TOWSON, Md. — To say William & Mary got off to slow start Friday afternoon in its CAA women’s basketball quarterfinal against Hofstra is an understatement.
The fourth-seeded Tribe made just four of their first 25 field goals and missed their first 12 shots from 3-point distance. But their first 3 of the game, which came from Riley Casey with 1:49 left in the first half, gave them a lead they never relinquished in turning away the upset-minded and 12th-seeded Pride 74-64 at Towson University.
The victory put the Tribe (18-12) in the conference semifinals for the first time since 2019 and just the sixth overall. That also was the last time the Tribe won a tournament game. They will take on top-seeded Towson in Saturday’s first semifinal at 2 p.m. The Tigers swept the season series.
“I’m just super-proud of our girls,” said Tribe coach Erin Dickerson Davis, who is in her first year with W&M. “They fought through some fatigue, some runs and we came out on top.”
As usual, W&M’s two outstanding sixth-year guards, Sydney Wagner (20 points) and Casey (19), led the way. However, just as important were contributions from the rest of the team.
Rebekah Frisby-Smith had 10 points, Kayla Rolph nine points and five rebounds, Bre Bellamy eight points and 10 boards, and Alexa Mikeska (six points) hit a big 3-pointer with 2:53 left to give the Tribe a 10-point cushion.
“It’s a full team effort,” Davis said. “We talk about every single one of our young ladies that hit the court, they put their heart and soul into everything that they do. … I’m glad they showed what we felt they could.”
Riley, who moved into sole possession of second place on the Tribe’s all-time single-season scoring list, was not worried about the slow start.
“I think everyone just kept saying ‘we need to settle in,'” she said. “We hadn’t played a game in a week, and they’ve played games the last few days. And knowing that they’ll start falling.”
They did as the Tribe made 6 of 7 in one stretch to take a 54-43 lead after the third quarter.
Mikeska’s 3 was the shot that finally put away the Pride. W&M was leading by seven and got two offensive rebounds from Bellamy to set up the shot.
Hofstra, playing its third game in three days, got a game-high 23 points from Brandy Thomas. The Pride were the first No. 12 seed since 2006 to reach the quarterfinals, having beaten No. 5 North Carolina A&T 66-59 Thursday.
