WILLIAMSBURG, Va.
- The William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team fell to Drexel, 78-59,
Sunday afternoon in Kaplan Arena. The
Tribe dropped to 9-15 on the year and 2-11 in CAA play, while Drexel improved
to 12-11 overall and 8-5 in league action.
Senior guard Taysha Pye poured in a game-high 25 points to
lead W&M. Pye's 11 free throws made
on 14 attempts, tied her season high in both categories. Junior forward Emily Correal scored nine points
and pulled down four boards. Junior
center Jaclyn McKenna chipped in with eight points to go along with five
rebounds.
In the first 20 minutes of action, W&M took an early 3-2
lead, after a Pye made free throw with 17:45 remaining. On the very next possession, Drexel seized
all momentum after a Hollie Mershon made 3-pointer gave the Dragons a 5-3
advantage. Mershon's triple ignited a
16-4 Drexel run. Capping the run was a
lay in by Drexel's Tyler Hale, which swelled the Dragon's lead to 18-7.
Halting the Drexel run was Pye, who connected from the line
twice, and then with 11:35 left to go in the half, netted a jumper, cutting the
Dragons lead to 18-11. Trailing 31-19,
with 2:42 remaining in the opening half, a Jaclyn McKenna jumper got the Tribe
to within striking distance at 31-21. A
Kamile Nacickaite 3-pointer trumped any Tribe charge and extended the Dragons
lead to 34-21, with only 2:16 left in the first. Drexel went into the locker room possessing a
39-22 lead.
Pye led the Tribe attack in the first-half, scoring 12
points and pulling down three rebounds.
Correal poured in four points, while senior guard Katherine DeHenzel and
McKenna each chipped in two.
For the first nine minutes of the second-half the Green and
Gold outscored the Dragons, 16-12, but Drexel still commanded a 51-38
lead. At the 11:07 mark, freshman Jazmen
Boone's gave the College life, after she intercepted a Nacickaite pass and went
coast-to-coast for the fast-break layup, making the score 51-40 in favor of
Drexel. Over the next 10 minutes
Drexel's stingy defense and timely scoring was too much to overcome. As the final horn sounded, Drexel exited Kaplan
Arena with a 78-59 victory.
The Green and Gold finished the contest shooting 43.8
percent (21-of-48) from the field. From
the free-throw line, W&M connected on 15 freebies out of 22 attempts. For the game, the College outrebounded
Drexel, 29-27, and owned a 10-9 advantage in fast-break points. The Dragons finished the game shooting 50.9
percent (28-of-55) from the floor.
Nacickaite scored 24 points to lead the Drexel attack. Hale and Mershon tallied 18 and 14 points,
respectively.
The College returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 16, as it
travels to Richmond for a league tilt with VCU.
Tip-off from the Verizon Wireless Center at the Stuart C. Siegal Center
is scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can follow
all of the action online at TribeAthletics.com with live video, audio and
stats.
