WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's basketball opens its 2015-16 regular season as they travel to Mount St. Mary's its season opener on Friday, Nov. 13. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The Tribe play three of its first four games away from Williamsburg to open the season.
OPENING TIPFollowing the first-ever Division I postseason tournament appearance, The William & Mary women's basketball team opens the 2015-16 season on the road at Mount St. Mary's on Friday, Nov. 13. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
W&M play three of its first four games of the season on the road, with its only home game coming on Monday, Nov. 16 against Grambling. The Tribe and Mount St. Mary's meet for the 11th time in program history on Friday night. Mount St. Mary's leads the all-time series by a 3-7 record.
Scouting the Mountaineers Mount St. Mary's also opens its regular season on Friday night when they host the Tribe. Last season, the Mountaineers averaged 57.2 points-per-game and 31.9 rebounds a night. The Mount was selected to finish seventh in the NEC preseason poll. The Mountaineers lose its top two scorers from last year, and return their third leading scorer in S. Arthur-Williams, who averaged 7.7 points-per-game last season. However, the Mount does return its top two rebounders from a season ago in Kaitlyn Eisenhard (7.0 rpg.) , and Arthur-Williams (6.8 rpg.).
Series History William & Mary and Mount St. Mary's meet for the 11th time in series history on Friday night. The Mount leads the all-time series by a 7-3 mark. The last time the two programs met came on Dec. 8, 2006. That night the Mount prevailed 66-58 in overtime.
The Road AheadThe Tribe returns to Williamsburg for its 2015-16 home opener on Monday, Nov. 16. W&M welcomes in Grambling for a 7 p.m. game at Kaplan Arena at William & Mary Hall. W&M will then head back out the road to close its three of four on the road to open the regular season. The Green and Gold plays at Richmond (Nov. 20) before heading to Loyola (Md.) (Nov. 23).
Season OpenersW&M has posted a 4-7 record in its last 11 season openers, including a 72-71 victory over Loyola (Md.) last season. Head coach
Ed Swanson holds a 1-1 record in opening night games with W&M, but has posted 11 opening night victories during his entire coaching career.
Returning ScorersThe College returns three of its top four scorers from last season, including its leading scorer from a year ago junior
Marlena Tremba (12.5 ppg.) Also back for the Green and Gold is junior
Alexandra Masaquel (7.8 ppg.) and sophomore
Abby Rendle (7.7 ppg.). The highest scorer lost from a season ago is
Jazmen Boone, who averaged 11.8 points-per-game.
Road WarriorsThree of the Green and Gold's first four games this season are on the road, which marks the third consecutive season that the Tribe has had three of its first four contests away from Williamsburg. The Tribe found success last season away from home, winning seven games. Prior to the 2014-15 season, W&M had won just seven true road games in the previous six years combined.
Slated for SixthW&M was picked to finish sixth in the 2015-16 CAA Preseason Poll, which is voted on by all 10 of the league's head coaches. James Madison was selected to win the league for the third consecutive season, while Drexel (second), Hofstra (third), Elon (fourth), and Delaware (fifth) were picked ahead of the Tribe. UNCW (seventh), Towson (eighth), Charleston (ninth), and Northeastern (10th) round out the poll.
Preseason PraiseFor the second consecutive season, junior
Marlena Tremba was named Preseason All-CAA Second Team. Last season, she was named to the league's third-team. She finished the 2014-15 season averaging 12.5 ppg., 3.1 rpg, and 1.7 steals a night.
Commonwealth Clash Once again the William & Mary schedule is full of natural rivals including six-games against schools from the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Tribe plays Richmond (Nov. 20), Norfolk State (Dec. 17), VCU (Dec. 21), Old Dominion (Dec. 29), and James Madison (Jan. 3 & Feb. 19).
Roster Breakdown This year's roster features 15-players from six different states, and one player from Canada. Virginia is the home to six players, while three hail from Maryland, two from Pennsylvania, one each from California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Quebec, Canada. The Green and Gold feature one senior,
Brooke Stewart, so 14 players have, at-least, one year of eligibility remaining following this season.
Watch the TribeOnce again all 14 of the Tribe's home games will be available live and for free on TribeAthletics.TV, which is streamed through TribeAthletics.com. Additionally, W&M's game at Hofstra on Sunday, Jan. 17 will be aired live on the American Sports Network.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORSThe William & Mary women's basketball team had four players honored by the Colonial Athletic Association with 2014-15 postseason awards. Sophomore
Marlena Tremba highlighted the awards by being named to the league's third-team and the all-academic squad. Senior
Jazmen Boone earned CAA All-Defensive honors, while freshman
Abby Rendle garnered all-rookie honors and all-defensive honors. The final award went to senior
Kyla Kerstetter, who was an all-academic selection.
