By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
Following a 24-point loss the previous afternoon, William & Mary gave a more competitive performance Sunday against Delaware. But the Tribe allowed too many free throws and second chances, and the result was a 77-64 loss to cap the weekend.
The Tribe held the Blue Hens to 38-percent shooting and stayed close on the boards, two things it needed to pull off the upset. But Delaware outscored W&M 24-5 on second-chance points and 31-21 from the free throw line in winning its fourth straight.
"The team showed some fight and we made several runs," W&M coach Ed Swanson said "But we gave up too many offensive rebounds and we fouled too much on defense to sustain anything. Those were the two key factors.
"Delaware is really good. They can score the ball and they're strong in all areas. But we gave up too many second chances and too many free throws.
Tribe guard Sydney Wagner did all she could with a career-high 31 points on 9-of-21 shooting, 7-of-14 from the 3-point arc. Center Bailey Eichner also had a career scoring day with 12 points, eight coming in the second half.
But the Tribe (4-5, 1-3 Colonial Athletic Association) was whistled for 32 fouls, 10 in the fourth quarter. The Blue Hens, who went the final 8:05 without a field goal, attempted 44 free throws. Forward Jasmine Dickey went 16-of-20 from the free throw line and finished with 28 points.
Rebekah Frisby-Smith, Emma Krause and Bre Bellamy all fouled out for the Tribe. Nyla Pollard, Gabby Rogers and Bailey Eichner finished with four fouls each.
The Tribe was called for only 14 fouls in Saturday's game.
"(The Blue Hens) were attacking more, and a lot of the fouls came on second-chance opportunities," Swanson said. "Some of them, quite frankly, I think were a lack of discipline on defense. We could eliminate a lot of that by finishing off on the defensive side by rebounding. We just didn't do that today."
Delaware, No. 25 nationally in rebounding margin coming into the weekend, had a 52-33 advantage in Saturday's game. Sunday's numbers were nearly identical — 43-39 in the Blue Hens' favor, 17-14 on the offensive end. Delaware simply converted more opportunities.
A frustrating sequence for W&M came just after it had cut an 18-point lead to 12 with 7:49 remaining. The Tribe's defense forced a miss on the other end, but Delaware got a second chance. And a third. Paris McBride's two free throws pushed the lead to 14.
"We had a bunch of opportunities throughout the game," Swanson said. "The game is all about finishing, and on defense, you have to finish it off with a rebound. You've got to finish it off by winning the 50-50 ball."
W&M shot 32.7 percent from the field, its lowest since 26.6 percent in the season opener at Old Dominion. Together, Wagner and Eichner were 12-of-26 from the field. The rest of the lineup was a combined 6-of-29.
"Unfortunately, today, we only had one player who finished her shots and played with the confidence she needed to play with on the offensive side, and that was Sydney," Swanson said. "When she takes a shot, she expects it to go in. I think when the other players shoot, they don't expect it to go in."
The Tribe's next opponent will be Drexel (5-1, 2-0), which will come to Kaplan Arena for 2 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday. Two weekends into the conference schedule, only four CAA teams (Delaware, Hofstra, Northeastern, and William & Mary) have not had a game postponed.
