior Emily Correal also attacked the
boards, finishing the game with eight points, nine rebounds, and a pair of
blocks.
Kerstetter wasn't the only Tribe freshman to play well on
Wednesday night, as Jazmen Boone posted four points, three rebounds and two
assists in just seven minutes of action.
Also of note, freshmen MacKenzie Morrison and Anna Kestler each scored
their first collegiate points in the win, while junior Taylor Hilton had four
points in her season debut.
For the game, William and Mary went 29-of-65 (44.6%) from
the floor and out-rebounded the Lancers a staggering 51-28. The Tribe's bench was again huge in the
victory, out-scoring the Longwood reserves, 37-7.
The William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team will hit
the road this weekend and open up CAA play at No. 24-ranked Delaware on Sunday,
December 4. Tip-off is scheduled for 2
p.m. with live stats available at TribeAthletics.com.
