TOWSON, Md. — A hot jump shooting Towson team halted William & Mary women’s basketball from tying the best conference start in program history.
The Tigers took care of the Tribe 80-64 at TU Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Bella Nascimento posted her fifth 20-point performance of the season for the Tribe, finishing with 21 on 9-of-19 shooting. Nylah Young followed with 14.
An early and-1 from Nascimento put W&M (8-9, 4-2 CAA) ahead 5-4, before Anahi-Lee Cauley’s jumper extended the lead to three with 7:07 on the clock.
The Tribe held the lead for the next couple minutes before Towson took the lead for good at 15-12 with 1:35 left in the first off a 3-pointer.
The triple would spark a 14-2 Tiger run that carried them through till the 6:36 mark in the second.
Cassidy Geddes was able to get the Tribe offense rolling again, scoring in the paint. That was followed up by a Rebekah Frisby-Smith 3-pointer, cutting the Towson lead to 27-19 with 4:47 to play in the half.
Towson (10-6, 3-3 CAA) followed that with another strong burst, this time 14-4, to keep a sizeable lead.
Nascimento sliced inside for the Tribe as the horn sounded and converted to make it a 41-25 game at the half.
After shooting just 30% in the first half, the Tribe looked to get their offense rolling at the outstart of the second half and found early success.
Following a miss on the half’s opening possession, the Tribe hit on all five of their next field goal attempts, with Young, Nascimento and Geddes all contributing buckets.
The Tigers matched W&M’s scores with ones of their own, however, holding a 51-35 lead at the quarter’s midway point.
When the third came to close it was apparent the hosts were in full control, with the score at 63-41.
The Tribe’s most effective frame offensively ended up being the fourth, scoring 23 points, but it was too little too late.
Nascimento scored eight in the final quarter on 4-of-5 shooting, while the Green and Gold were 9-for-14 in the fourth as a team. Cate Carlson made W&M’s only 3-point try in the stanza, and Lanni Brown added five points off the bench.
When the dust settled Towson ended up with an 80-64 home win.
Both teams finished above 40% from the field, but the Tigers were much more proficient from deep, going 9-of-20 compared to the Tribe’s 2-for-9. Towson also controlled the glass, 47-29.
Despite the loss, the Tribe lost no ground in the early CAA standings, tied with three teams who also have four wins. Stony Brook, who lost for the first time today, sits in first at 5-1.
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