By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
After falling behind late in the first quarter, William & Mary was never able to pull back ahead. Not that Tribe didn't keep grinding the rest of the way, especially when Delaware looked ready to put the game away.
The Blue Hens finished off a 70-56 win Friday night in Kaplan Arena, but it was a six-point game with 3:26 remaining. The Tribe kept it close largely by becoming the first team this season to outrebound Delaware, which came in leading the CAA with a margin of +7.4, by double digits.
Tribe guard Sydney Wagner had an outstanding night with a season-high 29 points on 12-of-23 shooting and seven rebounds. But the Blue Hens' three-headed attack of Tyi Skinner, Jasmine Dickey and Ty Battle combined for 47 points on 46 shots.
"I'm real proud of my team," W&M coach Ed Swanson said. "They're one of the top rebounding teams in the nation, and the stats say we outrebounded them by 11. If we did that, that's an exceptional job.
"I really liked our fight tonight. I thought we played hard, and we've got to continue to do that. Not that we haven't done that, but we're slowly but surely putting the full 40 minutes together."
For the third consecutive game, Wagner and backcourt mate Riley Casey (eight points) played all 40 minutes. Bre Bellamy logged 37 and Kate Sramac 32.
"I'm not taking them off the floor that much, and that might be some of our issues in the fourth quarter (when) they're logging so many minutes in the first three," Swnason said. "And stressful minutes. We had to really play on-point today to have a chance to beat Delaware."
The Tribe (6-11, 1-5 CAA) did that by jumping out to a 9-4 lead, which prompted Delaware coach Natasha Adair to burn a timeout less than four minutes in. W&M trailed 16-15 at the end of the first quarter and it was 24-all with 4:29 left in the second.
From there, the Blue Hens (12-5, 6-1) closed the half with a 7-0 run. After scoring the first basket of the third quarter, Delaware took its biggest lead to that point at 33-24.
In what became a theme, W&M came back. Bellamy's layup off a Casey assist made it 40-36 with 5:03 left in the third. The Blue Hens took 50-38 lead with 3:04 remaining, but the Tribe made it 52-46 going into the fourth quarter.
Delaware doubled its lead to 60-48 with 6:06 remaining; W&M cut it to 62-56 with 3:26 to go. Finally, the Blue Hens sealed it by scoring the game's final eight points.
The Tribe shot 41% overall, 8-of-19 from the 3-point arc. Its big number of the night was a 41-30 advantage on the boards, 13-8 on the offensive end. Sramac led W&M with 10 rebounds, and Wagner and Bellamy had seven each. Reserve Kayla Beckwith had four offensive rebounds in 15 minutes.
For the first time since at least the mid-2000s, William & Mary did not attempt a single free throw. Delaware was called for only four fouls, eight fewer than W&M. The Blue Hens were 9-of-13 from the line.
"The ref said to me that it was a real clean game," Swanson said. "Part of that's our fault, too, not being able to draw fouls. We have to learn to get to the free throw line more."
The Blue Hens also finished with only four turnovers, three of which came in the fourth quarter.
A positive sign was Wagner's shooting night. She came into the game at 33% from the field, 29% from deep.
Wagner's 29 points matches the second-highest scoring total of her career. Her career high of 31 came last season against Delaware.
"I was happy to see her getting on track tonight," Swanson said. "I thought she played more under control tonight. She attacked more and didn't look for the three as much.
"She had some pull-ups in the lane. If we can get her and Riley going on the same night, we're going to be really special."
NEXT UP: The Tribe will host first-place Drexel (15-2, 7-0) Sunday at 2 p.m. The Dragons are coming off a 72-60 win at Elon Friday night.
