UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - The William and Mary Tribe women's basketball team fell to VCU, 78-69, Thursday night in the first round of the 2012 Virginia 529 CAA Tournament from the Show Place Arena.  With the loss the Tribe concludes its 2011-12 season while sixth-seeded VCU advances to play the third-seeded Drexel Dragons Friday night at 7:30 p.m. W&M finishes the year at 10-20, while the Rams improve to 17-13.

Playing in their last collegiate games, senior guards Taysha Pye and Katherine DeHenzel scored 12 and six points, respectively.  Pye finished contest with six rebounds while DeHenzel dished out a team-high four assists.  Pye finishes her W&M career with 1,659 career points which ranks second all-time in school history.  DeHenzel caps off her Tribe career ranking third on the career assists list with 429 dimes.

Junior forward Emily Correal scored a team-high 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor to lead W&M offensively.  The Venetia, Pa., saved her best for the second half, as she tallied all 18 of her points in the second stanza.  Junior guard Janine Aldridge poured in 13 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals.  Rounding out the W&M effort were juniors Taylor Hilton and Jaclyn McKenna who tallied nine points each.

In the early going, it was all Black and Gold as the Rams raced out to a 19-8 advantage with 12:52 remaining in the opening stanza.  The Tribe retaliated and got itself back into the contest with a 12-5 run over the course of the next 4:20.  Fueling the run were Pye and Aldridge, who combined for seven points during the stretch.  The sequence culminated when Hilton netted a triple which brought W&M to within four at 24-20 with 8:23 left to play in the half. 

With 1:50 left in the opening 20 minutes of action, the Rams extended its lead to 39-32 on a Roybn Hobson lay-in off the glass.  Like it had done for the entire half, W&M answered by scoring the half's last four points.  Pye's lay-up as time expired cut the VCU lead to 39-36 at intermission.

Pye lead the Green and Gold attack in the first half with a team-high 10 points and five rebounds.  McKenna's solid opening frame consisted of nine points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor, while Aldridge connected on two 3-pointers and finished the half with eight points.

After being held scoreless in the first half, Correal established her presence early on in the second frame.  After netting the College's first two points of the half from the free throw line, the junior forward brought the Tribe to within one at 41-40 after draining a jumper not even a minute into the second half. 

The one-point deficit early in the second half was as close as the College came to retaking the lead.  For the rest of the half, VCU maintained an arms-length advantage and trumped any Tribe rally.  W&M staged one more charge with 4:21 left in the game after a Correal bucket cut the Rams lead to 68-65.  Answering right back, VCU scored four straight points and held on for the first-round 78-69 victory.

The College finished the game shooting 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the floor, while VCU finished the contest shooting 42.4 percent (28-of-66).  W&M was 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the free throw line and 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from 3-point range. The Rams countered with 16-of-26 (61.5 percent) from the charity stripe and 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from 3-point range. Courtney Hurt's 25 points and 18 rebounds led the VCU charge while Andrea Barbour poured in 14 points.