WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's basketball team heads to the Tar Heel state for a pair of Colonial Athletic Association games starting on Friday, Feb. 5 when they travel to Elon. Tip time between the Tribe and the Phoenix is set for 7 p.m.
OPENING TIP The William & Mary women's basketball team opens the month of February and hits the road for a pair of games in the state of North Carolina opening up with a game at Elon on Friday, Feb. 5. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. W&M enters the game, a game back of the Phoenix, which is the lone CAA squad the Green and Gold is yet to play, in the league standings.
The Tribe and Elon meet for the seventh time in program history on Friday night. The Phoenix make a return trip to Williamsburg for the regular season finale on Wednesday, March 2. The overall series between the two schools is deadlocked at 3-3. However, Elon won both games in the season series a year ago.
LAST TIME OUTJunior
Marlena Tremba scored a game-high 20 points, and classmate
Latrice Hunter chipped in 15 points on five 3-pointers as the William & Mary women's basketball team defeated Northeastern 69-62 on Sunday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. Tremba added four rebounds, four assists, and a steal to go along with her fifth 20-point performance of the season. Hunter, who had her most points since her freshman season, added three dimes, two rebounds, and two assists. Junior
Alexandra Masaquel also notched her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points, and 10 rebounds, while she added four blocks and four steals. Freshman
Bianca Boggs rounded out the balanced attack with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal. The Tribe hit a season-high 10, 3-pointers and shot 55.6-percent (10-of-18) from distance. From the floor, the Tribe shot 40.4–percent (23-of-57).
SCOUTING THE PHOENIXElon enters Friday's contest winners of four of its last five games, but is looking to get back into the win column following a setback at Hofstra last Sunday. The Phoenix, who is the only CAA team W&M hasn't played, enters the game with a 12-8, 5-4 CAA record. The team is averaging 63.8 points per game. Individually, Shay Burnett is the only player in double-figures averaging 12.8 points per game. Lauren Brown is averaging 9.4 points per game, while Jenifer Rhodes (8.9) and Essence Baucom (8.6) are just off the pace. Elon is bringing home 41.2 rebounds per game. Burnett also leads the team with 7.8 rebounds a game, while Malaya Johnson is second on the team with 6.2 rebounds. Charlotte Smith is in her fifth season with the Phoenix. The former North Carolina standout owns a 81-64 record.
SERIES HISTORY The Tribe and Elon meet for the seventh time in program history on Friday night. The Phoenix make a return trip to Williamsburg for the regular season finale on Wednesday, March 2. The overall series between the two schools is deadlocked at 3-3. However, Elon won both games in the season series a year ago. Junior
Alexandra Masaquel led the Tribe charge against Elon last season averaging 10 points a game in the two contests. Classmate
Marlena Tremba added 9.5 points per game, including a 16 point performance in the game on the road.
THE ROAD AHEADW&M concludes its two-game road swing as it travels to UNCW for a game on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 7). Tipoff between the Tribe and Seahawks is set for 2 p.m. Then, the Tribe returns home for another two-game home stand. The College welcomes Hofstra on Friday, Feb. 12, before hosting Delaware on Sunday, Feb. 14.
BIG SHOT LATRICEJunior
Latrice Hunter enjoyed her best game since her freshman season against Northeastern on Jan. 31. She hit five 3-pointers to finish the game with a season-high 15 points. A spark off of the bench, Hunter is averaging 5.9 points per game to go with 1.9 assists in 16.7 minutes.
RAINING THREESW&M drained a season-high 10, 3-pointers against Northeastern on Jan. 31.
The 10, 3-pointers is the most in a game since they hit 10 triples against Longwood on Nov. 29, 2014. That game was the only time during the 2014-15 season that the Tribe hit more than 10 triples.
KASEY IN THE PAINTJunior
Kasey Curtis has made the most of her return to the starting lineup in the last two games. She has averaged 5.7 points and 3.0 rebounds during the last two games, which is way up from her season averages of 2.0 ppg. and 2.2 rpg. Against College of Charleston, Curtis recorded the fourth-best blocked shot performance in school history with seven rejections.
