WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William and Mary women's basketball used a 35-8 run to end the first half and open the second half and held on late, defeating UNCW 67-62 in a Colonial Athletic Association tilt on Thursday night in Williamsburg. Freshman Jenna Green scored a career-high tying 16 points to lead three W&M players in double-figures. With the win, the Tribe improves to 9-11, 3-6 in CAA play, while UNCW falls to 8-12, 4-5 in league action.
Green, who finished the game shooting 6-of-8 from the floor, tied a career-high with 16 points, two assists, one rebound, a block, and a steal. Senior Jazmen Boone recorded her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while handing out a team and season-high six dimes. Sophomore Alexandra Masaquel was solid for the Tribe as well, scoring 10 points, grabbing seven rebounds, four assists, one block, and a career-high seven steals.
UNCW used a 9-2 run to take an early lead by the same score with 17:58 remaining in the first half. Shatia Cole opened the game's scoring with a triple, which was followed by baskets from Naqaiyyah Teague and Kelva Atkins. After a basket from Green, Ryan Flowers hit a basket to end the run.
Trailing by double-figures for a majority of the first half, W&M used a 19-4 run over the last 7:28 of the half to build a 34-31 halftime lead. Trailing by 12, freshman Abby Rendle started the run with a layup followed by a triple from junior Brooke Stewart. After a UNCW basket, Rendle hit a free throw, Green hit a layup, and sophomore Marlena Tremba buried a 3-pointer to cut the UNCW lead to three. A basket from the Seahawks pushed it to a five-point advantage, before sophomore Kasey Curtis, Boone, and Tremba hit three straight layups, giving the Tribe a 32-31 advantage. Boone then closed the half with a layup right before time expired, pushing the score to 34-31.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first half. The Seahawks had a slight advantage from the field, shooting 43.3-percent (13-of-30), while the Green and Gold shot 42.9-percent (15-of-35).
W&M picked up where it left off to open the second half, bursting out of the gates on a 16-4 run, building its lead to 50-35. Masaquel sandwiched a pair of baskets around a Green free throw to start the spurt. After a UNCW basket, Masaquel and Rendle each responded with layups. The Seahawks answered again, but Green responded on a 5-0 rally of her own to give the Tribe a 15-point lead, its largest of the game.
Trailing by 10 points, 61-51, UNCW used a 9-0 run to cut the Tribe lead down to a single point. Brie Mobley opened the rally with a layup, which she followed up with a pair of free throws. Cole answered with a triple, before Mobley knocked home a jumper to end the run.
On the ensuing possession, UNCW forced a steal but in a scrum for the loose ball a Seahawk called a timeout, however, UNCW was out of timeouts, resulting in a technical foul. Boone and Green knocked down four straight free throws, to push the lead back to 65-60. Each team would score two points to result in a 67-62 final.
For the 11th time this season, and the second straight game, W&M shot the ball better than 40-percent, finishing at 41-percent (25-of -61) from the floor. The Tribe limited the Seahawks to 38.7-percent from the floor (24-of-62).
W&M forced UNCW into 16 turnovers, while only having 10. The Tribe had 12 steals, paced by seven from Masaquel - which is tied for seventh all-time in a W&M single game performance.
The Green and Gold also picked up its ninth win of the season, which is the most since the 2011-12 season. That season, W&M had 10 triumphs.
Tremba just missed double figures with nine points. She added two rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Rendle was also just outside of the double-figure plateau with eight points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Cole led three Seahawks in double-figures with a game-high 18 points, adding two steals and two assists. Atkins finished with a double-double on 17 points and 14 rebounds, and six steals, while Mobley had 16 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
The College hits the road for three straight games to start the month of February. W&M opens the road trip on Sunday, Feb. 1 at Northeastern, tipoff is set for 2 p.m. Next weekend, the Tribe travels to Drexel (Feb. 6) and Hofstra (Feb. 8).
