WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The
William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team used a strong second-half effort
to come from behind and defeat the visiting George Mason Patriots on Thursday
night, 76-66, at Kaplan Arena. With the
conference win, the Tribe improves to 8-5 overall and to 1-1 in CAA play, while
the Patriots fall to 7-6 on the season and to 1-1 in league action. The victory marked the fourth-straight win
for the College over GMU and its seventh in the last eight contests between the
two conference rivals.
The Tribe was led once again by junior forward Emily Correal, who tallied her third-consecutive double-double, netting 19 points
while grabbing 13 rebounds. Senior guard
Taysha Pye scored a game-high 21 points, including 17 in the second half, while
junior center Jaclyn McKenna had 16.
Rounding out W&M's double-figure scorers was junior guard Janine Aldridge who tallied 15 points while recording six steals.
On Thursday night, the Tribe came out and established their
post players early against the Patriots, with Correal and
McKenna combining to score 13 of the Tribe's first 15
points, giving the College an early, 15-8 lead over George Mason. McKenna scored the College's first four
points of the game before giving way to Correal, who was the highlight of the
first half for W&M. Correal netted
11 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the first 20 minutes, while also grabbing eight
rebounds.
Down seven points, GMU controlled the majority of the first
half after that point, going on a 27-10 run to take a 35-25 lead over William
and Mary with 3:18 left in the first frame. Aldridge single-handedly cut
the lead to four on the next two possessions, burying a pair of treys from the
right side, forcing a Mason timeout.
After GMU's Christine Weithman answered with a 3-pointer of her own,
Correal converted a lay-up in the final minute, cutting the Patriots' lead at
the break to 38-33.
Along with Correal, McKenna had a strong first half, scoring
eight points to go with three rebounds.
Aldridge had six points, while Pye added four. In the first half, Mason shot a blistering
51.5% (17-of-33), while the Tribe shot 40% on 14-of-35 from the field.
At the start of the
second half, the College was able to quickly cut the GMU lead to three on a
pair of occasions, but was unable to tie the game. With a 40-37 lead, George Mason went on an
11-4 run to extend its lead to double-digits, 51-41, with 14:29 left in the
ballgame.
From that point forward, it would be all William and
Mary. The Tribe quickly answered with a
12-4 run to cut the lead to a pair, 55-53.
Pye then took over the game, turning W&M's two-point deficit to a
five-point advantage after reeling off the next nine points for W&M. Pye was an absolute force in the final 20
minutes, scoring 17 of her 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
With a five-point cushion, two long 3-pointers from McKenna
sealed the game for William and Mary, as the Tribe out-scored the Patriots over
the final 14:29 of the game, 35-15. The College
evened its CAA record on the season at 1-1 with a 76-66 win over George Mason.
Along with its explosive offense, the Tribe's defense and
efficiency helped complete the comeback on Thursday night. The College limited the Patriots to just
32.1% shooting in the second half while only turning the ball over once in the
final 20 minutes. W&M only turned
the ball over 10 times in total and shot 43.3% (29-of-67) for the game. The Tribe was dominant in the paint and in
transition against George Mason, out-scoring the Patriots 36-22 in the key and
an amazing 16-0 in fast break points.
The William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team will wrap
up its four-game homestand on Sunday, January 8 when the College will play host
to CAA-rival Hofstra. Tip-off at Kaplan
Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.
