WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's basketball team used a 13-2 run in the middle stages of the second half and a stout defensive effort to down in-state rival VCU, 56-48, on Wednesday night at Kaplan Arena. The Green and Gold forced the Rams into 32 turnovers and converted those into 27 points. With the win, the Tribe improved to 3-2 on the year, while the Rams fell to 3-3.
Senior Jazmen Boone led the Tribe with an impressive stat line of 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists. In her return to the Green and Gold lineup after missing the first four games of the year due to injury, senior Kyla Kerstetter scored 12 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point range to go along with a game-high five steals. Sophomore Marlena Tremba was the third Tribe player in double figures, adding 12 points and four steals.
After VCU tied the game for the third time in the second half at 38-38 midway through the period, the Tribe put together a 13-2 run to cement the victory. Sophomore Kasey Curtis found classmate Alexandra Masaquel for a jumper to put the Tribe back on top, before Boone hit a pair of free throws and found Kerstetter for an open jumper. After a VCU putback narrowed the margin to four, the Tribe put the game on ice from the charity stripe. Over the final five minutes, W&M connected on 9-of-12 from the free throw line to extend the lead to double-digits on the way to the 56-48 victory.
The Tribe limited VCU to 31.1-percent (19-of-61) from the floor. W&M connected on only 35.3 percent (18-of-51) from the field, but knocked down 16-of-22 (72.7 percent) from the free throw line. Curtis registered career-highs with six rebounds and three blocked shots, while Masaquel added a nice all-around effort with five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.
VCU opened an early lead scoring seven points in the opening 3:44 of the contest. Thorpe registered the first four points of the game, before an Ashlee Mitchell 3-pointer from the top of the key gave the visitors a 7-2 advantage.
W&M answered with an 8-0 run sparked by Boone and the Tribe defense. The Tribe held VCU scoreless for over six minutes as the Rams were 0-of-8 from the field with seven turnovers during the stretch. Boone scored six of the Green and Gold's eight points during the run, including back-to-back lay-ups to give the home team a 10-7 lead with 11:25 left in the first stanza.
A Keira Robinson 3-pointer at the 10-minute mark snapped the scoreless streak and started a 9-2 VCU run. Four straight Ram free throws followed by an Adaeze Alaeze jumper at the 7:57 mark opened up a 16-12 VCU advantage.
Entering the eight-minute media timeout, Boone scored and was fouled on a lay-up. Her free throw after the break cut the margin to just one. On the ensuing Tribe possession, W&M regained the lead as Boone found Kerstetter for a 3-pointer from the left wing. A Kerstetter driving lay-up followed by a pair of Abby Rendle free throws pushed the W&M lead to 22-16 with 6:13 left in the first half.
VCU answered with six straight to pull even at 22, before the Tribe closed the half on a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the first period into the locker room. Tremba scored the final five points of the spurt, knocking down a 3-pointer from the right wing, before sophomore guard Alexis Hofstaedter lobbed an inbound pass Tremba for a lay-up to give W&M a 29-22 advantage at the break.
In the opening 20 minutes, W&M held VCU to just 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from the floor and forced the Rams into 18 first-half turnovers. The Green and Gold converted those VCU miscues into 19 of its 29 points.
Out of the locker room, the Rams scored the half's first seven points to pull even at 29. Thorpe canned a 3-pointer to open the scoring, before back-to-back lay-ups from Monna Finney-Smith and Melanie Royster tied the game less than two and a half minutes into the second stanza.
The teams traded runs back and forth over the next seven minutes. Finney-Smith and Kersetter traded 3-pointers, before the Rams pulled even again. A Camille Calhoun putback on her own miss at the 10:34 mark to tie the game at 38, before the Tribe's closing run.
Thorpe led VCU in scoring at 12 points, while Finney Smith added eight points. Royster chipped in six points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Tribe returns to action with its second straight home tilt against Longwood as part of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The women's program will kick off the double-dip with the Lancers at 2 p.m., before the men's team hosts Wofford at 4:30 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets to the doubleheader for just $5. Both games will be available for FREE in High Definition on TribeAthletics.com via Tribe Athletics TV.
