WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William and Mary women's basketball team used a huge first half to drop Northeastern 67-50 on Thursday night at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe put three players in double figures as they raced out to a 28-point halftime advantage and never looked back. With the win, William and Mary improved to 8-17, 5-9 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while Northeastern fell to 11-16, 5-9 in CAA action.
Junior Jazmen Boone scored a game-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, grabbed three rebounds, four assists, and a career-high eight steals. Freshman Marlena Tremba finished with 19 points, while junior Kyla Kerstetter chipped in 12 points and grabbed five boards. Senior Kaitlyn Mathieu just missed her eighth double-double of the season with nine points and nine rebounds.
The Tribe opened the game on an 18-2 run to take a lead by the same score. Kerstetter (5) and Boone (6) combined to score the first 11 points of the game for W&M. Leading 11-2, Boone hit a pair of free throws, Tremba buried a 3-pointer, and Mathieu hit a jumper to make the score 18-2 with 12:04 to play in the first half.
Northeastern was able to cut the Tribe lead to 20-10, but William and Mary closed the half on a 20-2 run, building a 40-12 halftime advantage. Tremba, who had six points during the run, led the offensive outbreak.
William and Mary forced 19 first half turnovers on 10 steals. Boone had a five steals at the break. In addition, the Tribe shot the ball extremely well at 47.2-percent (17-of-36). They also limited Northeastern to five field goals and 20-percent (5-of-25) from the floor.
Northeastern opened the second half with a 9-2 run, bringing the score to 42-21 with 15:23 to play. A'Lece Mark opened the half with a three pointer. Following a Tribe basket, Mark followed with a jumper, and a pair of free throws. Jewel Tunstall ended the run with a jumper.
William and Mary responded with a quick 4-0 run to push its lead back to 25 points. Back-to-back layups by Mathieu and Tremba accounted for the scoring.
Northeastern continued to battle throughout the remainder of the second half, but the Huskies were only able to cut the Tribe lead to 17 points on three different occasions, with the first coming with 4:30 to play. Tunstall led Northeastern on the night, registering a double-double on 19 points and 17 rebounds. Mark was also in double-figures, adding 12 points and six rebounds for the Huskies.
For the 17th time this season, William and Mary forced (28) its opponent into more turnovers then they committed (13). The Tribe forced 28 turnovers on the night, which was the 11th game this season the Green and Gold has forced for 20, or more errors. Additionally, W&M recorded 15 steals on the game, which was the 16th time the Tribe has forced 10, or more steals. Individually, Boone led the way registering a career-high eight thefts, while freshman Latrice Hunter chipped in three more steals.
William and Mary continued its recent stretch of hot shooting in the game. For the fourth straight game W&M shot better than 40-percent, finishing the game shooting 48.1-percent (26-54). It is the 12th time this season, the College has shot better than 40-percent from the field.
The hot shooting continued at the charity stripe as the Tribe finished the game shooting at an 80-percent (12-of-15) clip from line. Boone tied a school record for free throw percentage in a game, going a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. It is the fifth time this season a player has tied that mark.
Tremba, who finished with 19 points, was in double-figures for the 21st time this season. She has scored double-digits in each of the Tribe's last 11 games, which ties her for the 10th longest streak in school history.
The Tribe defense, which was on display throughout, limited Northeastern to just 50 points. It was the second time this season the Tribe has held an opponent to 50 points, or less.
William and Mary travels to league-leader James Madison on Sunday, March 2 at 2 p.m. The Tribe concludes the regular season with a home game against Hofstra on March 5, which is set for 7 p.m. The 31st annual CAA Women's Basketball Championships is set for March 13-16 at the Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md.
