W&M News and Notes
- The Tribe squares off with former Colonial Athletic Association rival George Mason for the first time since the Patriots left the league at the conclusion of the 2012-13 season. Mason leads the all-time series, 50-23, but the Tribe won the last meeting in Williamsburg, 63-53, and the teams split the season series in 2013.
- Wednesday marks the Tribe's second game against the Atlantic 10 in 2020-21. W&M is 10-9 under head coach
Ed Swanson against the Atlantic 10. In fact, the Green and Gold has won seven of its last 11 games against the league.
- Redshirt junior
Sydney Wagner erupted for a career-high 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3 vs. Navy. She has topped the Tribe in each of the first three games and ranks fourth in the CAA in scoring at 17 points per game. Wagner was a preseason All-CAA honorable mention choice by vote of the league coaches.
- Over the last two games, Wagner has been on fire from 3, hitting 9-of-14 (64.3%). On the year, she ranks fifth in the CAA and 80th nationally in 3-point % (47.4) and ninth in field goal shooting (51.4%). Wagner also leads the league and is 41st in the country in 3-pointers made per game at three per contest.
- Senior
Nyla Pollard enjoyed a strong home debut in 2020-21 with an impressive stat line of 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals against Richmond. Her scoring output and steals total both equaled career-highs. Pollard ranks among the CAA top 10 in four different categories. She is fifth in steals (2.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5) and 10th in assists (3.0) and free throw % (80.0). Last season, she was third in the league in both assists (3.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8).
- W&M dished out a season-high 17 assists on 19 made field goals in the win over Navy. Last season, the Tribe led the CAA in assists per game (16.3). The Green and Gold currently ranks third in the league in both assists (13.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.9). Three Tribe players ranks among the top 10 in the league in assists, including Wagner (ninth at 3.3), sophomore
Bre Bellamy (10th at 3.0) and Pollard (10th at 3.0).
- The Tribe knocked down a season-high 10 3-pointers in the victory over Navy. W&M ranks second in the CAA and 92nd nationally averaging seven made triples per game. It marked the 15th time under head coach
Ed Swanson that W&M made double-digit 3-pointers in a game, and the Tribe improved to 11-4 in those contests. Sophomore
Bre Bellamy leads the CAA in 3-point %, hitting 4-of-7 from distance (57.1%) this season.
- The Green and Gold will not leave the state of Virginia during the nonconference slate, playing three home games in Kaplan Arena and another three contests on the road against Commonwealth rivals (Old Dominion, George Mason and Norfolk State). The Tribe's six nonconference foes averaged nearly 17 wins a season ago and three of them finished second in their respective leagues.
- After leading the Tribe with 5.3 rebounds per game last season, senior
Bailey Eichner has picked up right where she left off. She topped W&M with a career-high 14 rebounds at ODU, which marked the most rebounds for a Tribe player since 2018. For the second-straight year, Eichner ranks among the CAA leaders in rebounding (fifth at 8.3), blocks (fourth at 1.0) and defensive rebounds (tied for first at 7.0).
- W&M is coming off its best season in school history during 2019-20. The Tribe posted school records in wins (21), CAA wins (12) and road wins (11). The team also achieved its highest seed in the CAA Tournament at No. 3. With a final RPI of 104, the Tribe was on the verge of earning a postseason berth to, at least, the WNIT for the first time in the program's history before COVID-19 ended the season.
- W&M head coach
Ed Swanson enjoyed a noteworthy 2019-20 season individually. He was named the CAA Co-Coach of the Year following the Tribe's historic season. Personally, Swanson won his 500th career game on Nov. 26, became just the third coach in W&M history win 100 games with the Tribe on Jan. 12, and was inducted into the Northeast Conference Hall of Fame in January.
- As a team, the Tribe was picked eighth in the preseason standings by vote of the league coaches. JMU was the preseason pick to win the league. Last season, W&M was picked seventh in the preseason before finishing a program-best third in the final league standings with a school-record 12 CAA wins.
- W&M will be down two scholarship players in 2020-21 as senior
Libby Underwood and junior
Eva Hodgson elected to opt out due to COVID-19 concerns. Underwood appeared in 52 career games, while Hodgson was an All-CAA First Team performer in 2019-20, averaging 20.7 points per game.
