Friday, Jan. 19, William and Mary women’s basketball (8-9, 4-2 CAA) defeated Delaware (6-11, 2-3 CAA) 78-72 at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. This overtime thriller improved the Tribe’s Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) record to 4-1 to start the season, marking the team’s best start in 30 years.
William and Mary started hot against Delaware, going on a 9-0 run to begin the game. Graduate student forward Nylah Young opened the scoring for the Tribe with a jump shot. Freshman guard Cassidy Geddes and junior guard Bella Nascimento followed up with each of their own layups, before Nascimento drilled a three-pointer to cap William and Mary’s opening run with six minutes, 53 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Blue Hens finally got on the scoreboard at the five minute, 33 second mark with a jump shot from Delaware senior forward Chloe Wilson. She then recorded a layup to cut the Tribe lead to five.
The Tribe responded with back-to-back three-pointers from senior forward Rebekah Frisby-Smith, both assisted by sophomore guard Alexa Mikeska. These six points extended the William and Mary lead to 15-6 with three minutes, 15 seconds left in the first quarter.
Delaware senior guard Tara Cousins answered with two consecutive scores of her own, a jumper and a three-pointer, closing the Tribe lead to 15-11 around the one minute, 54 second mark.
Geddes then made a jumper, again assisted by Mikeska. Young continued the William and Mary scoring with a jumper of her own, before Cousins interrupted with her own jumpshot. The first quarter ended 19-13, with the Tribe up.
Cousins continued her strong start to the game, opening up the second quarter scoring with a layup at the nine minute, 24 second mark. Delaware freshman center Ande’a Cherisier followed up with two layups of her own to tie the game at 19-19 with eight minutes, 20 seconds left.
The William and Mary offense stalled at the beginning of the second quarter, going two minutes without a score. Junior forward Anahi-Lee Cauley stopped the scoring drought at the eight minute mark with a jumper assisted by Geddes.
Cherisier responded with another layup of her own, assisted by Cousins. Both teams continued with back-and-forth unsuccessful possessions until a foul by Cherisier sent Young to the free throw line. Young sank both attempts, giving the Tribe the lead after the deadlock at 21-21.
The next Delaware possession, junior Sydney Boone scored her first points of the game with a layup assisted by Cousins, tying the game once again. The Tribe answered on its next possession with a layup converted by Cauley, giving William and Mary the lead once again.
This was the start of an eight point Tribe run spearheaded by consecutive scores from Geddes. Starting with a layup, Geddes drained a couple of free throws and a jumper to cap off the William and Mary run, extending the team’s lead to 31-23 with four minutes, 10 seconds left.
Wilson stopped the eight point Tribe run with a three-pointer assisted by sophomore guard Nakiyah Mays-Prince. Wilson continued her scoring with a layup after nabbing a steal, but missing the first layup, getting the offensive rebound, and finally finishing the second layup.
This marked the start of Delaware’s own 10 point scoring run, facilitated by multiple scores from fifth-year center Klarke Sconiers. She converted a jumper, as well as an and-one layup plus free throw to propel the Blue Hens into the lead, 33-31 with two minutes, 46 seconds left.
Mikeska responded for William and Mary, converting a shot from behind the arc, assisted by Geddes. On the following Delaware possession, Geddes stole the ball from Mays-Prince and swung the rock to Mikeska for an easy lay, extending the William and Mary lead, 36-33.
To end the second quarter, Delaware recorded a three-pointer from Cousins and a layup by Boone to put the Blue Hens ahead by two entering the locker room, with the Tribe trailing 38-36.
The second half began slow for both teams, with the Tribe opening the scoring at the eight minute, 22 second mark from a Cauley layup, following her offensive rebound on a missed Mikeska jump shot. Tribe scoring continued after a foul on Cousins sent Young to the charity stripe, where she sank both free throws.
Sconier answered with a layup off of an offensive rebound following a missed Mays-Prince jump shot. On the next Tribe possession, Nascimento responded with a three-pointer assisted by Alexa Mikeska to give William and Mary a three point lead.
A minute later, a foul on Wilson sent Young to the free throw line for the Tribe, where she went one for two. Cousins and Cherisier answered for Delaware with each of their own jumpshots. Following a missed Nascimneto three-pointer, Cousins grabbed the defensive board and passed the ball to Mays-Prince on the offensive end, who converted her behind-the-arc shot to cap a seven point Delaware run. With four minutes, 56 seconds left in the game, the Blue Hens led 47-44.
