Williamsburg Sun

Tribe Scribe: W&M Closes Strong in 77-67 Win Over Hampton

In a game of back-and-forth runs, with double-digit leads disappearing in a matter of minutes, William & Mary had the final push for a 77-67 win at Hampton University Friday night.

Leading by two points with four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the game, the Tribe (11-10, 6-4 CAA) scored 10 of the final 12 points to win its fifth game in its last six outings. 

"We were tied going into the fourth quarter, and we just talked about the last 10 minutes and giving everything you've got," Tribe coach Erin Dickerson Davis said. "It was going to take everything to beat this team -- they're scrappy, and they have one of the best post players in the conference (Nylah Young).

"They went on their run, but we talked every single day about how every team we play will go on that run. You just have to stop the bleeding before it gets out of hand. They fought through it. I was trying to save timeouts for late in the game if we needed it, and they just withstood the run."

In maybe her best all-around game of the season, if not career, senior Bre Bellamy finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and three steals. She had six points, four rebounds, a steal, and an assist in the deciding fourth quarter.

Bellamy's double-double was the third of her career. 

"This is the Bre we knew we could have," Davis said. "I'm happy she's finding herself."

Sydney Wagner was W&M's top scorer with 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting. With the performance, Wagner moved into 13th all-time on the W&M scoring list. Riley Casey finished with 18 points, 16 coming in the second half. Wagner, Casey, and freshman point guard Alexa Mikeska each had four assists.

W&M shot 44.3% from the floor, 7-of-24 from the 3-point arc, and 16-of-22 from the free throw line. The Tribe out-rebounded Hampton 40-33, 14-4 in the fourth quarter. It was the first time this season William & Mary won the boards against a conference opponent.

The Tribe had a season-high 17 offensive rebounds to HU's 11. W&M outscored the Pirates 15-7 on second-chance points, 8-2 in the fourth quarter.

"That helped a lot by giving ourselves extra opportunities when we weren't shooting the ball particularly well," Davis said. "Being able to get those extra opportunities helped us down the stretch."

The Tribe took a 20-8 lead on Bellamy's layup with 1:02 left in the first quarter, but the Pirates scored the final four points of the period. HU began the second with a 17-5 run and took a 29-25 lead with 4:11 left in the half.

Hampton led 40-38 not quite two-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter, but the Tribe answered with a 14-1 run to go ahead 52-41 on Casey's layup with 4:18 left. Then came HU's turn, and it was 54-54 at the end of the period.

W&M began the fourth quarter with a 13-5 run and took a 67-59 lead with 7:19 remaining. Two minutes later, it was 67-65. But behind Bellamy, the Tribe closed strong for its second regular-season sweep of the conference season.

Next for the Tribe is Sunday afternoon's Golden Game game against Monmouth at Kaplan Arena. The Hawks (11-11, 6-5) defeated Hofstra 63-59 Friday night.
  

Original source can be found here