WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The
William and Mary women's basketball team opened the 2012-13 season with a
hard-fought 68-62 setback against East Carolina on Friday evening at Kaplan
Arena. Senior forward Emily Correal
paced W&M with 24 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, which equaled the
College's single-game record.
After the Tribe (0-1) narrowed the margin to 64-61 with 2:28
remaining in the contest, ECU (1-0) closed out the game with four of the final
five points en route to securing the win.
Sophomore Jazmen Boone scored a career-high 14 points on
5-of-5 shooting from the floor, while she also tallied a career-best five
assists. Classmate Kyla Kerstetter
netted 10 points, while senior Janine Aldridge chipped in with five.
In a tightly contested first half, Correal set the tone for
the Tribe with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Kerstetter tallied eight points. After the Pirates jumped
out to an early 9-5 lead, Kerstetter's 3-pointer from the right wing trimmed
the ECU advantage down to one at 9-8 with 15:47 remaining. Correal gave the Green and Gold its first
lead of the stanza, 16-15, after the preseason All-CAA selection laid it in off
the glass with 9:54 left to go.
The Pirates responded courtesy of senior Britny Edwards' layup
as it regained a slight 22-20 margin at the 6:45 mark of the first. However, freshman Brooke Stewart put the
College in front, 24-22, after the Topsfield, Mass., native drilled a 3-pointer
for her first career points. With the score,
22-21, in favor of ECU, Stewart's trifecta was made possible by the hustle of
junior forward Kaitlyn Mathieu, who corralled an offensive rebound following a
missed free-throw. The Pirates closed
the half on a 12-6 run and owned an intermission lead of 32-26.
In second-half action, Correal's jumper less than two
minutes into the frame cut the margin to 36-34.
However, ECU answered with two quick buckets as it extended its
advantage to 40-34 with 17:18 remaining in the contest.
Both squads traded buckets over the next 13 minutes and with
4:01 left to play, a pair of Boone free-throws cut the ECU lead down to two at 59-57. After ECU's sophomore Janesha Ebron made the
score 65-61 with a made free-throw, ECU put the contest out of reach, 68-61,
when Pirate freshman Colleen Marshall connected on a 3-pointer with 55 seconds
remaining.
For the game, the Green and Gold shot 25-of-64 (39.1
percent) from the floor, while ECU shot 38.5 percent (25-of-65). The College ripped down 54 rebounds its most
since tallying 55 against JMU last season.
Senior forward Emily Correal notched her 19th career double-double and
became the first Tribe player to record 20 or more rebounds in a game since
1992. Additionally, she becomes only the thrid player in program history to post a 20 point and 20 rebound game as she joins Janet McGee '81 and Tiffany Stone '91 with the distinction.
The Tribe returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 11, as it
travels to Pittsburgh, Pa., for a 1 p.m. contest against the Pitt
Panthers. Fans can follow the action
online at TribeAthletics.com with live stats.