The Tribe halted the Delaware run with a Cauley jump shot, before the Blue Hens continued its strong scoring period with layups from Cherisier and freshman guard Grace Sundback.
At the two minute, 51 second mark, the Tribe finally found some offensive success with two plays assisted by Frisby-Smith, a Cauley layup and a three-pointer from Geddes to tie the game at 51 apiece.
After a foul by Cauley, Wilson sank two free throws for Delaware to push the Blue Hens ahead by two points. The Tribe responded with a layup from senior center Kayla Beckwith, to once again tie the game at 53-53 with one minute, 38 seconds left.
A foul on Cousins sent sophomore forward Kayla Rolph to the free throw line, where she went one for two to give the Tribe a one point lead. On the next possession, a Frisby-Smith steal led to a Geddes three-pointer on the other end of the court.
To end the third quarter scoring, a foul by Frisby-Smith on senior guard/forward Rebecca Demeke, resulted in Demeke converting one of two shots, cutting the Tribe lead, 57-54, to end the period.
Starting the fourth quarter, a Geddes turnover caused by a Mays-Prince steal led to a Cousins jump shot to open the scoring in the period. On the next Tribe possession, Mays-Prince recorded another steal on Rolph, which she passed to Demeke for a three point jump shot, forcing a William and Mary timeout.
The Delaware onslaught continued out of the timeout with a jump shot from Cousins that extended the Blue Hens’ lead, 61-57. Both teams then went on multiple scoreless possessions until the six minute, 41 second mark whenthe Tribe broke the stalemate with a layup from Cauley.
After a foul by Sconiers that sent Cauley to the line, the forward went one for two, bringing William and Mary within one point of Delaware.
Delaware responded with a layup from Sundback assisted by Boone. Both teams experienced another scoreless period of around two and a half minutes, before Cauley assisted Young on a layup. The Blue Hens followed up with a layup of its own from Cherisier, extending the Delaware lead to 65-62 with three minutes, 25 seconds left in the game.
The Tribe equalized the game at the two minute, nine second mark with a Frisby-Smith three point shot assisted by Geddes to settle the score at 65-65. On the next possession, Delaware’s Wilson converted a layup to once again put the Blue Hens up by two points.
With one minute, 34 seconds left in the game, a foul on Mays-Prince sent Geddes to the charity stripe, where she converted both free throws to tie the game once again at 67-67.
This was the final score of regulation, as both teams had unsuccessful chances to win the game in the final stretch of the bout.
The overtime period scoring began after a foul on Mikeska sent Mays-Prince to the free throw line, where she drained both. The Tribe countered with a three-pointer by Mikeska on a Geddes assist, propelling William and Mary into the lead 70-69. The Tribe continued its scoring with a Cauley jump shot, following a Mikeska offensive rebound, extending the Green and Gold lead, 72-69 with one minute, 27 seconds left in the overtime period.
The Blue Hens responded when a foul by Frisby-Smith on Cousins, resulted in her converting one of her two free throws, bringing the Tribe lead back to two.
Both teams traded baskets on the next few possessions, starting with a Cauley jumpshot to extend The Tribe lead to 74-70. Delaware then scored through a Mays-Prince layup to bring the deficit back to two points. Geddes scored a jumper on the next possession extending the Tribe lead back to four with 14 seconds left, forcing a Delaware timeout.
Out of the timeout, Mays-Prince turned the ball over as a result of a Frisby-Smith steal, leading a layup by Mikeska, settling the score at 78-72 to end the game as a William and Mary victory.
This win secured the Tribe’s 30 year-best 4-1 CAA start to a season, with four players in double-figure points for the first time this season. Geddes recorded career-high points (20) and rebounds (seven). Cauley scored 17, while Young and Mikeska recorded 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Friday night’s game marked the first time Dickerson Davis’ team played in overtime this season, and improved the team’s overtime record to 5-0 under her tenure.
William and Mary was board-dominant, out-rebounding Delaware 50 to 37. The +13 rebounding margin is the largest one all year for the Tribe, and certainly helped it overcome the season-high turnover total (27).
The Tribe shot 43% from the field and went nine of 18 from behind the arc.
Sunday, Jan. 21, William and Mary women’s basketball (8-9, 4-2 CAA) lost to Towson (10-6, 3-3 CAA) 80-64 at TU Arena in Towson, Md.
The Tribe will look to get back in the win column in more conference play on Friday, Jan. 26 against conference foe Hofstra (7-9, 1-4 CAA) at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va.
