WILMINGTON, North
Carolina - The
UNCW women's basketball team completes a two-game road swing Sunday with a 2
p.m. matinee versus William and Mary at Kaplan Arena.
Sunday's contest marks the second of two meetings between
the Seahawks and Tribe this season. UNCW won the first matchup, 80-77, in Wilmington
on Feb. 5; holding off a last-minute rally by William and Mary to pick up its
sixth straight victory against the Tribe.
The
Seahawks (15-10; 8-6 CAA) make their way to Colonial Williamsburg looking to
get back on track following a 63-52 defeat at James Madison on Thursday that
served as the program's second consecutive setback.
UNCW
shot just 28.4 percent from the floor for the contest and was unable to slow down a
JMU attack that connected 51 percent of its field goal attempts, including a
7-of-13 performance from three-point range.
Juniors
Jessica Freeman and Karneshia Garrett and sophomore Abria Trice all scored 11
points to lead the Seahawks. Garrett also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for
her fifth double-double of the season as UNCW was out-rebounded by a 44-32
margin.
William and Mary (10-15; 3-11 CAA) will look to build off a
66-63 victory at VCU on Thursday that halted a five-game losing skid for the
Tribe.
Veteran coach Debbie Taylor's squad remains among the most
balanced scoring attacks in the league as four players - Junior Janine Aldridge
(14.1), senior Taysha Pye (14.0), and juniors Emily Correal (13.6) and Jaclyn
McKenna (10.5) - are all averaging double figures to power a lineup that ranks
among the top 50 teams in the nation in scoring offense (70.4).
Senior Katherine DeHenzel continues to guide the Tribe
attack as she is second in the league and 18th in the nation in assists per
game (5.6) while Correal sits fifth in the association in rebounds per game
(8.8) to highlight William and Mary's effort on the glass.
Sunday's game marks the 58th meeting between UNCW and
William and Mary in a series that dates back to the 1981-82 season. The Tribe
holds a 30-27 edge in the series, but the Seahawks have won each of the last
six meetings, including an 80-77 triumph in their first matchup of the 2011-12 campaign
Feb. 5 in Wilmington.
UNCW returns home after Sundays matinee to host Towson in a
7 p.m. tip-off on Feb. 23. The Seahawks won the first meeting of the season
between the two programs, 76-61, at the Towson Center on Jan. 29.