WILLIAMSBURG, Va.— William & Mary women's basketball hits the road to take on James Madison at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with a free audio broadcast available via the Tribe Sports Network. The pregame show will start at 6:40 p.m.
Fans can keep up with W&M women's basketball by following the program on social media as well. Be sure to check out the Tribe on Twitter (@WMTribeWBB), Facebook (WMTribeWBB), and Instagram (WMTribeWBB).
TRIBE NOTES
• The Matchup
William & Mary travels to JMU coming off their largest win in two years, beating Navy 81-53 on Sunday. The Tribe and the Dukes meet for the 95th time at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
• The Opponent
James Madison enters Thursday's matchup at 6-3 and 117 in the first NET rating. The Dukes beat Wake Forest on Sunday 55-53 at home. Part of their early season success can be equated to their rebounding efforts. The Dukes rank 5th in the nation in rebounds/gm and 10th in reb margin.
• Last Time Out
Five players scored in double figures and 10 players scored in total, as the Tribe took down Navy 81-53 on the road Sunday. Bella Nascimento led the way with 14 points and five assists as W&M shot a season high 48% from the floor and 53% from deep.
• Career High Sunday
In total 10 different career-highs were set or tied by Tribe players in points, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals. Most notably, Anahi Cauley and Cate Carlson set career marks in points with 11 and 10 respectively. Kayla Beckwith blocked a career-high five shots, the first Tribe player with five swats since 2018.
•Spreading the Wealth
William & Mary put together their most balanced scoring performance of the season with five players (Nascimento 14, Rolph 12, Cauley 11, Beckwith 10, Carlson 10) in double figures. The last time the Tribe had five players score 10+ was last February vs. NC A&T. 10 of the 13 players who played Sunday scored a point.
• 'I'll Be Taking That'
The Tribe have been forcing turnovers at a high clip recently, forcing the Midshipmen into 22 turnovers on Sunday, their third time in four games forcing 20+. For reference W&M forced 20+ TOs only four times all of last season.
• Bench Ballers
36 of the Tribe's 81 points came off the bench on Sunday, a season-high. The mark was the most bench points for the Tribe since having 39 agianst Randolph on Nov. 14 2021.
• The Energizer Bella
Bella Nascimento has been a constant on the floor for W&M, currently second in the CAA in minutes per game (35.2). The former Manhattan Jasper set another career-high in minutes at FIU playing 39. Despite playing a season-low 26 minutes on Sunday, she had played at least 33 minutes in the first seven games and earned FIU Thanksgiving Classic MVP honors. She has led the Tribe in scoring the last three games.
• Nylon Nylah
Nylah Young got off to a historic start in her William & Mary career. The Hampton transfer leads the CAA in scoring currently (19.0 ppg), and ranks 1st in the conference and 21st in the nation in FT% (91.7) and 13th in FTM. Young became the first Tribe player to score 20+ in four of the season's first five games. She posted 19 points and six boards vs. ODU.
• Formidable Opponents
William & Mary's non-conference slate was set up to be a challenging one and has proven to be. The five teams who have beaten the Tribe this year own a combined record of 34-6 as of Friday.
• Getting to the Stripe
The Tribe knocked down 24 of 30 chances from the charity stripe vs. ODU, then took 27 FTs against Navy Sunday. The last time the Tribe took 30+ free throws in a game was against Navy in last year's season opener, taking 31. W&M currently is second in the CAA in FTM/gm, and FTA/gm, while ranking in the top-40 in the nation in FTM.
