TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's basketball team claimed a thrilling 77-69 overtime comeback win over the College of William & Mary on Tuesday night in SECU Arena. Senior guard Ciara Webb hit a three-pointer with seven seconds to play in regulation to help the Tigers overcome a 15-point second half deficit and sent the game to the extra session.

"We have found a way to make both of our first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) games interesting but we'll take a win at any point in conference season," said Head Coach Niki Reid Geckeler. "Markeema Crawford was a catalyst for us tonight and Webb's shot gave us a great feeling on the bench."

With the scored tied at 7-7 in the first half, Towson used an 8-0 run to take a 15-7 lead. That run was capped by Crawford's lay-up at 7:30. Crawford and redshirt senior forward LaTorri Hines-Allen each had four points during that stretch. William & Mary (6-7, 0-2 CAA) closed the first half on a 16-4 run and took a 23-19 lead at the half. Marlena Tremba had nine of the Tribe's 16 during that stretch.

The Tribe shot 25% from the field in the first half while the Tigers shot 28.1%. William & Mary was aided by making four first-half three pointers. Tremba led all players with nine points in the first 20 minutes of action while Hines-Allen had eight for the Tigers.

A 6-2 run by the Tigers to start the second half tied the game at 25-25 with 16:10 left in regulation. Ten straight points from the visitors gave William & Mary a 35-25 lead with 11:22 remaining on the clock. Kasey Curtis had a pair of lay-ups for the Tribe. Crawford briefly halted the William & Mary run with a three-pointer at 10:48. However, the Tribe responded with a 14-6 run and took a 49-34 lead with 6:20 to go in regulation. That was William & Mary's largest lead of the game. Alexandra Masaquel had seven of the Tribe's 14 during that stretch. Five straight points from junior guard Dominique Johnson made it a 49-39 game with 5:08 showing on the clock. Masaquel's lay-up at 4:39 pushed the visitors' advantage back to 12, 51-39.

A jumper from senior guard Markell Smith started a 12-2 run by the Tigers that cut the William & Mary lead to two, 53-51 with 1:55 remaining in regulation. Johnson had eight of the Tigers' 12 during that run. Four straight points from Kyla Kerstetter gave William & Mary a 57-51 lead with 35 seconds to play in regulation. Webb hit a three-pointer with 27 seconds to go which made it a 57-54 game. After William & Mary missed a pair of free throws with 26 seconds to go, senior forward Camille Alberson corralled the rebound and sent the ball down court. Webb sent her three-pointer towards the hoop with seven seconds to play and it bounced off the back board and in to tie the game.

Towson shot 44.8% from the field in the second half and hit seven three-pointers. William & Mary posted a 42.9% field goal percentage but made just two second-half threes. Johnson scored 16 points in the second half to lead the Tigers.

The Tigers had a strong showing in overtime as they scored the first six points of the extra session and took a 63-57 lead with 3:58 to go. A lay-up from Webb at 2:49 gave the home team a 67-58 advantage. A 6-0 run pushed the Towson (5-9, 1-1 CAA) lead to 73-61 with 1:17 left in the extra session. Webb had four of the Tigers' six. The two teams traded points over the final minute of overtime as Hines-Allen made one-of-two from the line with 17 seconds to play to seal the 77-69 win.

Towson shot 66.7% from the field and made 12-of-18 shots from the foul line in the extra session. William & Mary shot 50% in the overtime period.

For the game, Towson shot 38.8% from the field, made eight three-pointers and went 17-for-23 from the foul line. William & Mary shot 35.3% from the field, hit nine three-pointers and was 12-for-17 from the charity stripe.

Hines-Allen finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for her team and CAA leading seventh double-double of the year. She also added two assists, three blocks and a steal. Johnson posted 20 points, eight assists and five steals while Webb had a season-high 18 points with nine rebounds. Smith recorded nine points and 10 rebounds and Crawford added a season-high nine points with three steals.

William & Mary was led by Tremba who had 22 points while Masaquel finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Towson looks to made it two in a row when the Tigers host Delaware on Friday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. in SECU Arena.