1WILLIAMSBURG, Va.— William & Mary women's basketball wraps up their regular season and honors five seniors as they take on regular season champion Stony Brook inside Kaplan Arena on Saturday. Tip is set for 1 p.m. on FloHoops.
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).
Clear Bag Policy
William & Mary Athletics, in conjunction with the William & Mary Police Department, has implemented a clear bag policy that regulates the size and type of bag that may be carried into W&M Athletics facilities during the 2023-24 year, including Busch Field, Kaplan Arena, Martin Family Stadium, Plumeri Park, and Zable Stadium. Information as well as approved and prohibited items is available at TribeAtheltics.com.
TRIBE NOTES
• The Matchup
William & Mary wraps up their regular season hosting regular season champ Stony Brook for senior day at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FloHoops.
• The Opponent
Winning their first ever CAA title, the Seawolves have been impressive all season long, ranking first or second in 10 major stat categories in the CAA. Their 24-3 mark has them 69 in the NET as of Thursday, the highest in the CAA by 70 spots.
• Last Time Out
The Tribe suffered a heartbreaking loss on the road at Charleston on Sunday, 77-72. The Cougars earned a come from behind win in a pivotal matchup in part by holding W&M without a field goal over the game's last 4:30. Nylah Young led the way, tying her career-high with 32 points and 10 rebounds. Rebekah Frisby-Smith posted her first career double-double with 10 and 10.
• With a Win...
The Tribe would finish the regular season at 16- 12, 13-5 CAA, surpassing last year's conference win total. The Tribe would have a chance at a top-four seed and a double-bye in the CAA Tournament, whereas a loss would put them in the five or six seed.
• 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. Thursday's forfeit clinched back-to-back seasons of 12+ conference wins for the first time in program history. A win over Stony Brook on Saturday would 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.
• A Forfeit Thursday Win
The Tribe's game that was supposed to be played on Thursday against Northeastern was forfeited by the Huskies, subsequently canceling the game. NE told W&M and the CAA roster availability issues were the reason of the forfeit. Per NCAA policy the game is a 'no contest' and doesn't effect overall records, but per CAA policy the game counts in the conference standings giving the Tribe a win and the Huskies a loss.
• Nylon Nylah
Nylah Young has been on quite the run scoring the ball for the Tribe, posting nine straight games in double-figures. She scored 20+ in four of those games including 32 at Charleston Sunday tying her career-high. Since the start of February Young is averaging 20.3ppg, her best stretch since averaging 20.7 in November. She currently ranks tops in the conference, and fifth nationally, in FT% (91.5), second in scoring (15.6), third in FG% (43.8) and second in FTM (119).
• Big Game Bek
Bek Frisby-Smith posted a career performance on Sunday in Charleston, impacting the game in a plethora of ways. The senior wing posted her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She also snagged a career-high five steals, the most by a W&M player since Bre Bellamy had five in Dec. 2021.
• Seeing Double
The double-doubles by Young and Frisby-Smith was the second time this year the Tribe has had a pair of double-doubles in the same game. Alexa Mikeska and Young accomplished the feat vs. Delaware with 10 rebounds apiece and 11 and 10 points respectively. Prior to that W&M hadn't had two double-doubles in the same game since Nov. 2018.
•Analytically Speaking
William & Mary currently sits third in the CAA in assists per game but are second in the league and 29th in the nation in assist percentage according to the Warren Nolan analytics site. 63.3% 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 0.324 free throws for every field goal they attempt.
• Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
The Tribe displayed excellent ball movement in the last four games with 66 of their last 96 field goals being assisted on. That includes their efforts against Hampton in their last home game. W&M posted 18 helpers on 20 field goals in that outing, their highest percentage of assisted buckets in a single game this year.
• 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 19 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 26-4 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.
