One hundred years ago, almost to the date, William & Mary's women's basketball program was born. Friday night, there was a milestone moment in Kaplan Arena.

With a 74-61 victory over Elon, the Tribe set a school record with its 20th regular season win. Eva Hodgson scored 27 points, 16 more than she needed to break W&M's single-season scoring record. Victoria Reynolds, part of the winningest class in the program's history, added 20.

The Tribe also won its 11th Colonial Athletic Association game for only the second time and maintained its spot in third place. W&M (20-7, 11-5) clinched no worse than the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament.

"It's a big accomplishment as a team," Reynolds said of the 20 wins. "I just hope we can get better and get 21, 22 … And I want the younger players to continue that throughout their career."

Though the Tribe never trailed, win number 20 didn't come easy. Each time W&M seemed to be pulling away, leading by as many as 17 points in the first half and 16 with 7:53 left in the third quarter, Elon (12-15, 7-9) would counter punch.

The Phoenix made it a five-point game late in the third, but the Tribe answered with an 8-0 run and took a 56-43 lead on Reynolds' basket with 7:52 remaining. It was a 16-point game again with 3:22 to go, but even then, Elon kept punching.

"Coach (Ed Swanson) said that teams always go on runs," Hodgson said. "So they're going to go on a run, we're going to go on a run. I think it's just maintaining your composure through both sides of the run."

W&M put the game away by going 14-of-16 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Hodgson and Reynolds were a combined 11-of-12.

The Tribe got major production from reserves Sydney Wagner and Bailey Eichner. Wagner, W&M's third-leading scorer, finished with 11 points. Eichner was all-around solid with five points, nine rebounds (tying a career high), and three assists.

It was W&M's seventh win in its last eight games. The last two victories have come following an overtime loss at Drexel that was physically and emotionally draining.

"I think something that's been really important to us is just growth this year," Hodgson said. "Just focusing one game to the next, how can we get better, in little increments. Losing at Drexel, we knew we competed with them. We were right there.

"Whenever we lose, we typically bounce back pretty well. We see it as a challenge."

Hodgson broke the scoring record, which was previously held by Lynn Norenberg, with 7:13 remaining in the second quarter. She took her defender to the lane and pulled up for a 12-footer.

"It's cool," Hodson said of the record. "But I think the 20th  win meant more to me. And I know we still have a lot of history we can make this year."

The Tribe's women's program has had 13 coaches since that one-game season in 1920. Eloise Jacobs, Marion Reeder, and Thelma Brown all had winning records. None of them coached more than 40 games.

Swanson is 109-100 in seven seasons. Of the program's three years with at least 20 wins, two have come in his tenure.

"It's just nice to see players that keep getting better," he said. "If we go back to Victoria's freshman year to where she is now, she's a totally different player. Eva's made great strides. It's about the players believing in what we're doing and the development piece of it. 

"I think the hard work is paying off. … I've got to be honest with you, it started at the end of postseason last year. And I still think this team hasn't reached its ceiling yet."