Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
With 20 seconds remaining, William & Mary had a two-point lead and looked close to ending its five-game losing streak. But Charleston scored five of the game's final six points — all from the free throw line — for a 61-59 win Friday night at TD Arena.
Jenna Annecchiarico made two shots to tie it, and Arynn Eady went 2-for-2 to put the Cougars ahead for good with 11 seconds remaining. It was the fifth time in its last six games the Tribe faced a tight game in the fourth quarter, but each time it got away.
"A great ballgame," Tribe coach Ed Swanson said. "Our kids executed defensively the way we wanted to. Charleston is one of the highest-scoring teams in our league averaging 78 points a game and we held them to 61.
"I thought we were locked in defensively. But a couple of plays here and there, and we're talking a different ballgame."
Riley Casey scored a season-high 30 points, six coming on 3-point plays on back-to-back possessions in the final 62 seconds. She was 10-of-20 from the floor, 5-of-10 from the 3-point arc, and had three assists with one turnover.
Bre Bellamy finished with 12 points (6-of-6), eight rebounds and two steals.
It was tight game from wire-to-wire with neither team leading by more than six points. There were 14 lead changes, four in the final 3:16.
Casey's and-one drive to the basket with 20 seconds remaining put the Tribe ahead 58-56. But after a timeout, Annecchiarico drew a foul on a drive to the basket. Her two free throws tied it with 16 seconds left.
After a timeout, the Tribe inbounded at midcourt but turned the ball over. Eady was fouled on a breakaway, and her two free throws made it 60-58 with 11 seconds to go.
Following another timeout, W&M got the ball to Casey, who was fouled on a drive to the basket. After missing her first attempt, Casey made the second to cut Charleston's lead to one.
Annecchiarico went back to the line with five seconds left and made her first shot. She missed her second, but the Tribe was unable to get off a final shot.
In five of its last six losses, the Tribe was no worse than six points down with 3 ½ minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Drexel loss went to double overtime. In the JMU loss, it was a tie game with 3:27 remaining.
"It's frustrating because it's a play here and a play there," Swanson said. "It's not because of a lack of effort or energy. We're playing with terrific effort and energy."
With such a close margin, several moments can be scrutinized. None were bigger than an apparent 3-point shot by Sydney Wagner late in the third quarter that ended up being waved off.
With W&M inbounding from its baseline, there were 38.4 seconds on the game clock and one second on the shot clock. Casey inbounded to Wagner for a catch-and-shoot from the right corner, and she made it to put the Tribe ahead 45-44.
The officials went to a review, which showed the game clock at 38.2 — meaning two-tenths of a second had passed — and the shot clock at zero when the ball left Wagner's hands.
"We had a 3-point shot taken off the board, which was controversial," Swanson said. "It's a play here and there that's the deciding factor."
Up next for W&M is a Sunday afternoon game at UNC Wilmington (3-17, 0-10). Friday night hurt, but Swanson said his team has shown its resiliency all season.
"The Super Bowl's on Sunday," Swanson said. "But there's also a Super Bowl in Wilmington, and we've got to treat it like that."