DANCIN' SHOESW&M earned its first-ever Division I Postseason berth with a trip to the 2015 Women's Basketball Invitational. The Tribe traveled to Xavier where they dropped a heartbreaking 57-56 loss. Then-sophomore
Alexandra Masaquel led the Green and Gold in the game with a career-high 18 points.
BRING OUT THE BROOMS For the first time since the 2006-07 season, W&M swept a pair of conference opponents during the 2014-15 season. The Tribe won both games against the College of Charleston and Northeastern to earn a season sweep of the series.
NO ROOM FOR SEPARATIONOf the 31 games played last season for the Tribe, 10 points or more separated only 10. Of the 21 that weren't decided by 10 points or more, 18 of the games have come by seven points, or less. W&M had nine games decided by 1-3 points, while nine other games were decided 4-7 points.
SETTING SCHOOL RECORDSW&M continued to rewrite the single-game record book under coach Swanson and set five school records last season. The Tribe reset the school record for assists (28), blocks (14), field goal percentage (68.1 percent), sophomore
Marlena Tremba reset the school record for field goal percentage (100-percent, 8-for-8), and senior
Jazmen Boone set the single-game free throw percentage (100-percent, 10-for-10). Under coach Swanson the Tribe has set eight school records, including the assist record last year, field goals made in a game (41), and field goal percentage (Boone 100-percent, 8-for-8).
LEADING TRENDSWilliam & Mary had the lead, at one point, in every single game last season. Dating back to the 2013-14 season, W&M has held, at least, one lead in 33 straight games. Furthermore, the Tribe did not trail at any point during four separate occasions. The Green and Gold led wire-to-wire against Longwood, Wofford, Hofstra, and Towson.
CONTINUED IMPROVEMENTW&M's 15-win season was its most wins since the 2008-09 season, that season the team picked up 14 victories. The 15 wins were a seven win turnaround from the year before, and ranked fourth in single-season wins in school history.
STEALING THE SHOWLast season, W&M averaged 11.3 steals a night, which is an improvement from 10.8 steals per game from last year. The Green and Gold ranked No. 13 in the country and first in the conference in steals per game. Senior
Jazmen Boone ranked 39th in the country with 2.5 steals per game, while sophomore Alex Masaquel ranked No. 72 in the country with 2.3 spg.
D, D, DEFENSEThe Tribe forced 15 teams to, at least, 20 turnovers. W&M forced VCU into a season-high 32 turnovers.
BLOCK PARTYW&M, which swatted 4.6 shots a night, recorded a season-high and school record 14 blocks against Maine on Dec. 21. Then-freshman
Abby Rendle led the CAA with 2.3 blocks per game, which ranks her 39th in the country. The Tribe ranked No. 48 in the country and second in the CAA in blocked shots per game. W&M's 4.8 blocks per game is the best in school history. The team's 143 season blocks is already the most blocks for a team in single-season history.
EN FUEGOIn 17 of the Tribe's 31 games this season, the team has shot better than 40-percent from the field. W&M's best shooting performance this season came at the College of Charleston when they set a school record field goal percent of .618. For the year, W&M shot 40.7-percent, which is third in the CAA and ranks 131st in the NCAA.
GETTING TO THE STRIPE Another big key to the Tribe's success last year was how often they visited the free throw line throughout a game. In games where W&M shoots more free throws than their opponents they are 10-3. When their opponents shoot more than the Green and Gold, W&M is just 3-12. When the free throws are even, W&M is 2-0.
NOW! THAT'S WHAT I CALL SCORINGW&M scored, at least, 90 points for the 16th time in program history, when they scored 90 points against Longwood. It was the third time under coach Swanson that Tribe reached the 90-point mark.
The Green and Gold scored 90, or more, points three times in the same season in 1993-94 and 1982-83.
80 OR MORE POINTSUnder coach Swanson, the Tribe has reached the 80-point plateau seven times. The Green and Gold has posted a 6-1 record in those games, with the only loss at High Point earlier this season.
Furthermore, when the College reaches the 85-point or higher mark they are perfect 3-0 under Swanson.
START ME UP No Tribe player started all 31 games last season for W&M. In his previous two-years coach Swanson has used 16 different starting lineups (10 in 2013-14; 6 in 2014-15) in his time with the Tribe. Regardless of what five-players start tonight, Coach Swanson will use his 17th different starting lineup.
