Tribe Scribe: W&M Finds Positives in Loss to Virginia

By Press release submission

Dec 10, 2022

Virginia came into Wednesday night's game at Kaplan Arena as one of 15 undefeated teams in the nation.

And while the Cavaliers left with a still-perfect record, William & Mary coach Erin Dickerson Davis was able to say her team, missing key players with injuries, grew in an 83-54 loss and competed from tip to buzzer.

"U.Va. is a tough opponent, and we knew they'd be tough when they came in the gym," Davis said. "They're super athletic and they have an amazing new coaching staff.

"We just wanted to come in compete and do the best we could and grow. That's the one thing we talk about is how we're growing. I do think we took some strides tonight."

The Tribe (4-4) had leads of 4-3, 6-5, and 8-7 in the first four minutes and trailed 19-12 at the end of the first quarter. But the Cavaliers (11-0, 1-0 ACC) broke it open by outscoring W&M 27-13 in the second period. It was the Cavaliers' first trip to Kaplan since 1999.

Riley Casey led the Tribe with 13 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the floor, 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Sophomore Madison Magee matched her career high with 11 points on 5-of-8 accuracy and added four rebounds.

"I'm so proud of Maddie," Davis said. "She took the open shots and she was confident. She makes those shots every day. The more she does it, the more reps she gets, the better she'll be at it.

"We're really trying to get our post players ready for conference. It's no secret that our guards do a lot of our scoring. If they can just shoot those open shots, they'll give themselves a chance to make them. And once they make them, people will start guarding them."

Virginia shot 49% and controlled the glass — 51-25 overall, 21-8 on the offensive end. U.Va. came in eighth nationally in rebounding margin at plus-13.5 despite not having anyone taller than 6-foot-2.

"They have some really explosive athletes over there," Davis said. "Mir McLean she had 13 (of her 17) rebounds at the half. Some of them we were boxing out and she kind of jumped over us. Some of them we were not boxing out.

"We know that's our Achilles heel the last couple of games, just making sure we're boxing out to give ourselves a chance. We want to play fast, but we can't do that if we don't box out."

From the jump, Casey and backcourt mate Sydney Wagner were the obvious focal point of Virginia's defense.

"They have to understand it's not going to get any easier," Davis said. "That's one thing I tell Riley and Syd. That's the scout: to take them out and make everybody else score the basketball. It's not going to get any more athletic than what we saw tonight."

W&M returns to Kaplan for the final time this month on Sunday afternoon, squaring off against James Madison. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.