WILLIAMSBURG — Hot shooting and suffocating second half defense propelled the William & Mary women’s basketball team to a blowout win over Longwood, 86-49 on Sunday in Kaplan Arena.
The game was the last home non-conference game for the Tribe who finish up their non-league slate at Virginia Tech on Thursday.
The Tribe scored the game’s first seven points off buckets from Nylah Young and a layup from Kayla Rolph.
Young saw limited minutes throughout the game due to foul trouble, but made the most of her time on the floor, leading the Tribe with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting in just 13 minutes of play. The outing was Young’s fifth 20+ point game of the year.
The Tribe continued their hot start, and when Bella Nascimento knocked down a triple with 5:22 to play, W&M led 14-3.
Freshman Cate Carlson went on to score seven of the Tribe’s next nine points, capped off with a 3-pointer to make it 23-10 with 2:32 on the clock.
The Lancers tried their best to battle back after W&M’s scorching start and went on an 11-2 run to close out the quarter, putting the score at 25-21 after one.
Longwood cut the deficit to just one at 28-27 three minutes into the second quarter, but a Rolph triple moments later sparked a 15-4 Tribe spurt the remainder of the half. Cassidy Geddes, Young and Anahi-Lee Caley all scored on the run as well.
When the dust settled W&M held a 43-31 lead at the half thanks to 47% shooting from the floor and a balanced box score. Young posted 12 first half points, while Geddes, Rolph and Carlson all had seven and Nascimento six.
The third stanza was all Tribe from the second the whistle blew, with Young once again scoring consecutive buckets. A Rebekah Frisby-Smith triple a minute later expanded the W&M lead to 52-36 with 7:25 on the clock and the lead would only grow from there.
The Green and Gold’s defense absolutely shut down the Lancers on the offensive end in the third quarter, holding them scoreless the final 8:17 of the quarter.
Longwood, outscored 27-5 in the quarter, shot an icy 1-for-13 in the third while the Tribe rolled on. The Green and Gold made 11-of-16 of their field goals in the frame, including their last seven, capped by a Cauley layup to make it 70-36 at quarter’s end.
With the game in hand, Geddes made sure the win was as decisive as possible, scoring seven fourth quarter points, ending up with a career-high 19, as the Tribe coasted to an 86-49 win.
The freshman not only shot 8-for-13 from the floor, but added three assists, two rebounds and two blocks in the winning effort.
Frisby-Smith, although only scoring five points, had her fingerprints all over the game, hauling in seven rebounds and passing out six assists.
All 12 active players for the Tribe saw action, with 11 different players scoring on the afternoon.
The 37-point win is the Tribe’s largest over a Division I opponent since February of 2014 when they ousted UNCW 97-44.
W&M shot 52% from the field and went 9-for-22 from deep on the afternoon. The Tribe also scored 29 points off 19 Lancer turnovers and received 41 of their 86 points off the bench.
Up Next
The Tribe return to action at No. 16 Virginia Tech on Thursday. Tip is set for 7 p.m. in Blacksburg on ACCNX.
