- We're getting away for the weekend. William & Mary packs up for a pair of road games against North Carolina foes, beginning with Friday night's tilt at Elon. The Phoenix own the last two wins in the series, but the Tribe won four straight from 2019-202. W&M has hit another gear on the road recently, as well, with victories at Charleston and Hampton. The Green and Gold shot over 42% in both games, while big players stepped up to make big-time plays. Against the Cougars, both Riley Casey and Sydney Wagner eclipsed 20 points. And at Hampton earlier this month, Bre Bellamy recorded the third double-double of her career (18 points, 11 rebounds).
- Wagner has been on an offensive tear over her last few games. Against Delaware (1/29/23), the multi-year Green and Gold standout scored a career-high 33 points, becoming the fifth player since 1975 to reach that mark in a single game. The scoring effort is also tied for the third-highest in a single game since '75. 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. Her recent follow-ups? Nothing short of historic. Wagner's team-high 19 points at Hampton last Friday night moved her into 13th place on the W&M all-time scoring list. She's now less than 100 points away from cracking the top-10. And against Monmouth (2/5/23), Wagner scored 22 — the 65th double-digit performance of her career.
- In her last two games, Bellamy has been nothing short of dominant. The N.J. native is averaging 17 points per contest on 63% from the floor. Her double-double night at Hampton also included three assists and three steals. Two days later, against Monmouth, she recorded another steal and blocked a pair of shots. The performances are having a serious impact on W&M, too — in the seven games Bellamy has reached double-digits this season, the Tribe is 7-0.
- William & Mary comes into Friday's matchup winners in six of its last seven and is 7-2 since the second week of conference play. Since the start of January, the Tribe has held opponents under 40% from the floor on four different occasions and, in its previous seven wins, has forced an average of 16.5 turnovers. Meanwhile, on the offensive side of the court, W&M is averaging 73.7 points and 16 assists in each of its 2023 wins while turning the ball over fewer than 14 times. In fact, the eight turnovers against Monmouth last week were a season-low. And the team's top scorers? Finding the hoop consistently. Grad students Wagner and Casey each hit double digits in five of the seven wins, while the pair have crested the 30-point mark a combined three times in '23.
- Fab five! William & Mary has started the same five —Wagner, Casey, Bellamy, Rebekah Frisby-Smith, and Alexa Mikeska — since Jan. 8. And it's safe to say the group is gelling. Casey currently leads W&M in scoring, Mikeska leads in assists, Bellamy leads in rebounds, Frisby-Smith leads in steals, and Wagner leads in FT percentage.
- Wagner and Casey are making good use of every moment this season. The preseason All-CAA First-Team tandem sits top-10 in the conference in minutes (Casey: 34.3, Wagner: 33.9) and is also top-5 in points per game (Casey: 17.1, Wagner: 15.8) and top-10 in 3-point field goals per game (Casey: 2.7, Wagner: 2.0). Plus, they're the only two W&M players to start all 22 games. Nationally, Casey is 36th in 3-point percentage (.408) and 33rd in 3-pointers per game.
- After capturing its first CAA victory last month, Elon has won two of its previous three, including back-to-back W's last weekend. Raven Preston has been leading the charge all season, averaging 12.7 points per game. This week, Preston earned her conference-leading fifth CAA Rookie of the Week honor. It's the most by a Phoenix rookie since Elon joined the CAA in 2014-15
- Casey has cemented her name in William & Mary women's basketball lore. Her 31 points against Drexel (1/15/23) marked the first time in program history a player has scored 30-plus four times in a season, while her seven 3-pointers against the Dragons and Charleston (1/8/23) match a career-high and Kaplan Arena record. Additionally, she became the second W&M player to record back-to-back 30-plus scoring performances with 31 against George Mason and Army. In those games, Casey shot 53.8% from the field.
- We're walking the line this season. Free throw line, that is. W&M is first in the CAA in free throw percentage (.782), while Wagner is first (.900) among all players in the conference. Against the rest of the country, the Tribe ranks 17th.
