By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
As William & Mary closed out its first NCAA tournament win in program history, senior guard Bella Nascimento was largely involved. She would have to be, right?
 
But every bit as big, if not more so, was a freshman who three months ago was iffy to get back on the floor this season. The Tribe needed Natalie Fox's contributions around the rim in the fourth quarter to be where they are today.
 
And that's in the NCAA's round of 64, where it will face No. 1 seed Texas Saturday night in Austin.
 
Fox finished with career highs of 12 points and 12 rebounds with half of those totals coming in the fourth quarter. She had five offensive boards in the final 9:47, three of which she converted into points. The Tribe needed all of them to pull out a 69-63 win over High Point Thursday night.
 
 "I was doing what my teammates needed me to do," said Fox, who also had two of her four blocked shots in the fourth quarter. "We knew we could outrebound them so I just kind of focused on getting some more O-boards and put backs. … Doing my role to support this team and take us as far as we can go."
 
Sitting on either side of Fox in Friday's afternoon presser in Moody Center, Nascimento and point guard Monet Dance praised their young teammate.
 
"We knew she was able to do this all along, step out into the bright lights and shine," Nascimento said. "That's what she does -- Big Nat Fox."
 
"We're proud of you," Dance said, looking at Fox. "You stepped up, true freshman."
 
At 6-foot-4, Fox is the program's tallest player since Abby Rendle '18. She picked William & Mary over several offers for a very specific reason.
 
"My big thing was finding a coaching staff that I truly enjoyed being around and who I knew would care and support me," she said. "Academics are always important, but I wanted to find a community because when you're having a bad day, a nice campus and facility isn't going to make you feel better.
 
"It's going to be the people you're around. Throughout my recruiting process, I was trying to find out who was the right fit for me. I really do think I found that here."
 
Fox will go down in program history by having the Tribe's first basket, rebound and blocked shot in an NCAA tournament game. And to think, three months ago she was dealing with a herniated disc and an uncertain future this season.
 
Fox averaged 7 points and 6.3 rebounds through the season's first four games. But it would be another seven weeks until she played again.
 
"We were trying to figure out how she'd be able to play, when she'd be able to play, if she'd be able to play," head coach Erin Dickerson Davis said. "That was really rough for her."
 
Fox had plenty of help from her new community.
 
"It was a struggle coming back," she said. "My coaches and trainers, they've been so great with helping me and communicating through it all.
 
"When you're in the dark, it's very hard to have confidence. But they instilled confidence in me by communicating and supporting me."
 
After returning, Fox was eased back into the lineup. In her first career start at Northeastern on Jan. 19, she was a major factor with nine points and seven rebounds. She kept getting better, and her best game (so far, at least) came in the first round of her team's first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
 
Fox saved her best for the fourth quarter. The game was tied at 57 with just over two minutes remaining when Dance missed a jumper. Fox rebounded but missed the follow. She stayed with it and converted on the second attempt to put the Tribe ahead with 1:58 left.
 
Two possessions later, Nascimento missed a contested shot at the rim. Fox trailed it perfectly and scored on the follow to give W&M a 63-58 lead with 41 seconds left.
 
Fox had six of her team's 15 offensive rebounds and eight of its 12 second-chance points. And she was a big reason why the Tribe outrebounded High Point 45-31.
 
"To see all the work she put in, all the tears, all the adversity she went through, to see it all come together at the end was so special," Dickerson Davis said. "To come out in the NCAA tournament and have a double-double, it shows her what is possible and the kind of career we know she can have."