WILLIAMSBURG, Va.— William & Mary women's basketball looks to complete a perfect weekend on the road when the visit Charleston on Sunday for a game with massive postseason implications. Tip is set for 2 p.m. on FloHoops with a free audio broadcast on the Tribe Sports Network.
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).
A New Way to Tune In
New this year, the Tribe Sports Network will be providing free audio broadcasts of all W&M women's basketball away contests. Jack Angelucci will be on the call with a pregame show beginning at 1:40 p.m. featuring a pregame interview with Erin Dickerson Davis. Fans can listen at tribeathletics.com/listenlive.
TRIBE NOTES
• The Matchup
William & Mary wraps up their regular season road schedule by visiting Charleston in a pivotal CAA matchup.
• The Opponent
Charleston comes into Sunday's matchup a game behind William & Mary and Monmouth for a double-bye in the CAA tournament. Charleston looks to rebound from back-to-back losses, dropping a home contest to Towson on Friday night.
• Last Time Out
The Tribe once again flexed their depth and balanced scoring on Sunday, cruising to a 68-50 win over UNCW. Anahi-Lee Cauley led the way with 15 points followed by Kayla Beckwith with 13 and Nylah Young 12. Cauley scored 13 of her 15 in the first half, with Beckwith posting 11 of her 13 in the second half.
• With a Win...
A win would give the Tribe a two game lead and the head-to-head tiebreaker over Charleston, ensuring the Cougars couldn't track them down in the standings and making a double bye more then likely. The Tribe's next win will tie the program record for CAA wins in a single season at 12, tying last year's squad and the 2019-20 team. The Tribe would finish CAA play 7-2 on the road if they can beat the Cougs, it would be the most league road wins in program history.
• Tracking Down History
This year's edition of the Tribe has made plenty of history this season but has their eyes on more coming down the stretch. Friday's win clinched back-to-back seasons of 11+ conference wins for the first time in program history. Two victories in the last three games will set the program record for CAA wins in a season. The Tribe already accomplished the best league start in program history, going 7-3 in the first 10 games of CAA action. Coach Erin Dickerson Davis became the fastest coach in program history to 20 CAA wins earlier this year, accomplishing that in just 29 games.
• Nylon Nylah
Nylah Young has been on quite the run scoring the ball for the Tribe, posting eight straight games in double-figures. She scored 20+ in three of those games including 24 last Sunday vs. Hampton. Young averaged 19.5ppg in February, her best month since averaging 20.7 in November. She currently ranks tops in the conference, and fourth nationally, in FT% (92.1), fourth in scoring (15.0), third in FG% (43.6) and second in FTM (105).
• Glass Eaters
Kayla Rolph and Anahi Cauley powered the Tribe to their third most rebounds of the season on Friday at UNCW. Rolph tied her career-high with nine boards, while Cauley set a new career mark with eight. W&M snagged 44 boards as a team.
• Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
The Tribe displayed excellent ball movement this past weekend with 38 of their 46 made field goals being assisted against Elon and Hampton. W&M posted 20 helpers vs. Elon and 18 against Hampton on Sunday. The 18 dimes on 20 makes vs. the Pirates is the highest percentage of assisted baskets for the team on the season.
•Analytically Speaking
William & Mary currently sits third in the CAA in assists per game but are second in the league and 31st in the nation in assist percentage according to the Warren Nolan analytics site. 63.2% of the Tribe's baskets have been assisted this year. W&M is also the third best in the conference in getting to the line taking 0.312 free throws for evert field goal they attempt.
• Taking on the Nation's Best Defenses
The Tribe's tough non-conference schedule has been talked about, but as a whole the Tribe have faced off, or will face off, with some of the nation's top defenses all year long. According to Warren Nolan's defensive rating, measuring how many points a team gives up per 100 possessions, the Tribe has nine top-50 defenses on their schedule. Three of those opponents are in the top-16, led by Stony Brook who is second, Norfolk State ranked fifth and VCU ninth.
• Competing on the Glass
Although the Tribe is not a statistically dominate team on the glass, there is no doubt they have improved their efforts on the boards from a year ago. W&M has already outrebounded their opponent 14 times this year compared to just four times all of last year. They have a 12-2 record when doing so this season.
• Protecting the Rock
W&M has won the turnover battle in 13 of the last 18 games and have a 10-6 record when doing so this season.
• 60 is the Magic Number
The Tribe has held their opponents under 60 points in 11 of their 15 wins this season, while opponents have scored over 60 in eight of the 11 W&M losses. The Tribe is 17-4 under Erin Dickerson Davis when holding teams below 60. While team's have had a mixed bag of success scoring in the 60s vs. W&M, opponents are 25-4 against them when scoring 70+ since 2020-21.
• Formidable Opponents
William & Mary's non-conference slate was set up to be a challenging one and proved to be. The seven teams who beat the Tribe owned a combined record of 62-18 in the non-conference.