BLOCK PARTYW&M set the school record for blocked shots against UNCW with 16 on Jan. 22. Sophomore
Abby Rendle led the way with a school record 10 blocks, while junior
Alexandra Masaquel also swatted a career-best four shots. The Tribe put together the second-most blocks in school history against Charleston with 13 rejections. Junior
Kasey Curtis led the charge with seven blocked shots. For the season, W&M leads the CAA with 5.7, and also ranks 13th in the country.
A GRAND OCCASIONWith her fourth quarter right-wing triple in the game against Delaware junior
Marlena Tremba became the 17th player in W&M school history to record her 1,000th career-point. In 78 games she is the fifth fastest player to reach the mark.
SETTING SCHOOL RECORDSSince taking over the reigns of the William & Mary women's basketball program three years ago,
Ed Swanson and his team have begun to rewrite the record book. During his tenure, W&M has set 10 different school records as both a team or individual performances. This year, the Tribe has set the school record for blocks (16) and individual blocked shots (
Abby Rendle, 10).
FORCING TURNOVERS For the season, W&M is forcing 18 turnovers per game, which is first in the CAA. W&M has forced five opponents into 20, or more turnovers this season.
BREAKING BIANCAFreshman
Bianca Boggs has made her presence known in her rookie season. She has started 15 games this season for W&M, including the last 14. The rookie won the game at Loyola with a free throw, before hitting a clutch free throw to send the game to overtime at Northeastern. She was tabbed CAA Rookie of the Week for the weeks of Dec. 21, Jan. 25, and Feb. 1. In three games of the last four she has reset at least one career-high. Against Delaware she scored 18 points, after having a 16-point effort against UNCW. She followed that up with her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against College of Charleston. For the season the Waldorf, Md. native is averaging 8.3 points per game, 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists per game, and 2.2 steals per game.
SCORING IN THE SEVENTIESSo far this season getting over the 70-point clip has been a great sign for the Green and Gold. The six times the Tribe has reached that plateau they have won. W&M is 12-2 this season when they score 60, or more, points.
SHARING IS CARINGA key to success this season for W&M has been they have shared the rock. W&M ranks 23rd in the country in assists per game with 16.8. Furthermore, the Tribe has averaged 18.0 assists per game in its 13 wins this season. In its seven losses, the Green and Gold has averaged just 14.4 assists.
DOUBLE DIGIT DEFICITSW&M has only trailed by double-figures on seven separate occasions this season. However, the Green and Gold has rallied to win three of those games. W&M overcame double-digit deficits against Clemson, Old Dominion, and James Madison.
MAKES YOU WANNA STAYThe Green and Gold played its second overtime on Friday night in Boston, falling to Northeastern 69-68. The Tribe is now 1-1 in overtime games this season. W&M played four overtime games a season ago, going 2-2. The loss against Northeastern in overtime also snapped a three-game winning streak in games that go to overtime.
TAKING CARE OF THE ROCKOne of the Tribe's greatest strengths this season has been taking care of the basketball. Through 20 games, W&M has only turned the ball over 292 times (14.8 tpg.), which ranks them 49th in the country. The Green and Gold has had two games 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 31st-best in the NCAA.
WEEKLY AWARDSW&M has had four players win six CAA weekly awards this season. Juniors
Marlena Tremba and
Alexandra Masaquel as well as sophomore
Abby Rendle have each been named the CAA Player of the Week, while freshman
Bianca Boggs has won three CAA Rookie of the Week honors. For the first time since the 2009 season, W&M swept the weekly awards for the week of Jan. 25 as Rendle was named player of the week and Boggs earned the rookie nod. Boggs won her second straight CAA Rookie of the Week for the week of Feb. 1 after averaging 14.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists over three games during the previous week.
