WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Behind
a balanced scoring attack that saw five players reach double figures, led by
senior Janine Aldridge's game-high 19 points, and a defensive effort that held
Georgia State without a field-goal for the remaining 3:49 of regulation, the
William and Mary women's basketball team darted past Georgia State, 79-73, on
Tuesday night at Kaplan Arena. The
victory improves the Tribe's record to 7-20 overall and 5-11 in Colonial
Athletic Association play, while the Panthers fall to 13-14 on the season and
5-11 in league action.
Aldridge, who has now appeared in a school-record 125 games,
finished the night with five assists and six steals. The Massapequa, N.Y., native is now just four
steals shy of setting a new Tribe standard currently held by former W&M
standout '03 Jen Sobota (257).
Additionally, with her three 3-pointers in tonight's contest, she became
just the fifth player in CAA history to net 300 career triples.
Sophomore Kyla Kerstetter poured in a career-high 17 points
on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 effort from the foul
line. Senior Emily Correal and sophomore
Jazmen Boone each netted 11 points, while senior Jaclyn McKenna finished the
contest with 10 points and six rebounds.
Steady sophomore Anna Kestler dished out a six assists, while senior
Taylor Hilton added seven points and four rebounds.
The Tribe finished the night shooting 47.5 percent
(28-of-59) from the floor, which included four 3-pointers on 16 attempts. From the charity stripe, W&M was 81.3
percent (13-of-16). The Green and Gold
finished the contest with 28 points in the paint, 24 points off of turnovers
and 37 bench points.
In a contest that saw 12 ties and 10 lead changes, Hilton's
jumper at the 14:37 mark of the opening half gave W&M an early 8-6 edge. For the majority of the first half, both
squads traded buckets as Correal's layup with 8:05 remaining tied the affair
for the seventh time.
Georgia State took a 22-20 lead when Ashley Watson netted a
jumper at the 7:10 juncture. However,
the GSU advantage was short lived as the Green and Gold took control of the
half with a 10-0 run. The outburst was
ignited by McKenna's 3-pointer at the 6:48 mark, while Aldridge's fast-break
layup capped the spurt at the 5:33 juncture as W&M owned an eight-point
cushion, 30-22. The run was fueled by a
Kerstetter layup and an Aldridge trifecta.
The opening 20 minutes of action ended with the Tribe owning a 38-30
lead.
On its opening possession of the second half, W&M's
margin reached 10, 40-30, when Aldridge netted a jumper inside the paint off an
assist from McKenna. GSU responded with
a run of its own as two Kendra Long foul shots tied the contest, 45-45, with
14:54 remaining.
For the next eight minutes and twenty-two seconds, it was a
back-and-forth tilt, as the advantage changed hands on six occasions. Two Correal foul shots with 6:32 left in
regulation gave W&M a one-point edge, 68-67, and on its next possession a
pair of foul shots from sophomore Jazmen Boone extended the lead to 70-67.
Kayla Nolan's layup got GSU to within 72-71 with 3:49
remaining, but that's the last field goal the Panthers registered as the Tribe
locked down defensively. With the lead
at one, 74-73, after a pair of GSU foul shots, Hilton put the game on ice as
she drained a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left to play.
Cody Paulk led Georgia State with 13 points, 10 rebounds and
six blocks, while Kendra Long and Ashley Watson chipped in with 11 points each. GSU finished the contest shooting 30-of-63
(47.6 percent) from the floor, which included an 8-of-19 effort from 3-point
range. With her six blocks, Paulk became
only the seventh player in CAA history to net 200 career blocks.
The Tribe returns to action at Towson on Saturday, March
2. Tip-off at the Towson Center in
Towson, Md., is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and fans can follow the action online
at TribeAthletics.com.
