WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Graduate guard Sydney Wagner scored a career-high 33 points, but Delaware held off William & Mary's late chances in an entertaining 74-72 Colonial Athletic Association win on Sunday afternoon.
 
Wagner, whose previous career-high was 31 against Delaware in 2021, finished 9-of-20 from the floor and was a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line. It marked the second-most made free throws in a game without a miss in school history.
 
After Delaware (11-8, 4-4 CAA) used a 9-0 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter to take a four-point lead just over a minute into the frame, Wagner took over for the Tribe. She scored four straight to pull the Green and Gold even at 57 with 7:47 remaining.
 
Neither team led by more than four points over the game's final 10 minutes. W&M (10-10, 5-4 CAA) twice took a one-point lead in the game's last 2:25. The first came on a big Wagner defensive play as she got her hand on a pass and fed junior Caitlin Wingertzahn for a fast-break bucket, giving W&M a 70-69 lead with 2:25 left.
 
After Delaware's Tara Cousins put the visitor back in front, Wagner responded with a pull-up jumper from the left side as W&M recaptured the lead, 72-71, with less than a minute to play. In total, she scored 14 of the Tribe's 19 points in the fourth quarter
 
The Blue Hens regained the lead for good with 46.5 seconds left when Klarke Sconiers knocked down a pair of free throws. Sconiers, who was saddled with foul trouble, led UD with 18 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
 
Wagner had a chance to put the Tribe back in front with 27 seconds left, but her shot was off the mark. Delaware's Jewel Smalls then made 1-of-2 at the free throw line before the Green and Gold had four shots to draw even in the final 15 seconds but could not get the tying bucket.  
 
Delaware shot 43.9% for the game, including 53.9% in the fourth quarter, and connected on nine 3-pointers. On the other side, W&M shot 36.4% on the night and was 17-of-20 (87.5%) at the free throw line. Graduate guard Riley Casey was the only other Tribe player in double figures with 12 points to go along with five assists.
 
The Blue Hens scored the game's first five points, but Wagner had 11 of the Tribe's first 13. W&M ended the opening frame on a 10-2 run thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Casey and Rebekah Frisby-Smith to lead 19-14.
 
The Tribe pushed its lead to double-digits for the only time on the day midway through the second quarter thanks to an 11-2 run. Wagner scored nine of those points on a pair of triples and capped it with an old-fashion, fast-break 3-point play off an Alexa Mikeska dish. Her free throw extended the Tribe lead to 30-20 with 5:15 left in the half.
 
Delaware used a 15-3 run to retake the lead. Kharis Idom scored seven during the spurt and knocked down two of her four 3-pointers on day. Two Cousins' free throws with 32 seconds left capped the run and gave the visitor a 35-33.
 
Casey sent things to the break even with a driving lay-up in the period's closing seconds.
 
Delaware scored the first five points of the second half to force a W&M timeout following a Sconiers lay-up less than a minute into the period.
 
The Tribe responded by using a 10-0 run to flip it to a five-point Green and Gold lead. Freshman Kayla Rolph scored seven during the run, including a 3-pointer at the 2:15 mark to give W&M a 53-48 advantage. Rolph finished with nine points, just one off her career high.
 
Up Next
The Tribe makes the short trip down I-64 to take on the Hampton Pirates on Friday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from the HU Convocation Center, and the game will be broadcast on FloHoops.