Williamsburg Sun

Tribe Scribe: W&M Falls in CAA Semis as Towson Pulls Away Late

William & Mary had been pulling surprises all season. But against the Colonial Athletic Association's top seed, which was playing on its home floor, the Tribe couldn't stage one more.

Trailing most of the way, Towson owned the fourth quarter and pulled away for a 76-59 win in the conference semifinals in SECU Arena. The Tribe led for nearly 20 consecutive minutes at one stage and by as many as 13 points, but the Tigers were too tough down the stretch.

Forget the final margin, though — Towson's lead was 56-55 at the 6-minute mark — the Tribe's first season with Erin Dickerson Davis at the helm was nothing short of historic.

"Don't let these red faces fool you -- we're really tough," Davis said. "I'm extraordinarily proud of this team. I told them I have to find a word that's bigger than proud because I don't think proud quite sums it up.

"I hope we proved to ourselves and everybody else that we're for real. … I would go to battle with this team a hundred times with how they fought today."

By victory total, it was the fourth-best season in W&M history, with a final record of 18-13. The Tribe's 12 conference wins tied the program record. And it was the best season ever by a first-year women's basketball coach at William & Mary.

All this after winning 10 games last year and being picked seventh in the CAA's preseason poll.

"I'm super proud of this season and my teammates for making it this far," grad guard Sydney Wagner said. "Nobody thought we'd be able to do this."

Wagner turned in one of the best performances of her career, with 30 points and six assists. She scored 19 of her team's 32 points and nine of its 14 baskets in the first half.

"That was an All-Star performance by Sydney Wagner," Towson coach Laura Harper said.

Senior Bre Bellamy finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists before fouling out with 1:19 remaining.

"Bre did not want to go home," Davis said. "She definitely didn't want to go home with me yelling at her to shoot the basketball, I can tell you that.

"That would have haunted her for the rest of her life. We wouldn't have even been close if she hadn't scored in double figures."

A Wagner drive gave the Tribe its biggest lead at 32-19 with 1:27 remaining in the first half. The Tigers closed with a 5-0 run to create a single-digit deficit at the break. Towson then outscored W&M 24-16 in the third quarter, and it was a tie game going into the fourth.

The Tigers took their first lead, one they wouldn't give up, on a 3-pointer by India Johnston to start the final quarter. It was a five-point game with 3:24 remaining, but W&M missed four of its final five shots and was outscored 14-2 the rest of the way.

It was Towson's third win over W&M this season. The Tigers trailed by double digits in each of the last two.

"We knew it was going to be an emotional game playing Towson for the third time," Davis said. "The last time we played them here (a 75-43 loss), it was ugly. We wanted the payback, and I felt like we were right there with them."

Barring an invitation from the Women's NIT or Women's Basketball Invitational, Wagner played her final college basketball game Saturday afternoon. She would finish her career seventh on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,398 points.

Someday, she hopes to look back on the year as the start of something big.

"This season for sure was my favorite (since) I've been playing basketball, and I can attribute a lot of that to the new coaching staff and Coach E," she said. "I'm nothing but proud, and I can't wait to see what the team does in the future."
  

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