WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The
William and Mary women's basketball team defeated Towson, 59-50, on Thursday
evening at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe, who
never trailed in the second half, turned 20 TU turnovers into 30 points as it
improved its all-time mark against the Tigers to 13-8. Senior Janine Aldridge paced W&M with 15
points, four steals and three assists.
The win improves the Green and Gold's record to 3-14 on the season and
1-5 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while Towson falls to 6-11 overall
and 0-6 in conference action.
Sophomore Anna Kestler finished the night with a career-high
11 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Senior Emily Correal netted eight points and
pulled down seven rebounds, while classmate Taylor Hilton poured in eight
points to go along with five rebounds.
Senior Chanel Murchison tallied four steals on the evening to go along
with four points and three assists.
W&M finished the contest shooting 23-of-58 (39.7 percent)
from the floor, while it connected on six 3-pointers on 20 attempts (30.0
percent). For the night, the Tribe owned
the advantage in points off of turnovers (30-10), fast break points (13-8) and
bench points (16-6).
In an opening half that saw five lead changes, it was Towson
who jumped out to an early 10-4 advantage courtesy of Camille Alberson's lay up
at the 13:06 mark.
W&M responded with a 10-3 run as the Tribe took its
first lead of the night at the 7:57 mark of the opening half. Senior Jaclyn McKenna's trifecta from the top
of the arc ignited the spurt at the 11:21 mark, while sophomore Kyla Kerstetter's coast-to-coast lay in capped the burst. Aldridge accounted for the remaining five
points in the stretch with a made jumper at the 10:05 juncture and a 3-pointer
at the 9:24 mark.
For the remainder of the half, the lead changed hands on
four occasions, but it was Hilton who broke a 20-20 tie with a lay up with 1:17
remaining. The Washington, D.C., native
scored the Tribe's last six points of the frame as W&M owned a 24-20 lead
at intermission.
W&M opened the second half on a 14-6 burst as its margin
swelled to 38-26 with 13:06 remaining in the contest. Multiple defensive stops, which include three
steals, along with timely shooting propelled the Tribe to the 12-point
stranglehold almost midway through the second frame.
With 12:50 left to play in regulation, the Green and Gold's
advantage reached 15, 41-26, its largest of the night after Aldridge drilled
her third 3-pointer of the contest off an assist from Murchison.
Finding themselves trailing, 50-39, with 6:02 left in
regulation, Towson used a quick 5-1 spurt as it cut the deficit to 51-44 with 3:29
remaining. However, Aldridge's steal and
fast break lay in along with Kestler's conventional 3-point play pushed W&M's
margin back to 56-45 as the Tigers' fate was sealed at the 1:21 juncture.
Tanisha McTiller led Towson with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting
from the floor, while Markell Smith chipped in with six points and a game-high
12 rebounds. Towson finished the evening
shooting 39.6 percent (21-of-53) from the field, while it shot 28.6 percent
(4-of-14) from 3-point territory.
The Green and Gold returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 27, as
it hosts CAA rival Old Dominion. Tip-off
from Kaplan Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m., and fans can follow the action
online at TribeAthletics.com with live video and stats.
