WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought decision to UNCW, 61-52, on Tuesday night at Kaplan Arena.  The College built a 14-point second half advantage but the Seahawks rallied for the victory.  The loss drops the Tribe to 2-11 on the season and 0-2 in CAA play, while UNCW improves to 2-11 on the year and 1-1 in league competition.

Senior Emily Correal led the Green and Gold with 12 points and eight rebounds.  Classmate Janine Aldridge also netted 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.  Senior Jaclyn McKenna finished the evening with nine points, while junior Kaitlyn Mathieu chipped in with six points.

The Tribe finished the night shooting 21-of-51 (41.2 percent) from the field, while it netted five 3-pointers on 14 attempts.  Defensively, W&M forced 27 Seahawk turnovers, which turned into 22 Tribe points.  For the night, the College held the advantage in points in the paint (32-22), while it shot 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) from the free throw line.

UNCW got off to a fast start, scoring the night's first 12 points as Jessica Freeman's free throw capped the opening run at the 16:41 mark.  The College answered with a 17-4 run over the next 9:28 as it took its first lead of the night, 17-16.  Aldridge ignited the outburst with a trifecta at the 16:35 mark, while McKenna gave the College the upper hand with a lay up at the 7:13 juncture.

For the remainder of the half, both squads traded buckets, but it was the College who took a 23-22 lead at intermission after a Correal lay up at the 1:38 mark.

In second half action, the College stormed out of the gates on a 10-2 run as it pushed its lead to 33-24 with 16:24 left to play.  Another Aldridge 3-pointer got the surge going, while sophomore Kyla Kerstetter's coast-to-coast lay up closed the run.  With 14:00 remaining in the contest, Aldridge's fourth 3-pointer of the night pushed the W&M margin to 40-26.

However, the Seahawks responded with a run of their own, as it regained the advantage, 49-48, with 5:09 left in regulation.  Sophomore Anna Kestler's lay up through traffic at the 2:40 mark broke a 50-50 tie as W&M went ahead by two.  UNCW regained the lead on its next possession with a 3-pointer as it went on to score the night's final 11 points en route to the win.

Tawanna Lee led UNCW with 16 points, while Kelva Atkins chipped in with 15.  The Seahawks finished the night shooting 48.9 percent (23-of-47) from the field and 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from 3-point territory.

The Tribe continues CAA play with a trip to Northeastern on Thursday, Jan. 10.  Tip-off from Boston, Mass., is slated for 7 p.m.