WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's basketball team nearly stormed all the way back, but could not overcome a late 10 point deficit as visiting Drexel picked up a 49-46 victory inside Kaplan Arena on Thursday night. With the decision the Tribe falls to 6-10, 0-5 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while the Dragons move to 10-6, 4-1 in league play.
Senior Jazmen Boone led the Tribe with 15 points and a season-high tying six steals. Freshman Abby Rendle returned to double-figures with 14 points, six rebounds, one assist, three blocks and two steals.
W&M scored the game's first four points, but Drexel responded with an 11-2 run to build its lead at 11-6. Jackie Schluth started the Dragons scoring, followed by back-to-back baskets by Jamila Thompson. After a jumper by sophomore Latrice Hunter, the Dragons scored the next five points on a triple from Rachel Pearson and a jumper by Carrie Alexander.
Leading by five, the Dragons used a 7-0 run to build its largest lead of the half at 12 points, 23-11. Alexander sparked the run with a jumper followed by a Pearson three, and a basket from Schluth.
The Tribe scored the last eight points of the peiod to bring the score to 23-19 at the break. Sophomore Marlena Tremba opened the scoring with a layup. Boone then took over, connecting on back-to-back traditional three-point plays to bring the score within four points.
Drexel opened the second half of play with the first seven points to take a 30-19 lead with 18:02 to play. Thompson started the half with a layup, followed by a triple from Pearson and a layup by Schluth.
The Dragons built their largest lead of the game on a 5-0 run with 13:35 remaining in the game. Kelsi Lidge started the run with a jumper to restore the double-digit lead, then Pearson buried a 3-pointer, giving the Dragons their largest lead of the game. Drexel maintained its lead around double-figures for a majority of the second half.
Trailing by nine points with 3:30 minutes left to play, W&M went on a 7-0 run to bring the score within two points at 48-46 with 1:19 left. Boone opened the run with a layup followed by another layup from Rendle. Boone then connected of one-of-two from the free throw line, before Rendle hit a runner to bring the score to 48-46.
W&M forced a stop on the next Dragons' possession, but Drexel answered by forcing a shot clock violation. With 15.8 seconds left the Tribe was forced to foul Schluth. Schluth hit one of two from the line, but the Tribe's last second 3-pointer rimmed out.
The College forced Drexel into 24 turnovers on a season-high 17 steals. Boone led the Tribe with six steals, while Tremba chipped in four thefts. Also on the defense end, Rendle rejected three of the Tribe's five blocked shots in the game. In 15 games, she has recorded eight games with multiple blocks, and has recorded a block in all, but two contests this season.
W&M did shoot 41.8-percent (20-of-48) from the field in the game, due in large part to shooting 55-percent (12-of-22) in the second. Rendle was 7-of-8 from the field, while Boone was 6-of-8 from the floor. It was the ninth time in 16 games that the Tribe bettered 40-percent from the field.
Pearson led DU with 19 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Thompson finished with a double-double on 12 assists and 11 rebounds. She also chipped in six points, five blocks, and seven steals.
The Green and Gold hits the road for their next two contests. The road trip gets started as the Tribe travels to Delaware for a game on Sunday, Jan. 18. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. The road trip concludes when W&M makes the return trip to James Madison on Thursday, Jan. 22. Tipoff for that contest is set for 7 p.m.
