After a hard-fought loss to Hofstra University last week, the women’s basketball team secured a 56-38 victory over the University of North Carolina-Wilmington Sunday afternoon. Junior Devin James led the Tribe on the scoreboard with 17 points. Junior forward Kyra Kaylor came up big defensively, securing 17 rebounds to go along with her 12 points. Freshman forward Tiffany Benson also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
p. “We haven’t been getting the job done on the boards recently,” said Head Coach Debbie Taylor. “But after our poor team performance at Hofstra, we really held it down rebounding tonight. It was nice to see us take a stand defensively.”
The Tribe currently holds a 15-9 overall record and is 7-6 in CAA play. The College is in a 3-way conference tie for fifth place with Georgia State University and Towson University. With five more league games to go, the Tribe needs just one more victory to ensure a winning season. If the Tribe can complete this task, it will mark the first back-to-back winning seasons in the College’s Division I history.
p. From the outset, the College dominated the Seahawks. In the opening minutes the Tribe jumped out to a 9-0 lead. Although UNCW fought back, the College played outstanding defense and was very aggressive on the boards. At the conclusion of the first half, the Tribe held a comfortable 11-point lead.
p. The Seahawks came out strong after intermission, cutting the lead to 4 points in the beginning of the second half. James then responded by single-handedly scoring 10 unanswered points to push the margin back and help the Tribe command a sizable 14-point lead. From that point on, the College never looked back.
From a statistical standpoint, the Tribe held the upper hand both offensively and defensively. The College out-shot UNCW 37.7 percent to 27.8 percent and held a 44-32 advantage on the boards.
p. “It was an overall good team performance,” said Kaylor. “We played well together and finally out-rebounded our opponents. It’s also really good to have Courtney Portell back after being on the injured list. If we keep working hard and focusing on rebounding, we will continue to win games.”
p. The College is set to play Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond this Thursday. The Tribe is only two games behind the Rams and every team in the conference is fighting for the top four spots, so this will be 3-way conference tie for fifth place with Georgia State University and Towson University. With five more league games to go, the Tribe needs just one more victory to a big game for both teams.
p. “If we limit them early and continue to rebound well, we should be able to secure a win,” says Coach Taylor. “We also need to score more down the stretch, but we’ve been doing our best and that’s all I can ask for.”
