WILLIAMSBURG, Va.
- The William and Mary women's basketball team dropped a tight contest to UNCW
78-71 Sunday afternoon inside Kaplan Arena.
The setback drops W&M to 10-16 overall and 3-12 in CAA play, while
the Seahawks improve to 16-10 on the year and 9-6 in league action.
Junior Jaclyn McKenna led the way with 18 points, five
rebounds and two blocked shots, while senior guard Taysha Pye poured in 15,
including shooting 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Junior Taylor Hilton continued her strong
play with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. Rounding out the Tribe's notable efforts were
senior Katherine DeHenzel and junior Janine Aldridge. DeHenzel scored seven points and dished out a
team-high eight assists, while Aldridge chipped in with seven points and six
rebounds.
In the first half of Sunday's matinee, the College sprinted
out to an early 14-8 advantage just six minutes into the contest. Fueling the early six-point lead was
W&M's execution on both ends of the floor.
A beautiful bounce pass from DeHenzel to Pye gave the College a 9-8 lead
with 15:48 left in the first.
Defensively, McKenna tallied two blocked shots and steal during the run.
UNCW answered back when Abria Trice's jumper capped off a
10-2 Seahawk run and gave Wilmington an 18-16 lead with 11:15 left to play in
the opening stanza. For the rest of the
half both squads traded buckets, and with 1:36 left to go a Hilton lay-in off
the glass knotted the score back up at 33 all.
The Green and Gold then snatched the lead, 35-33, after Aldridge
intercepted a Tawanna Lee pass and went coast-coast for the fast-break goal
with just 1:06 left to go before half.
UNCW managed to tie the score at 35-35 with 40 seconds left, and with
the last possession of the half in their hands, Seahawk Karneshia Garrett
connected from deep with 2 seconds left, giving UNCW the halftime lead, 38-35.
Pye led the Tribe attack with 11 first half points, while
Hilton had eight while hitting all four of her shot attempts. McKenna and junior Emily Correal tallied
seven and four points, respectively, in the opening frame.
At the onset of the second half, the Tribe kept threatening
to take lead and with 12:13 left to go went ahead 49-48 when freshman Kyla
Kerstetter connected from downtown.
UNCW responded quickly by scoring the next five points and pushed its
advantage to 53-49 midway through the second frame.
For the next nine minutes Wilmington maintained its advantage,
but the Tribe kept chipping away at the deficit on every possession. Down 70-59 with only 4:38 left in the
contest, the Green and Gold capped off an 8-2 streak with a triple from Aldridge,
making the score 72-67 in favor of UNCW with 2:14 remaining. In the last two minutes the College got good
looks but weren't able to capitalize, and ultimately fell 78-71.
For the game, W&M shot 42.4 percent (26-of-66) from the
field. From the line, the College went
15-of-19 (78.9 percent). Right on
average, the Green and Gold dished out 16 assists, led by DeHenzel's eight. The Green and Gold finished the contest
outrebounding UNCW, 39-37. UNCW finished
the contest shooting 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the floor. From 3-point territory the Seahawks shot
11-of-25. Jessica Freeman led UNCW with
20 points, while Alisha Andrews chipped in with 11 points and 10 assists.
The College returns to action Thursday, Feb. 23, as it
travels to Drexel for a Colonial Athletic Association contest. Tip-off from the Daskalaskis Athletic Center
in Philadelphia is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Fans can follow all of the action online at TribeAthletics.com
