By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

Through no fault of its own, William & Mary went into Sunday's game at Longwood feeling a little less prepared than usual. A combination of finals week and a flu outbreak led to missed practice opportunities, which, in turn, led to an 11-point hole midway through the second quarter.

But with a strong run to finish the frame, and a halftime challenge to get tougher, W&M came back to defeat the Lancers 67-57 in Farmville. Sydney Wagner scored 11 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter to lead a team that used only eight players.

"It was a rough week for us," Tribe coach Erin Dickerson Davis said. "It was finals week, and over half of our team had the flu. We had to take off four days this week so our girls could recover.

"We really responded to the challenge today. It was an impressive show of guts."

The Tribe (5-5) has been short-handed all year with forward Dani McTeer and guard Ruthie Montella still unable to play and forward Kayla Beckwith out since Nov. 15. Ava Stevenson has missed the last seven games.

Joining the injury list Sunday was senior forward Bre Bellamy, who had started 38 of the Tribe's last 39 games. Davis said Bellamy has some lingering concussion symptoms but should be OK for Wednesday's game at Norfolk State.

Davis needed production from every Tribe player who set foot on the hardwood, and she got it—in a big way. Caitlin Wingertzahn finished with 14 points, giving her 32 in W&M's last two games, and a career-high eight rebounds. Kayla Rolph, a freshman, had a career-high 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Rebekah Frisby-Smith had a career-high 11 rebounds, five on the offensive end. Alexa Mikeska, another freshman, finished with seven points, three assists, and a steal. Madison Magee had five rebounds in eight minutes.

All coming off a less-than-ideal week for the Green and Gold.

"When we didn't have finals, we only had five, six people who were full go," Davis said. "Sugar (Rodgers, assistant coach) and I were both down for the count. If we would have had a game, I don't know if we would have had enough to dress."

Longwood (1-9) led 33-22 with four minutes remaining in the second quarter, but the Tribe closed with a 6-0 run to make it a five-point game at the break. W&M began the third quarter with a 7-1 spurt and took a 35-34 lead on a Wagner 3-pointer.

The Lancers took their last lead on Brooke Anya's layup, which made it 39-37 with 3:31 left in the third. The Tribe then took control with baskets by Rolph, Mikeska, and Frisby-Smith, which made it 43-39 with 1:44 left in the quarter.

The Tribe shot 50% from the floor with only four turnovers in the second half.

"We went into the locker room and challenged them to be tougher," Davis said. "We told them this is not how we play basketball. We got after them, and we challenged them, and they responded so well."

William & Mary's next game will be Wednesday afternoon at Norfolk State. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. The Spartans dropped to 9-3 on Sunday with a 92-30 loss at Alabama.