By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

William & Mary was picked seventh in the CAA's preseason poll. After the Tribe began conference play with a pair of double-digit losses, some may have mused that seventh might be a tad optimistic.

Well, look at this team now.

With a 69-50 win over Hofstra Saturday at Kaplan Arena, W&M finished the regular season tied for fourth place in the Colonial standings. The Tribe (17-12 overall) ended up matching the program's best-ever conference record at 12-6 in Erin Dickerson Davis' first year as a head coach.

Vindication tasted sweet.

"Especially to be able to do this during Coach E's first season, I know we proved a lot of people wrong," said guard Sydney Wagner, one of five honored before tip-off on Senior Day. "That means everything to us."

By virtue of a tiebreaker, William & Mary will be the No. 4 seed in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, which begins Wednesday in Towson, Md. The Tribe will have a bye into Friday's quarterfinals.

Wagner, who played less than two minutes Thursday night at Monmouth, hit her first four shots and finished with 18 points along with six assists. The performance moved her into No. 10 on the Tribe's all-time scoring list. Classmate Riley Casey also scored 18 points, 12 coming in the third quarter.

Bre Bellamy, another fourth-year, had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and five rebounds. And senior Chaniqwa Gilliam, in her first start this season, finished with four points and three assists in 23 minutes.

"Everyone sent us out with a bang," said Gilliam, who missed much of her junior season with a knee injury. "I had so much fun today."

That's what Davis wanted more than anything.

"They have done so much for this program on the court and off," Davis said. "They have adjusted in the transition to a new coaching staff, which is not easy for anyone.

"I feel so much better now than before the game. I was wound up so tight. The legacy these seniors are leaving is so incredible and it's going to be hard for others to touch it."

To call Saturday's game one of runs would be an understatement. The Tribe made eight of its first 12 shots and led 21-4 less than seven minutes in. Six of those baskets were assisted.

But, then, W&M scored only two points (a pair of free throws) in the final 13:09 of the first half, and Hofstra made it a 23-19 game going into halftime.

"I said to my (assistants), 'I really don't know what to say' — and I'm rarely at a loss for words," Davis said. "So, I said, 'Well, whatever we say, let's be positive because they're beating themselves up enough. There's no point in us adding to it.'

"I told them, 'We're getting wide-open shots and you're either hesitating or wondering if you should take the shot because we missed a couple, and we don't play well that way. Just shoot it. The worst that could happen is we miss — and we were doing that anyway."

William & Mary scored on 11 of its first 14 possessions of the third quarter and took a 49-27 lead with 2:30 left in the frame.  Casey knocked down three 3-pointers in a row to highlight the Tribe's 21-2 run.

"We had a little bit of a faltering moment there in the second quarter," said Bellamy, whose layup 52 seconds into the third ended the Tribe's 0-for streak. "It took us to halftime to go downstairs and reel it back in. Just coming back to how we play was key."

In a way, the game was a microcosm of the Tribe's regular season — hot out of the gate with wins over Navy and VCU, a 3-8 stretch, and 12 wins in its final 16 games.

"I remember after our first two (CAA) games at Stony Brook and Northeastern," Davis said. "I said to our staff and to our team, 'We're not a very good team right now.'

"That was not to discourage anyone. It was to say we're going to scratch everything we've been doing and start over. That wasn't their fault; that's on me. And they bought into that even though it was really, really hard."

In the process, the Tribe matched the greatest conference season in program history.

"Right after somebody said we tied the record, the first thing Syd said was, 'Man, we tied it? We could have squeezed out a couple more wins,' Casey said. "I think the whole team would agree."

Standing in the back of the room as the players concluded their presser, Davis asked them a question: What legacy are you going to leave at the CAA tournament?

"First things first: We are chasing banners," Bellamy said. "That's at the top of the list."