WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Caitlin Wingertzahn packed her personal stat sheet, but an afternoon full of career highs from the junior forward wasn't quite enough as William & Mary women's basketball dropped its second straight, falling 75-60 to James Madison at Kaplan Arena on Sunday.
The Tribe, which is still contending with a shorter-than-usual bench, struggled on the glass throughout the game and, by the final whistle, was out-rebounded 53-31. On the offensive side, W&M pulled down five boards while James Madison hauled in 23.
"We knew this would be a tough game, tough opponent," Tribe head coach Erin Dickerson Davis said. "The injury bug has hit us; we have a couple of our girls that are really sick. So, we knew that it would be a tough day. We did everything that we could to fight.
"We talk to our girls every single day about rebounding. It's the only thing we talk about, I feel like, is defense and rebounding."
Wingertzahn was an undeniable bright spot in the matchup. Her game-high 18 points paced the Green and Gold (4-5), a scoring performance that was one of seven personal bests she hit in the nonconference tilt. Wingertzahn set new career marks in points, field goals made (6), free throws made (5), free throws attempted (6), 3-pointers made (1), 3-pointers attempted (2), and minutes (27).
She also matched her previous career highs in rebounds (7), assists (2), and field goals attempted (9).
"We need it," Davis said of Wingertzahn. "We need her energy; we need her spark, especially coming off the bench. Something about Caitlin, she's such a team player.
"She comes in, she does her job, she works hard every single day. And to see her rewarded is something that I just love to see."
Despite Wingertzahn's Sunday best and an early jump by W&M that saw the Tribe seize a quick 8-1 first-quarter lead, JMU (7-2) began to pull away in the second. Rebounds allowed the Dukes to extend possessions, and the Tribe's former CAA rival wrapped up the first half 6-of-15 from behind the arc.
And while W&M continues to play with a short rotation, James Madison's bench came up big in the opening two frames, contributing 21 points to the Dukes' 34-26 lead at halftime.
JMU finished the day shooting 38.4% from the field and just over 33% from distance.
In addition to Wingertzahn, Bre Bellamy added eight points and five rebounds, while Sydney Wagner chipped in nine points.
Even with the challenges, both on the boards and on the bench, W&M and Davis focused on the positives—namely, getting as many players as much in-game experience as possible, with the focus on preparing for a CAA schedule that gets underway later this month.
"The more [game experience] they can get… it's going to benefit so much going into conference," Davis said. "Everything that we do is trying to prepare us for CAA."
The Tribe returns to the hardwood next Sunday for the first of a four-game road swing, taking on Longwood. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.
