WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary head women's basketball coach Ed Swanson became the 69th Division I coach to win 500 career games as his team topped Hartford 61-44 on Tuesday night at Kaplan Arena.
 
W&M (5-1) used an 11-2 run to open the game and take the lead by the same score with 5:04 left in the opening quarter. After Hartford scored the game's first basket, Junior Nyla Pollard tied the score, before sophomore Eva Hodgson had a basket, freshman Bre Bellamy scored, and senior Victoria Reynolds completed a traditional 3-point play. Bellamy ended the run with a fast-break lay-up.
 
Hartford (0-7) used a 9-3 spurt early in the third quarter to cut it five, but that was as close as they could get down the stretch. Lawrencia Moten scored in the paint before Jada Lucas canned a 3-pointer to bring it back to a two-possession game. Redshirt sophomore Sydney Wagner buried a 3-pointer, but back-to-back baskets from Carmen Villalobos and Moten made it 32-27 with 5:53 left in the third.
 
The Tribe answered with an 11-0 run to push to its largest lead and never looked back. Bellamy sunk a 3-pointer before junior Bailey Eichner scored lay-up to push the lead back to double-figures. Pollard added a fast-break lay-up, Wagner hit a jumper, and Reynolds added a lay-up to make it 43-27 late in the third period.
 
W&M Starters – #10 Hodgson, #11 Pollard, #20 Bellamy, #25 Rogers, #30 Bellamy
 
Hartford Starters - #1 McLemore, #3 Lucas, #12 Moten, #15 Primo #40 Smith
 
Individual Leaders 
Junior Nyla Pollard, sophomore Eva Hodgson, and freshman Bre Bellamy all finished with 10 points in the victory. Pollard added two rebounds and four assists, while Bellamy had a pair of steals. Despite playing a season-low 13 minutes because of foul trouble, Hodgson was still in double-figures and had two assists and two steals. A balanced score sheet, both senior Victoria Reynolds and redshirt sophomore Sydney Wagner had seven, and junior Bailey Eichner had six points and six rebounds.
 
Jordan McLemore had a game-high 12 points with three bounds, two assists, and a steal. Both Jada Lucas and Lawrencia Moten each had 10 points. Moten just missed a double-double with eight rebounds and four blocks, while Lucas added four rebounds and an assist.
 
Inside the Numbers 
- Despite the result, W&M was hampered by cold shooting and shot a season-low 36.4-percent from the floor. It was just the second-time the Tribe shot under 40-percent this year.
- The good news for the Tribe is it limited Hartford to the second-lowest field goal percentage of the year at 31.3-percent and a season-low 44 points against.
- Hartford won the rebounding battle, 46-34.
- For the third straight game, W&M kept its turnovers in single-digits as it only had nine miscues, while forcing Hartford into 25 turnovers. 
 
Notes 
Head coach Ed Swanson became the 69th coach in Division I history to win 500 career games and remains the 32nd active wins leader … Swanson also got back to .500 at W&M at 94-94 … His first 406 victories came at Sacred Heart … Sophomore Eva Hodgson tied for team-high honors with 10, and has been the team's leading scorer in all six games … It extends her double-digit streak to seven games and she now has 23 career double-figure performances … With two free throws, Hodgson has now hit her first 25 from the line, and has hit 35 straight dating back to March 1 of last season … Junior Nyla Pollard turned in a season-high 10 points … It was her fifth career double-figure performance … Freshman Bre Bellamy made it back-to-back games in double-figures and she now has three career double-digit performances … The win evened the all-time series with Hartford at 1-1 with both games coming in the last two seasons … It was the first game this season W&M didn't eclipse the 70 point mark … It is the second-straight game, the Tribe has limited its opponent to under 50 points.
 
What's Ahead
W&M closes its stretch of four games in 10 days as it travels to Delaware State on Saturday, Nov. 30. Tip time between the Tribe and the Hornets is set for 2 p.m.