TOWSON, Md. – A huge third quarter helped William & Mary break open a five-point game and claim a 73-54 win over the Towson University women's basketball team on Friday night in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. Junior guard
Raven Bankston paced the Tigers with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven steals.
THE BASICSWilliam & Mary 73, Towson 54
SECU Arena, Towson, Md.
HOW IT HAPPENED- The two teams traded baskets early in the first quarter. A jumper from Bianca Boggs gave the Tribe (11-2, 2-0 CAA) an 11-6 lead with 5:22 to go in the stanza. A lay-up from sophomore center Daijha Thomas cut the deficit to three, 11-8 with 4:34 left on the clock. William & Mary closed out the quarter on an 11-5 run and took a 22-13 advantage after one. Marlena Tremba had five of the Tribe's 11 during that stretch.
- Towson opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run and cut the Tribe lead to 24-21 with 6:22 showing on the clock. That scoring stretch featured six straight points from the Tigers including a pair of buckets from Bankston. The two teams traded baskets before Thomas' lay-up with 3:13 to play in the stanza made it a 28-26 game. A three-pointer from Jeanne Gaumont with 32 seconds left in the quarter gave the visitors a 33-28 lead at the break.
- William & Mary opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run and continued to have the hot hand throughout, outscoring the Tigers 26-7.
- The Tigers and Tribe battled throughout the fourth quarter but the double digit deficit proved to be too much to overcome for the black and gold. William & Mary claimed the 73-54 win to improve to 2-0 in CAA play.
QUOTABLE- "I have to give credit to William & Mary who came out ready to play tonight," said Towson head coach Niki Reid Geckeler. "The first and third quarters were tough for us tonight but there are some positivies we can take out of tonight. I think Raven had a really good game for us offensively. Sianni Martin shot well from the field, we have to try and build on that cause we have a solid UNCW team coming in here on Sunday and it's a quick turnaround."
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE- Towson shot 43.8% or better from the field in the second and fourth quarters but shot 35.7% or less in the first and third quarters and finished the game shooting 38.6% from the field.
- William & Mary shot 47% or better from the field in all but the second quarter.
- Towson won the battle on the boards, 36-34. Thomas and Bankston each had a team-high seven rebounds.
- Senior guard Dominique Johnson added nine points while Thomas had seven points.
- Sophomore guard Shanea Butler saw her first action of the season and contributed two points, five rebounds and two assists.
- Tremba led William & Mary with 16 points while Alexandra Masaquel had 15 points and nine rebounds.
The Tigers are back in action when they welcome UNCW to SECU Arena on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 1 p.m.
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