Tribe Scribe: W&M Starts Strong, But Falls Late to Richmond
Still missing key players from its lineup, William & Mary needed a positive start Thursday night against Richmond. The Tribe got one with, at least statistically, its best first quarter of the season.
But with a thin bench, W&M ran out of steam late and fell to the Spiders 74-62 at Kaplan Arena. It was a one-possession game going into the fourth quarter, but with four starters playing at least 34 minutes, the Tribe was unable to climb back.
"By the time we got to the fourth quarter, we were a little bit gassed," W&M coach Erin Dickerson Davis said. "We had a couple of silly fouls that ended up being and-ones and that kind of shifted the moment of the game toward the end.
"But I'm proud of the girls. I'm proud of their fight and how we're continuing to build."
Sydney Wagner led the Tribe (3-3) with a season-high 26 points on 8-of-19 shooting. Riley Casey, coming off back-to-back 31-point games, finished with 13 along with five assists and three steals.
W&M shot 36% from the field and during a nine-minute stretch, which overlapped the third and fourth quarters, missed 14 consecutive attempts.
"I liked the looks we were getting," Davis said. "I think we get a little bit mental sometimes. We have to reel them back in and tell them to let the last miss go, be confident, step up and make the next one. Work in progress."
Another work in progress is dealing with a short-handed lineup. So far this season, neither forward Dani McTeer nor guard Ruthie Montella have played due to injuries. Forward Kayla Beckwith and guard Ava Stevenson have missed the last three games. All were in street clothes on the bench Thursday night.
Chaniqwa Gilliam, who missed all but six games last season with a knee injury, didn't play in Sunday's win over Army. She spent much of Thursday night on an exercise bike behind the Tribe's bench before checking in to start the fourth quarter. She played six minutes.
"Hopefully, a couple of them will be back soon, but it does hurt our rotation," Davis said. "Bek (Rebekah Frisby-Smith) played 35 minutes, Bre (Bellamy) 34 minutes, Syd 38 minutes, Riley 37 minutes … that's a lot of minutes, especially when we're pressing and flying around and pushing fast on offense.
"It is hurting us a little bit, but we're not the only team in the country dealing with that. We have to figure out a way to fight through it."
The opening half produced a pair of 10-0 runs, one by each team. The first gave William & Mary a 25-13 lead with 8:13 left it the second quarter. The second brought Richmond to within two points, at 25-23, with 5:36 left.
Trailing by two at halftime, the Tribe took a 43-40 lead on Wagner's and-one drive to the basket. Then came the 0-for-14 run, during which the Spiders outscored the Tribe 14-2.
A 3-pointer by Frisby-Smith cut Richmond's lead to 56-51 with 5:48 remaining, but Richmond closed it with four and-one drives in the final 2:20.
William & Mary's next game is set for Sunday at Kaplan Arena against Coppin State with tip-off at noon.
"We're going to watch some film from tonight, see how they guarded us, and see how we could have changed things," Davis said. "And then get ready for Coppin State on Sunday.
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