WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – A shooter's roll 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left halted a second-half rally as the William and Mary women's basketball team dropped a 54-51 heart-breaker to Maine on Sunday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe rallied from as much as an 11-point deficit, but Chris Gerostergiou's 3-pointer gave the visitors the last-second victory. W&M fell to 6-4 on the year, while the Black Bears improved to 8-4.
Sophomore Marlena Tremba led the Tribe with 15 points, including three, 3-pointers, to go along with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Freshman Abby Rendle just missed her second straight double-double with nine points, eight rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots. The five rejections rank ninth in W&M history. Senior Jazmen Boone added seven points, all in the second half, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Trailing 51-46 with 1:16 remaining, W&M scored five points over 15-second stretch to pull even. Tremba knocked down a 3-pointer from the right side to draw the Green and Gold within two with just over a minute remaining. On the ensuing Maine possession, the Tribe press forced a Black Bear turnover. Senior Kyla Kerstetter intercepted a pass at mid-court and found Boone, who hit the game-tying lay-up with 47.7 seconds left.
The Tribe again forced a Maine turnover, this time Boone picking off a pass. Following a W&M timeout with 18.4 seconds remaining, Tremba drove baseline but was whistled for stepping on the end line.
With the Tribe pressing, Maine methodically worked the ball up the court, eventually sending a pass under the hoop to Anna Heise in the waning seconds. The ball was knocked away, and with players from both teams diving for the loose ball, Maine's Liz Wood picked up the loose ball and found Gerostergiou for a wide-open 3-pointer. Her high-arcing triple hit the front of the rim before rolling up, around and in with 1.7 seconds remaining to put the Black Bears in front, 54-51. Boone's desperation half-court heave at the buzzer was off the mark.
The Tribe finished the game shooting a season-low 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field, while Maine connected on 40.7 percent (22-of-54), including 9-of-25 (36 percent) from 3-point range. W&M picked up 14 steals and a season-high eight blocked shots against the Black Bears. The Tribe dished out 15 assists on its 19 made field goals and just turned the ball over 12 times.
After Tremba's first triple cut the early Maine lead to 8-7, the Black Bears answered with a 9-0 run to open up a double-digit first-half lead. Wood knocked down a 3-pointer from the right side, before Heise scored back-to-back buckets forcing a W&M timeout. The visitors pushed the lead to 17-7 on a driving lay-up from Mikaela Gustafsson with 12:02 left first half.
W&M responded with back-to-back baskets to close back within six points. Sophomore Latrice Hunter ended the Tribe's seven-minute scoring drought with a pull-jumper in the lane, before Boone found sophomore Kasey Curtis for an easy lay-up at the nine-minute mark to cut the gap to 17-11.
Five straight from the Black Bears pushed its lead to the largest of the first half. Sigi Koizar scored on a fast-break scooping lay-up, before Wood canned a triple to push the margin to 22-11 with 7:05 left in the opening frame.
W&M ripped off a 12-4 run to draw within three. After a Brooke Stewart 3-pointer from the left wing cut the margin to six, Rendle took over for the Tribe. The rookie post scored three straight Tribe baskets, the final two of which showing her ability to run the floor. A sophomore Alexandra Masaquel block on the defensive end sent the Tribe on the break and freshman guard Jenna Green found Rendle for an easy lay-up, cutting the deficit to 26-23 with 1:16 remaining and forcing a Maine timeout.
The Black Bears took a five-point lead into the intermission thanks to a leaner in the lane by Koizar with less than five seconds remaining. The Green and Gold shot just 31-percent (9-of-29) in the opening half compared to 37.9-percent (11-of-29) from Maine. The visitors hit five 3-pointers, while the Tribe connected on just two.
After a Chantel Charles 3-pointer gave Maine an eight-point lead less than a minute into the second half, W&M turned up the defensive pressure to ignite a 16-2 run. During a near 10-minute stretch, the Tribe defense held the Black Bears to just 1-of-9 from the field and forced the visitors into eight turnovers.
Tremba and Boone scored back-to-back buckets to slice the deficit to four. After a Maine lay-up, W&M scored 12 straight to take its largest lead of the contest. A Tremba triple pulled the Green and Gold even at 33, before four straight points from Curtis gave W&M a 37-33 lead. Hunter capped the run with an offensive putback, giving W&M a six-point cushion with 10:40 remaining.
Maine responded with a 10-2 run to retake the lead. Heise scored a pair of baskets during the run, before a 3-pointer from Gerostergiou put the visitors on top 43-41 with 7:36 left.
W&M pulled back even on a Kerstetter free throw line jumper, before a pair of Tremba free throws at the 5:19 mark gave the home team a 45-43 advantage. Maine put together an 8-1 run to take a 51-46 lead with 1:20 remaining, leading to the late game drama.
Curtis finished with six points and four rebounds off the bench, while Green had a nice floor game with a career-high six assists compared to zero turnovers and three steals. Koizar led Maine with 15 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Wood just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Tribe returns to action in a week with its final non-conference tilt against instate rival Richmond on Sunday, Dec. 28. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. from Kaplan Arena and fans can watch the live HD stream over the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.
