By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
Friday night's win over Northeastern was a thing of beauty on the offensive end. That wasn't the case Sunday, as William & Mary struggled to get points and even good shots.
So the Tribe took another path to victory. With on-point defense and near-automatic shooting from the free throw line, W&M extended its winning streak to four games with 61-48 win over Hofstra in Kaplan Arena.
The Tribe (10-15, 5-9 CAA) held the Pride to 19 points on 23% shooting with 15 turnovers in the second half. That was enough to win with top scorer Riley Casey in foul trouble and top reserve Ruthie Montella out while recovering from an injury.
"Real good win for us today, especially playing three games in five days and not having our full complement of players," W&M coach Ed Swanson said. "We knew this game was going to be a grind. Hofstra's a super-athletic team that poses a lot of problems.
"We were fortunate to be down only one (29-28) going into the half. We challenged our team at halftime to give better effort on the defensive side. We gave up 19 points in the second half, and that was key."
Less than 48 hours after shooting a season-high 56.6% in an 83-65 win over Northeastern, the Tribe hit 34% of its shots on Sunday — its worst shooting game since Jan. 7 against James Madison. But Hofstra finished at 34.6%, a season low for a conference opponent.
Something else that put W&M over the hump was the free throw line, from which it went 19-of-22. The Tribe made 9-of-10 attempts in the final 3:45 to put the game away.
"We are a real solid free throw shooting team, so getting there is important," Swanson said. "Towards the end (it) was them in desperation a little bit, but I thought we drove the ball a little harder today and got to the foul line."
Contributions came from multiple sources. Sydney Wagner was the most obvious with 25 points and four assists. She was 10-of-10 from the free throw line, 6-of-6 in the final 3:45. Casey and Bre Bellamy had 10 each. Bellamy also had five rebounds and three steals.
Kate Sramac had 11 rebounds — prompting Swanson, in a classic boomer moment, to compare her to Moses Malone. Kayla Beckwith had another solid performance with five points, seven rebounds and a career-high four assists.
And there was Rebekah Frisby-Smith, who was elevated in the rotation with Montella out. In 10 minutes, she had three points and three rebounds while playing strong defense on Hofstra's Jahsyni Knight.
When Casey picked up her fourth foul with 1:26 left in the third quarter, W&M led 43-38. With Frisby-Smith on the floor for the next seven minutes, the Tribe lost only a point off that lead.
"Rebekah Frisby-Smith came in to play the wing, and we've been playing her at the four spot," Swanson said. "Really unfair to her the way we've been coaching her all year as a four and putting her in as a three.
"But her defense was really on point. It's a good team win when you have players stepping up."
Montella missed eight games before returning for Wednesday's home win over UNC Wilmington. She played 14 minutes that night and 19 on Friday against Northeastern.
"She wasn't ready to go today, and we had a feeling with three games in five days," Swanson said. "She should hopefully be good to go for the weekend."
Speaking of which, the Tribe has a tough stretch coming up with games at first-place Drexel (21-3, 13-1) Friday night and second-place Delaware (18-6, 12-2) Sunday afternoon. W&M took the Dragons to double overtime before losing 76-67 in Kaplan on Jan. 30.
"This team has responded, has never hung its head, and been resilient," Swanson said. "And we're going to need those things this weekend heading to Drexel."
