WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's basketball team closes out the 2015 calendar year and non-conference play when they welcome Old Dominion to Kaplan Arena at William & Mary Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 21 as part of a women's and men's basketball doubleheader. The women play at 5:00 p.m., before the men host preseason MAC favorite Central Michigan at 7:30 p.m.
OPENING TIP For the first time in over a month the William & Mary women's basketball team looks to rebound from a loss when they close out non-conference play and the calendar year as they welcome in-state rival Old Dominion on Tuesday, Dec. 29. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. W&M enters tonight's game with an 8-2 record, and tied the school's best nine-game start in the program's history. The Green and Gold is also already tied the mark for the most non-conference wins in school history with eight. The Tribe meets Old Dominion for the 91st time in program history on Tuesday evening. Old Dominion leads the all-time series 71-19, including picking up the last two games of the series.
LAST TIME OUTThe William & Mary women's basketball team fell to in-state rival VCU 73-47 on the road on Monday night. Sophomore
Abby Rendle and junior
Marlena Tremba led the Tribe with eight points apiece. Freshman
Ali Engelhardt also chipped in seven points off of the bench for the Green and Gold. Junior
Latrice Hunter, freshman
Bianca Boggs, and sophomore
Jenna Green each scored five points for W&M. The Tribe also saw it stretch of double-digit steals come to an end, only forcing seven. Rendle and Tremba each had two thefts.
SCOUTING THE MONARCHSOld Dominion enters Tuesday looking to move its winning streak to two games and improve its 4-7 record. The Monarchs picked up a 69-52 victory at Maryland Eastern Shore a week ago. ODU enters Tuesday contest averaging 57.4 points a game. Jennie Simms leads attack averaging 16.4 points per game, while Destinee Young is second on the team with 10.8 points a night. Keyana Brown is just off of the double-figure pace at 9.0 points per game clip. On the glass, ODU is bringing home 35.2 rebounds a game. Young leads the way with 7.4 a game, while Ije Ajemba is second with 6.7 rebounds. Simms is just off of the pace with 6.3 rebounds a game. Karen Barefoot is in her fifth season at Old Dominion where she owns a 73-69 record. In her 18th overall year of coaching, she boasts a 283-212 record.
SERIES HISTORY The Tribe meets Old Dominion for the 91st time in program history on Tuesday evening. Old Dominion leads the all-time series 71-19, including picking up the last two games of the series. Last season, Old Dominion surivied a late Tribe rally to hang on for a 65-58 victory.
Jazmen Boone led the Tribe with 16 points, while
Marlena Tremba chipped in 14 points and five dimes. Jennie Simms scored 15 points off of the bench to lead four ODU players in double-figures. Tiffany Minor and Chelisa Painter each had 13 while Odegia Oigbokie finished with 11 points.
THE ROAD AHEADThe Green and Gold will open CAA play with a home game versus two-time defending champion James Madison on Sunday, Jan. 3. Tip time for that game is set for 2 p.m. W&M will hit the road for the first-time in CAA play as they travel to Towson on Friday, Jan. 8 for a 7 p.m. tipoff. W&M returns home to face Drexel on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 2 p.m.
SPREADING THE WEALTHOne key to the Tribe's success this season can be traced to how well they're sharing the basketball. In its eight victories this season W&M is averaging 18.4 assists, including 25 helpers in the victory over Grambling State. In its two losses the Tribe only averaged. 11.0 helpers. Furthermore, the Tribe's assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.3 in eight victories, while its just 0.7 in its two losses.
D, D, D, DEFENSEThe Green and Gold's defense has been strong all season, but has held two of its last three opponenets under 50 points. The Tribe accomplished the same feat last season on Jan. 15 and Jan. 18, but the split the games. The last time W&M held its opponents to under 50 points and won both games was Dec. 21, 2009, Dec. 30, 2009 and Jan. 3, 2010 when the Green and Gold picked up three straight victories while holding on their opponents under 50 points.
