The Story
Women's BBall Beats Towson, Fall to ODU
Seniors Dani Kell and Courtney Portell bid farewell to Kaplan Arena for the last time as collegiate athletes for the College of William and Mary by powering the Tribe to a 61-50 victory over visiting Towson. Playing in their 100 and 99 games respectively, Kell and Portell will finish their careers in the top-10 in many categories, with Portell setting records for three-point shots made and attempted in a game and a season, and ranks third all-time in three-pointers made, attempted, and three-point field-goal percentage.
On senior night, it was the Tribe Freshmen who did much of the work, as Janine Aldridge led the Tribe with 18 points, 15 coming in the first half on 5-6 shooting including three 3-point baskets. Freshman sensation Tasha Pye continued her torrid late-season run by scoring 17 points in just 24 minutes. To add to her collection of honors, she earned a third CAA rookie of the week honor this past week as well as her first CAA player of the week accolade after scoring 30 points earlier in the week in a heartbreaking last-second loss to James Madison.
Leading 36-28 at the half, the Tribe allowed the Tigers to close to 49-44 with 5:12 to play, but Kell and Portell went 6-6 from the line during the final five minutes to help close out the contest.
The Tribe concluded their regular season at rival Old Dominion. Despite leading 63-62 with 8:13 remaining, the Monarchs proved too tough, outscoring the Tribe 25-9 the rest of the way to win 87-72. Pye had another strong showing, leading the Tribe with 26, while Tiffany Benson and Aldridge also scored in double digits. With the loss, the Tribe finishes the regular season with a record of 13-16 (6-12 in the CAA) and will enter the CAA Tournament as the #10 seed. They will face-off against #7 seed Hofstra in the first round. Earlier this year, the Tribe fell 45-55 at Hofstra.
The Women's CAA Tournament will be played Thursday March 12 - Sunday March 15 in Harrisonburg, VA. William and Mary play begins on Thursday March 12 at 5pm vs. the Hofstra Pride.