The William and Mary women's basketball team closed the regular season Wednesday night against Hofstra, falling 91-84 despite inspired play from its senior class.  The night's slate of games finalized the pairings for next week's Virginia 529 College Savings Plan CAA Championship, where the Tribe will face Hofstra for the third year in a row in the first round.

The Tribe honored its three seniors before the game, and the two who were able to play returned the favor with season-best nights.  Captain Lindsey Moller (Longmont, Colo.) shot 3-3 from the floor for seven points, and added two assists, a steal, and a rebound.  Guard Katy Oblinger (Altoona, Pa.) knocked down three big three-pointers and swished both of her free throws for 11 points and four rebounds, her third game this year in double-digits.  Junior Taysha Pye (Bronx, N.Y.) led the team with 26 points and nine rebounds, while also dishing out three assists.  Fourth-year junior Katherine DeHenzel (Bowie, Md.) saw her original class out in style, scoring 18 points on 6-9 shooting, and adding three assists and five rebounds.  Freshman Kaitlyn Mathieu (Waterboro, Maine) was the final player in double-figures for W&M, shooting 4-8 overall and 2-4 from deep for 10 points.

William and Mary persevered through a cold spell early in the game to reap the benefits of an 11-3 run between DeHenzel and Pye that tied the score at 16-16 with just over 10 minutes remaining in first half.  The Pride was able to get to the line often, though, benefitting from a tightly-called contest to open up a double-digit lead late in the half before Mathieu was able to kick-start a 7-2 run going into the break.  The streak was capped off by Moller, who hit her second shot of the half with just 19 seconds remaining to cut the lead to eight at 43-35.

Coming out for the second half, The Tribe threw on an all-out blitz in the first three minutes that put Hofstra back on its heels.  The Green and Gold outscored the Pride 12-4 over the span with help from a pair of triples by Oblinger, and reached a tie-score again at 47-47 with just over 17 minutes remaining.  Hot shooting from outside allowed Hofstra to get out in front by as many as nine again through the middle-stretches of the second half, but the College worked itself back into the game as the final eight minutes began counting down.  Down 70-61, Oblinger hit her third three-pointer of the half with 7:53 showing to kick-off an 11-2 run that also saw a pair of buckets each from DeHenzel and sophomore Emily Correal (Venetia, Pa.), and ened with a 72-72 deadlock at the 5:27 mark.  W&M tied the score twice more, at 76-76 and 78-78, but eventually the mounting fouls began sending Hofstra to the line, where they were near automatic (24-26 in the game) and proved able to salt the game away for the win.

William and Mary and Hofstra will meet again in eight days, in the 2:30 p.m. game during the CAA Tournament first round on Thursday, March 10.  The championships are being held in Upper Marlboro, Maryland this year, at the Show Place Arena.  Should the Tribe win in the first round, the quarterfinal match-up will be against VCU on Friday, also at 2:30 p.m.