TAKING CARE OF THE ROCKOne of the Tribe's greatest strengths this season has been taking care of the basketball. Through 10 games, W&M is averaging just 14.1 turnovers, and their 4.80 turnover margin ranks 24th in the country. The Green and Gold is yet to have game this season where they have committed 20, or more turnovers. In terms of assist to turnover ratio, the Tribe leads the CAA with a 1.2 assist to turnover ratio, which is 29th-best in the NCAA.
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONEW&M played the first of three doubleheaders with both the men's and women's team playing on the same day in Kaplan Arena on Nov. 25. Both the women's and men's teams picked up victories in their respective games. The other two games are on Dec. 29 when the women host Old Dominion and the men host Central Michigan, and then the final double dip is set for Jan. 31 when the women host Northeastern and the men welcome James Madison in CAA play.
OLD FRIENDSW&M has already play three games against former CAA rivals against Richmond on Nov. 20, American on Nov. 25, and against VCU on Dec 21. The Tribe plays its final game against a former CAA foe when they welcome Old Dominion to Kaplan Arena tonight. Currently the Green and Gold holds a 1-2 record against former league mates.
COMMONWEALTH CLASHOnce again the William & Mary schedule is full of natural rivals including six-games against schools from the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Tribe plays Richmond (L, 50-56), Norfolk State (W, 67-47), VCU (L, 47-73), Old Dominion (Dec. 29), and James Madison (Jan. 3 & Feb. 19). The Tribe is currently 1-2 against teams from Virginia.
DOUBLE DIGIT DIMESJunior
Marlena Tremba recorded 10 assists in the Tribe's win at Clemson on Dec. 5. It was the most assists in a game since Katherine DeHenzel had 10 assists in a game at George Mason on Jan. 19, 2012. Tremba's 10 assist tie her for sixth in W&M single-game history.
STRONG STARTFor just the seventh time in the Division I history of the program, and the 22nd time in school history the Tribe women's basketball program opened a season with back-to-back wins. The Green and Gold went on to equal the best nine-game start in the school's nearly 100 year basketball history with its 8-1 record.
NON-CONFERENCE WINSWith one regular season non-conference games remaining, the Tribe's eight regular season non-conference wins are already tied for the most since the Tribe became a Division I program in 1982-83. The school record for regular season non-conference wins is eight (2015-15, 2011-12 & 1989-90). W&M has won seven non-conference games on seven different occasions, while the Tribe has picked up five win in four different seasons.
BATTLE OF BOARDSW&M has won the battle of the boards in three games of the last five games. For the first time under coach Swanson the Green and Gold won the rebounding battle in three straight contests, and it marks the first time since Feb. 28-March 3, 2010 that the team as accomplished that feat. The Tribe has posted a 3-1 record when they have the battle of the glass.
ROAD WARRIORS Three 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. So far, W&M has been rolling off of last year's momentum on the road, as the Tribe owns a 4-2 record away from Kaplan Arena. W&M's four true road wins are the second-most in terms of number in the country, and ranked tied for seventh.
REELING IN THE WINSW&M reeled off its first six-game winning streak since the 2006-07 season. That streak lasted for seven games and spanned from Dec. 10, 2006-Jan. 11, 2007. The longest winning streak in school history is 21-games, which happened over a handful of seasons from 1926-30. In terms of single-season win streaks the longest is eight games, which took place twice from Feb. 12-March 6, 1981, and Feb. 6, 1926-March 6, 1926. W&M has also had three, seven game winning streaks in school history.
EN FUEGOIn 23 of the Tribe's last 41 games the team has shot better than 40-percent from the field. In six of the eight wins this season, the Tribe has shot better than 40-percent. For the year, the Green and Gold is shooting a CAA-best 40.8-percent from the floor. The Tribe is shooting 30.4-percent (34-of-112) in its two losses this season at Richmond and VCU.
