UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – The No. 10 Towson women's basketball team upset No. 7 William & Mary, 71-65 on Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament. The Tigers, who earned their first ever win in postseason play as the 10th seed, advance to face No. 2 Drexel on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
 
THE BASICS
2016 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women's Basketball Tournament
First Round: No. 10 Towson 71, No. 7 William & Mary 65
Show Place Arena, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Tigers opened up an 11-7 lead on a layup from freshman guard Sianni Martin with 2:28 left in the first quarter.
• William & Mary responded with three-straight baskets to take a 13-11 lead with 20 seconds remaining in the first.
• A three-pointer by Martin gave the Tigers a 14-13 lead going into the second quarter.
• Towson extended its advantage to 22-13, the 8-0 run to start the stanza was highlighted by back-to-back triples from freshman guard AJ Timbers.
• The Tigers kept William & Mary off the board until a three-pointer by Marlena Tremba with 7:23 on the clock.
• The two teams traded baskets before the Tigers took a nine-point lead with just under a minute to play in the half thanks to a jumper by junior guard Raven Bankston.
• The Tribe closed the gap to 33-30 at halftime as Tremba sank a three-pointer and three free throws in the final 40 seconds.
• The third quarter was slow to start for both teams. Senior guard Dominique Johnson hit one-of-two from the charity stripe at the seven-minute mark and that was the first point of the second half.
• The Tigers were 7-for-10 from the foul line in the final three minutes of the third quarter and held a 45-41 lead after three quarters. Martin was 3-for-4 for the Tigers during that stretch.
• Towson came out strong in the fourth quarter using an 8-1 run to take an 11-point lead, 53-42 with 8:40 remaining in the game. Timbers scored seven points during that 8-1 run.
• The Tigers' largest lead of the game came with 6:04 left as Bankston hit one-of-two from the foul line and Towson held a 57-44 lead over William & Mary.
• The Tribe went on a 13-3 run to narrow Towson's lead to just two points, 67-65 with 35 seconds to play. Tremba tallied eight points during that scoring stretch while Brooke Stewart converted a tradition three-point play during that span.
• The 67-65 lead by Towson would prove to be the closest that William & Mary would get for the remainder of the game.
• Towson capitalized at the foul line, as a pair of free-throws by Martin and Johnson regained a six point lead for the Tigers to close out the game.

QUOTABLE

• "At this time of the year, it was a great game to the end," said Towson head coach Niki Reid Geckeler. "I give a lot of credit to William & Mary, they came out and competed. There was a lot of engery and fight from both teams. I'm very happy with my young ladies and I was pleased to see they learned from things this year."

 
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• The Tigers had four players score in double figures for the first time since February 14 against College of Charleston.
• Bankston recorded a team-best 18 points with five rebounds.
• Johnson had a balanced day as she posted 17 points, five assists and four rebounds.
• Martin came off the bench to contribute 14 points while Timbers finished with 15 points, one off her career-high.
• Sophomore center Daijha Thomas had a team-high eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
• Towson shot 20-41 (48.8%) from the field while William & Mary shot 22-70 (31.4%).
• The Tigers made 41 trips to the foul line and connected on 26 of those opportunities. Johnson and Martin each hit seven shots from the charity stripe while Bankston connected on six of those chances.
• In a battle of the top two teams in the CAA for steals per game, Towson came out on top. The Tigers recorded nine steals to the Tribe's four.

 
UP NEXT
Towson will be back in action on Thursday, March 10 when it faces No. 2 Drexel at 5 p.m. in quarterfinal action at the Show Place Arena.