Urban legend says the Yup’ik Indians have 24 different words to describe snow. But even the Yup’ik would have a tough time describing the amount of ways William and Mary has lost this season.
The Tribe (2-18, 1-9 CAA) fell 79-65 at Hofsta Thursday, dropping their ninth game in the conference. Sophomore forward Emily Correal led the College with 15 points. Fellow sophomore forward Taylor Hilton also chipped in 15 points in the effort.
With the loss, the College has won only two of its last sixteen games, its most losses over a 16-game span since 2004-2005. The Tribe went 1-15 to finish that season.
Hofstra jumped out to an early 12-5 lead on a fastbreak layup by Pride forward Candace Bond with 15 minutes and 48 seconds remaining in the first half. Junior guard Taysha Pye answered with six quick points of her own as the junior hit a three pointer and made a layup and the corresponding free throw on consecutive possessions.
The College would eventually cut the deficit to 18-14 on a Correal jumper with 10 minutes, 5 seconds remaining in the first half, and would even pare the deficit to a point with just over five minutes remaining to silence the hostile Hofstra arena. But the Pride would end the half on a 13-7 run and take a 36-29 lead into the half.
Pye opened the half with a jumper on the assist from junior guard Katherine DeHenzel to cut the lead to 36-31, but Hofstra would outscore the College 15-7 over the first five minutes of the second half to jump ahead 51-38.
The Pride would eventually take a 23 points lead with 8:27 remaining in the second half and would not look back.
In addition to Hilton and Correal, sophomore center Jaclyn McKenna also scored in double figures. McKenna scored 12 points on five-for-eight shooting.
Pye struggled Thursday, shooting 3-fot-11 from the field and scoring nine points. The junior came into Thursday having scored 16 or more points in her last seven games.
The College is on pace for its worst conference record since 2004-2005, when it finished 2-16 in the CAA. The Tribe has finished .500 or better in conference only once since the 1998-1999 season.
After heading to Towson this Sunday to take on the last-place Tigers, the College returns home for a stretch of three home games in a span of eleven days. The Tribe takes on UNC-Wilmington and Delaware at home before facing Drexel in a televised matchup Thursday, February 17th.
