WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Freshman
Abby Rendle rejected Hofstra's last second game-winning attempt, and the William and Mary women's basketball team defeated the Pride 57-56 at William and Mary Hall on Sunday afternoon. The Tribe led wire-to-wire, and the game only had one tie, but Hofstra nearly erased a 10-point second half Tribe lead. With the win, the Tribe improved to 8-11, 2-6 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while the Pride dropped to 12-7, 5-3 league action.
Rendle and senior Jazmen Boone led the Tribe with 13 points apiece. Boone added five rebounds, two assists, and a season-high tying six thefts, while Rendle chipped in three boards, a block and two steals. Sophomore Alexandra Masaquel finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and three steals, while classmate Marlena Tremba finished with 10 points, two rebounds, and two steals.
William and Mary opened the game with 15-4 run to build its largest lead of the first half by the same score. Rendle opened the game with back-to-back baskets. After a Pride field goal, the Tribe scored nine straight points on a triple from Tremba, a layup from Rendle and Masaquel, and another layup from Tremba. Hofstra again hit a basket, before Boone hit a jumper to end the run.
Hofstra used a couple of 4-0 runs to bring the score with-in one possession in the first half. The Pride cut the lead to 20-17 with 10:31 to play, before cutting it to two points, 28-26, with 3:52 to play in the half.
W&M, which shot 48.4-percent (15-of-31) in the first half, took a 38-31 lead into the locker room. Hofstra shot 50-perecent (11-of-22), but took nine less shots than Tribe.
Much like the first half, W&M started the second half with a quick 4-0 run to match its largest lead of the game. Masaquel accounted for all of the scoring during the spurt for the Tribe.
Trialing by 10 points, Hofstra used an 11-2 run to cut the Tribe's lead to 50-49 with 8:10 remaining. Aleana Leon started the run, followed by Ashunae Durant basket, and a Krystal Luciano three-point play. After a basket by Rendle, Luciano answered with a layup, before Jakelle King-Gilchrist brought the score to one-point with a layup.
Following the run, the Tribe could only build its lead up to four points at 57-53 with 4:02 to play. The Pride continued to chip away and brought the score down to 57-56 with 1:49 to play, but neither team scored the rest of the way. On the game's final possession, Darius Faulk drove the left baseline and Rendle closed down and swatted the shot away to preserve the Tribe victory.
W&M forced the Pride into 24 turnovers, with 14 steals. Boone led the Tribe with six steals, while Masaquel had three, and Rendle and Tremba each had two.
For the 10th time this season, W&M shot better than 40-percent from the floor. W&M finished the game shooting 42.3-percent (22-of-52) from the floor.
With the win, the Green and Gold picked up its eighth victory of the season, which ties them with the win total from the last two years. The Tribe's next victory will give them the most since the 2011-12 season, when that squad won 10 games.
Durant led all scorers with 15 points and added nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals, she led three players in double-figures for the Pride. Elo Edeferioka finished with a double-double on 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Faulk finished with 10 points.
The College concludes its two-game home stand as it welcomes UNCW to Kaplan Arena on Thursday, Jan. 30. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed for FREE and in HD on TribeAthleticsTV via TribeAthletics.com.
