WILLIAMSBURG, Va.— After a 15-day hiatus the William & Mary women's basketball team showed little signs of rust on Friday night, earning a 71-52 win over Hampton at Kaplan Arena to begin CAA conference play.
 
Jana Sallman stole the show, with a monster performance of 20 points and 17 rebounds in her first ever collegiate start.
 
The effort was the first 20-point double-double for the Tribe since Nylah Young had 24 and 10, also against Hampton (4-8, 0-1 CAA), last year.
 
Sallman's 17 rebounds are the most by a W&M (4-8, 1-0 CAA) player since Alexandra Masaquel had 17 in 2017 against Charleston.
 
The Tribe used their fresh legs from the holiday break to their advantage out of the gate, scoring 11 of its first 13 points off the fast break. Natalie Fox, making her return after missing the previous seven games with an injury, converted inside to give the Tribe a 9-5 lead at the 4:13 mark.
 
Bella Nascimento pushed the lead to five two minutes later, also scoring via the fast break to make it 13-8. The quarter would end with W&M up 16-11, as the Tribe's final three points of the frame came off a Cassidy Geddes triple.
 
Hampton would briefly take the lead, 17-16, to start the second quarter before Sallman began to make her presence felt.
 
The sophomore transfer from Memphis scored her first bucket of the evening at the 7:17 mark before going on to hit four more shots in the quarter. She was responsible for 10 of the Tribe's 19 points in the period, giving the Green and Gold a 35-30 lead after 20 minutes.
 
Rebekah Frisby-Smith helped Sallman carry the load in the second, adding five points of her own, including a 3-pointer at the 1:21 mark, to make it 33-28 before Sallman cashed in on the block to cap off her stellar quarter with 30 seconds on the clock.
 
W&M posted 9-of-19 from the field in the stanza, while Hampton posted an impressive 9-for-15 mark of their own. Sallman was 5-for-6 from the field in the second to go with five boards.
 
Through the first half 26 of the Tribe's 35 points had come in the paint.
 
Starting the third W&M went on an 8-2 run, pushing the lead to 11, as four straight from Sallman and a Kayla Rolph jump shot forced a Hampton timeout.
 
That turned out just to be the start of Rolph's performance in the third, adding four straight of her own minutes later to make it 49-38 Tribe. The junior would add a triple with under a minute to play, which was followed by a 3-pointer by Sophia LeGoullon, to give W&M a comfortable 59-40 lead after three quarters.
 
Rolph's nine in the frame came off a perfect 4-for-4 shooting, while as a team the Tribe posted a blistering 11-for-14 from the floor, outscoring the Pirates 24-10.
 
Sallman continued to feast inside at the start of the fourth, getting the Tribe lead to 20 just a minute into the stanza.
 
After slowing the tempo a bit, the Tribe earned some more insurance, with Sallman, Rolph and LeGoullon all scoring inside the arc, with the latter giving W&M its largest lead of the night, 67-46 with 3:57 on the clock.
 
From there, the Tribe coasted, with LeGoullon putting the finishing touches on a 71-52 win via a putback layup with 18 seconds to play.
 
The 20 points for Sallman shattered her previous career-high by nine, while the 17 rebounds were seven more than her previous best. She was joined in double figures by Rolph who had 13 to go with six rebounds and four assists.
 
The balance continued down the lineup for the Tribe, with Geddes adding nine, Nascimento eight, Frisby-Smith seven and LeGoullon a career-high seven.
 
W&M dominated the glass, 48-29, while having 22 of their 33 baskets assisted on. Six different players had three or more assists on the evening, with Frisby-Smith and Rolph tying for the team-high at four.
 
The Tribe was 49.3% from the field, a season-best, and 4-for-14 from deep. Hampton shot 36.7% and 2-for-17 from behind the arc.
 
Up Next
The Tribe will welcome in Elon on Sunday for a 1 p.m. tip at Kaplan Arena. The game will be broadcast on FloCollege.