WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's basketball hits the road for the first time in Colonial Athletic Association play, and looks to move to 2-0 in CAA play for the first time since the 2008-09 season when they travel to Towson for a matchup on Friday, Jan. 8. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
OPENING TIP The William & Mary women's basketball team hits the road for the first time in Colonial Athletic Association play when they travel to Towson for game on Friday, Jan. 8. Tipoff between the Tribe and Tigers is scheduled for 7 p.m. W&M enters tonight's contest looking to move its winning streak to three games, and its CAA record to 2-0 for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The Tribe meets Towson for the 25th time in series history on Friday night at SECU Arena. W&M will also host the Tigers in Williamsburg on Friday, Feb. 28. W&M leads the all-time series by a 14-10 mark, but the teams split the two games a year ago with both teams winning on their home courts.
LAST TIME OUTThe William & Mary women's basketball team battled back from a late deficit in regulation and scored the first seven points in overtime to knock off two-time defending Colonial Athletic Association Champion James Madison, 65-59, in the teams' league opener on Sunday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. Over the final 35 minutes, the Tribe limited JMU (7-5, 0-1 CAA), which lost only its third regular season game in the last three years, to just 19.7% shooting (12-of-61) and turned 24 Dukes' turnovers into 33 points. Junior
Alexandra Masaquel and sophomore
Abby Rendle each registered a double-double to lead the benchmark win for the Green and Gold (10-2, 1-0 CAA). Masaquel tallied 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Rendle finished with 14 points and equaled a career-best with 10 rebounds. Masaquel added five steals for the Green and Gold, while Rendle added four blocked shots and three swipes. Freshman
Bianca Boggs rounded out the Tribe's double-digit scorers with 11 points and four steals.
SCOUTING THE TIGERSTowson enters Friday's game with a 4-8, record, but has picked up back-to-back victories, including a thrilling 72-71 victory in the conference opener over Northeastern. Dominique Johnson hit a triple with 7.4 seconds remaining to send the Tigers to the CAA opening victory. TU is averaging 68.2 points a game in its 12 contest this season. Johnson leads the team with 15.3 points per game, but Raven Bankston is right on her heels averaging 15.2 points a night. Reining CAA Rookie of the Week Sianni Martin is third on the team averaging 12.8 points a game. On the glass, Towson is averaging 40.8 rebounds a game. Leading the way is Daijha Thomas, who is bringing down 8.1 rebounds a game. Jordyn Smith is second on the team with 6.7 boards a night. Niki Reid Geckeler is in her third season at Towson, where she owns a 28-46 record. In her eighth season overall, she boasts a 113-138 record.
SERIES HISTORY The Tribe meets Towson for the 25th time in series history on Friday night at SECU Arena. W&M will also host the Tigers in Williamsburg on Friday, Feb. 28. W&M leads the all-time series by a 14-10 mark, but the teams split the two games a year ago with both teams winning on their home courts. Towson picked up a 77-69 victory in overtime in Maryland, before W&M won 68-56 in Williamsburg. Last season, junior
Marlena Tremba led the Tribe in both games against the Tigers, averaging 16.5 points and 4.0 rebounds. Sophomore
Jenna Green averaged 8.0 points and 5.0 dimes in the two contests.
THE ROAD AHEADCAA play continues as the College returns home to face Drexel on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 2 p.m. The Green and Gold hit the road for the first of three CAA two-game road swings next weekend when they travel to Northeastern on Jan. 15, before heading to Hofstra on Jan. 17.
DOUBLE DIGIT DEFICITSW&M has only trialed by double-figures on four separate occasions this season. However, the Green and Gold has rallied to win three of those four games. The Tribe overcame double-digit deficits against Clemson, Old Dominion, and James Madison.
MAKES YOU WANNA STAYThe Green and Gold played its first overtime game this season against James Madison on Jan. 3, picking up a 65-59 victory over the Dukes. W&M played four overtime games a season ago, going 2-2. However, the Tribe has picked up three consecutive overtime victories dating back to last season.
MID MAJOR TOP 25For the first time in the six history of the poll, the Tribe earned a spot in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 at No. 25. W&M is one of three CAA squads to earn a ranking in the poll with Hofstra (17) and James Madison (20). Elon is currently receiving votes for the poll.
HOME SWEET HOMEThe Tribe has won its first six contests inside of Kaplan Arena, and finished the non-conference schedule unbeaten at home since the 2006-07 season. That team went 4-0 during the non-conference season. Dating back to last season, W&M has won nine consecutive home games, which is the second longest streak since the building opened in 1971. W&M's women's team didn't move into Kaplan until the late 1970s. The longest Kaplan Arena winning streak is 11-games from Feb. 21, 1993-Feb. 7, 1994.
CRASHING THE GLASSFor the first time under head coach
Ed Swanson's W&M tenure the Green and Gold recorded 50, or more rebounds in a contest. It was the first time since Jan. 31, 2013 that the Green and Gold pulled down more than 50 boards. That night the Tribe had 54 in 63-61 win at UNCW.
TAKING CARE OF THE ROCKOne of the Tribe's greatest strengths this season has been taking care of the basketball. Through 12 games, W&M is averaging just 14.8 turnovers, which ranks them 32nd in the country. The Green and Gold has had just one game this season where they have committed 20, or more turnovers. In terms of assist to turnover ratio, the Tribe is second in the CAA with a 1.1 assist to turnover ratio, which is 40th-best in the NCAA.
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 (W, 75-64), and James Madison (W, 65-59, Feb. 19). The Tribe is currently 3-2 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 is tied for its best 12-game start in school history at 10-2. W&M had an identical 10-2 record during the 1977-78 campaign.
WEEKLY AWARDSJunior
Marlena Tremba became the Tribe's first player to earn a weekly award when she was tabbed the CAA's first player of the week on the week of Nov. 16. The junior poured in a career-high 26 points in the season opener against Mount St. Mary's on her way to the award. Freshman
Bianca Boggs was the second Tribe player to earn a weekly award when she was named CAA Rookie of the Week for the week of Dec. 21. She scored nine points, adding a rebound, two assists, two blocks, and two steals in a win against Norfolk State. Junior
Alexandra Masaquel won her first CAA weekly award with the player of the week nod for the week of Jan. 4. She averaged a double-double in two victories over ODU and JMU.
GRAND COUNTDOWNWith her first quarter 3-pointer against Norfolk State, junior
Marlena Tremba entered the 900-point plateau for her career. Entering today's game against Towson she is just 58 points from her 1,000 career point. She would become the 17th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau.
RENDLE'S REJECTIONSSophomore
Abby Rendle picked up where she left off her freshman year in terms of controlling the paint. The sophomore is averaging 3.1 blocks a night, to open the season, which ranks first in the CAA and sixth in the country. Her 37 total blocks this season rank her 11th in the NCAA. Her 37 blocks also give her more blocks than 113 teams have combined in the NCAA as of Jan. 5. The 37 blocks are already the eighth most in single-season school history. She needs five more to move into a tie for sixth place. Rendle is already in fourth place on the all-time blocks list in W&M history with 105. She is the fifth player to record 100 career blocks, and three more would move her into third place all-time. Tiffany Benson '10 is the school record holder for blocked shots with 255.
