SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The
William and Mary women's basketball team raced out to an early 18-2 lead and
never trailed as it defeated Austin Peay, 88-76, on Saturday night from the
UTSA Convocation Center. Senior Taylor Hilton poured in a career-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor as
the College shot 56.1 percent (32-of-57-) for the contest. The Washington, D.C. native also dished out a
career best eight assists as the Tribe improved its record to 2-3 on the
season, while the Governors fell to 1-4 on the year.
Senior Janine Aldridge netted 22 points which included five
3-pointers, while classmate Emily Correal tallied 15 points and a team-high
eight rebounds. Junior Kaitlyn Mathieu
scored a season-high 10 points to go along with four rebounds, while senior
Jaclyn McKenna netted eight points on three made field goals.
The Tribe finished the night with 27 points off of turnovers
to go along with 12 3-pointers made, its most since registering 13 at
Northeastern last season. Furthermore,
with its 21-team assists the College has now tallied 20 or more team assists in
three of its five contests this year.
Connecting on its first eight shot attempts, the College
jumped out to an early, 20-5, advantage at the 15:34 mark of the opening half. Senior Chanel Murchison set the defensive
tone early as the Stafford, Va., native registered a steal and looked ahead to
a streaking Aldridge who initiated the scoring with a fast-break layup just 20
seconds into the game. After making its
next six shots, Correal pushed the margin to 20-5 after a made jumper with
15:34 left to go.
With 10:20 left in the opening stanza, Aldridge pushed the
advantage to 14 points, 30-16, after Hilton dished out one of her career-high
eight dimes to the College's all-time leader in 3-pointers made (235). The Governors were able to get back in the
game, with a run of their own, when sophomore Shelby Olszewski connected on a
trey with 1:08 remaining in the half, which made the score 40-34 still in favor
of W&M. However, on the ensuing
Green and Gold possession, Mathieu drilled a 3-pointer with 51 seconds
remaining, which gave the Tribe the halftime lead, 43-34.
At the start of the second-half, the College put to rest any
notion of a Austin Peay comeback with a game-breaking, 17-8, run that was
ignited by a McKenna 3-pointer just 12 seconds into the frame. Mathieu's jumper capped the spurt at the
14:23 mark, as W&M owned a 60-42 stranglehold.
The margin grew to as many as 20, 64-44, after Hilton laid
it in off the glass with 13:15 remaining in regulation. On multiple occasions the Governors managed
to trim the deficit, but never to single-digits as a Correal lay in put the
game out of reach for good, 78-60, with 5:39 left to play.
Junior Nicole Olszewski and sophomore Kristen Stainback, who
tallied 13 points apiece, led Austin Peay.
The Governors finished the night shooting 42.9 percent from the floor
(27-of-63), while getting 33 points from its bench, 12 of which coming from
freshman Jennifer Nwokocha.
The College returns to action tomorrow as it faces UTSA in
the Classic's finale. Tip-off from the Convocation Center on the campus of UTSA
is slated for 5 p.m. (ET). Fans can
follow the action online at TribeAthletics.com with live stats. Additionally, for the price of $ 7.95 fans
can watch the game live courtesy of goutsa.com.
