WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Three players scored in double-figures and the William & Mary women's basketball team survived a third quarter Saint Francis (Pa.) rally en route to its ninth straight victory, 73-60, on Tuesday night in Kaplan Arena. With the win the Tribe now has recorded its best 10-game start in school history at 9-1, while the Red Flash fall to 3-8.
 
Senior Marlena Tremba scored a team-high 18 points and added two rebounds, four assists, playing just under 40 minutes. Junior Abby Rendle turned her best performance of the season with her first double-double of the year and the fifth of her career. She finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, adding three helpers, two steals and six blocks. Senior Alexandra Masaquel rounded out the double-figure scorers as she finished with her second straight double-double adding 15 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, a block, and two steals. It was the first time a pair of Tribe players recorded double-doubles in the same game since Jan. 3, 2016.
 
William & Mary opened the game on an 8-0 run and never trailed from there. Masaquel started the scoring with a jumper, before Rendle scored four in a row. A jumper by sophomore Bianca Boggs capped the spurt.
 
Leading 18-10, W&M used a 7-2 run, to build its largest lead of the quarter. Masaquel again sparked the rally with a layup, before Boggs hit three straight from the stripe. After a pair of free throws from Saint Francis' Jessica Kovatch, Rendle added a layup to make it 25-12 with 1:39 left in the opening 10 minutes.
 
The Tribe opened the second stanza with a 13-3 run in the processes of building its largest lead of the night. Rendle opened the quarter with a put back, before Tremba canned back-to-back triples. After a Kovatch 3-pointer, the Tribe stormed off for five straight. The rally started with three straight points from Rendle, before freshman Victoria Reynolds knocked down two from the line, making 40-18 with 8:00 left in the half.
 
SFU drew as close as 14 points in the second period, but W&M responded with 10-3 run to close the half.  Tremba hit four straight from the free throw line, before SFU's Halee Adams hit a trey. Senior Latrice Hunter scored four straight points, before Masaquel added a layup, making it 52-31 at the break.
 
The third quarter belonged to the Red Flash however, and the team used a 23-7 quarter to get back within as close as three. Kovatch scored 13 of the 23 points of the period, including hitting three triples. The closes the SFU came was 56-53 with 46 seconds left in the quarter.
 
Leading by only five, W&M opened the fourth quarter with the first eight points, icing the game. Masaquel started the rally with back-to-back layups, before junior Jenna Green got a steal and a layup. Rendle capped the rally with a layup, making it 67-54 with 6:56 left in the game.
 
W&M never surrendered the lead and has not trailed since the 8:44 mark of the second quarter against Norfolk State on Dec. 15. During its nine game winning streak, the Tribe has only been behind for 13:29 of the last 360 minutes.

It was just the second time this season that W&M allowed opponent to score 60, or more, points. However the Red Flash entered the contest averaging 80.0 points per game. 

Also three Tribe players continued their ascent of the W&M record books on Tuesday night. Tremba became the ninth leading scorer in school history and now sits at 1,333 points and needs just eight more points to move into eighth all-time. Masaquel became the 21st player in school history to grab her 500th career rebound and now has 509 boards. Finally, Rendle moved into second place in career-blocked shots with 158. She needs 98 more blocks to set the school rejection mark.

Kovatch scored a game-high 28 points and was the only SFU player in double-figures. Adams finished with nine points and four rebounds, while Cydney Smith added seven points and three boards.
 
Following an eight day break, the Green and Gold looks to extend a winning streak to double-digits for the first time since 1930 as it welcomes American Athletic Conference foe East Carolina to Kaplan Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Tipoff between the two former CAA mates is set for 7 p.m.