By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
Going against a team picked to finish second in the conference, William & Mary scrapped and clawed enough to trail by only three points at halftime. Then came an undoing five minutes to open the third quarter, and the deficit suddenly had grown to 16.
W&M did fight back and even made it a one-possession game in the fourth quarter, but Drexel held on for a 64-58 win Saturday at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe was never able to recover from being outscored 13-0 to start the third quarter, turnovers being its biggest culprit.
"We lost the game the first five minutes of that third quarter," Tribe coach Ed Swanson said. "We had seven turnovers and only one (basket). But if you take away those five minutes, I thought it was a pretty evenly played game.
"They just sped us up so much. With our turnovers, we threw two balls at our ankles and we traveled twice. You just can't do that and expect to win a game."
Drexel took its biggest lead at 43-27 with 6:34 left in the third quarter. Sydney Wagner ended her team's 0-for-8 start with a 3-pointer, and the Tribe was able to get within striking distance at 49-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
W&M (4-6, 1-4 Colonial Athletic Association) got a Nyla Pollard layup and an Emma Krause 3-pointer to start the fourth, and it was suddenly a game again. Twice, with 2:27 and 1:40 remaining, the Tribe scored to cut the Dragons' lead to three. But each time, Drexel answered.
The fourth quarter spark plug was sophomore Chaniqwa Gilliam, who scored eight of her 10 points in the final 3:56.
"She's more than capable of playing like that for the season," Swanson said. "She's a sophomore, and she's thrust into the starting point guard spot. She's learning on the go a little bit, but hopefully she can build on that.
"I think the world of her. I think she can be an attacking guard. We're going to stick with her, and hopefully she'll grow into it."
Bre Bellamy, another sophomore, scored all six of her points in the game's final 6:37.
Wagner led the Tribe with 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting, 4-of-9 from the 3-point arc. Krause scored 11 points and was 3-of-4 from the field, 4-of-4 from the free throw line. It the junior's first start of the season and the fourth of her career,
"We're just trying to mix it up, try different things and different combinations," Swanson said. "Emma offensively really played well today."
Mariah Leonard led Drexel (6-2, 3-0) with 17 points (6-of-8 from the field, 5-of-6 from the free throw line) and 11 rebounds.
The teams will play again Sunday at 2 p.m. in Kaplan.
