HAMPTON, Va. (Courtesy of William & Mary Athletics) —Before America turned their attention to the gridiron, William & Mary women’s basketball made history on Super Bowl Sunday, taking down Hampton 65-55 on the road to secure the best CAA start in program history.
The victory bolstered the Tribe to 12-10 on the season and 8-3 in conference play after tying the 1993-94 team for the best league start at 7-3.
Head coach Erin Dickerson Davis also became the fastest head coach to 20 conference wins in program history, taking just 29 games to reach the feat.
She now has 30 career wins as the leader of the Tribe, the fastest to reach that mark since Martha Barksdale did it in 35 games in 1929.
Although historic, there was nothing easy about W&M’s victory over their 757 foe on Sunday afternoon.
Nylah Young scored early to put the visitors up 2-0, but the next five Tribe possessions ended in turnovers, their first of 23 giveaways on the day, and the score was 3-2 Hampton three minutes in.
Rebekah Frisby-Smith promptly ended the W&M drought with a triple, followed by another Young basket to put the Tribe up by four.
The Pirates responded by scoring nine of the quarter’s 13 points, and the game was tied at 11-all after one.
Hampton used their momentum from the end of first to embark on a 10-0 run in the early stages of the second frame, leading 23-13 with 5:16 to go in the half.
The Green and Gold started the quarter 0 for their first 10 from the field, with their first six points of the frame all coming from the charity stripe. The final four free throws all came from Kayla Beckwith, who finally ended the Tribe’s field goal slump at the 3:06 mark.
The six consecutive points from Beckwith was followed up by a 3-pointer from freshman Cate Carlson to make it 23-22 Pirates with 2:32 on the clock.
W&M would hit two more triples as the half wound down, one from fellow freshman Monet Dance, and another from Frisby-Smith as time expired to put the Tribe down 29-28 at the break.
The freshman class of Geddes, Carlson and Dance anchored W&M for much of the afternoon, combining for 36 of the Tribe’s 65 points as well as six 3-pointers.
Geddes led the way with 19, while Carlson finished with nine and Dance a career-high eight. Carlson added a career-high seven rebounds as both her and Dance played career-high minutes in game (20 and 26 respectively).
With the conetest remaining back and forth, it was Geddes who stepped up in the third quarter, converting an and-one at the 6:36 mark to whittle the Pirates’ lead to 34-33.
Less than a minute later she knocked down a pair of trifectas, with Carslon also making one in between, to spark a 9-0 run and put W&M up 42-37.
Hampton once again had an answer, however, using buckets towards the end of the quarter to leave it tied 43-43 after three.
Young, playing against her former team for her 95th career game in the Hampton Convocation Center, found her groove in the fourth.
She scored inside to once again bring the game even, 46-all, with 7:29 to play.
The graduate transfer finished with eight points in the quarter to total 12 for the game paired with nine rebounds. Her layup at the 4:11 mark gave the Tribe four-point lead and they would never look back.
W&M held the Pirates to without a field goal in the game’s final three minutes, with Geddes knocking down six free throws down the stretch to salt the game away, 65-55.
The freshman guard from North Carolina went 9-for-11 from the stripe on the day and reached double figures for the 10th time this season.
Geddes is now averaging a team-high 12.6 points per game in CAA play.
W&M finished the game 38% from the floor and 8-of-22 from 3-point land. The Tribe also outrebounded the Pirates 45-30, thanks in part to three players with over seven rebounds: Young, Carlson and Beckwith (8).
Hampton shot 32% from the field and 4-for-16 from deep.
Up Next:
The Tribe has their second and final bye date of the season on Friday, travelling to Campbell to wrap up a three-game road stretch next Sunday. Tip is set for 2 p.m. on FloHoops with a free audio broadcast on the Tribe Sports Network.
William & Mary Women’s Hoops off to best conference start in program history, beats Hampton 65-55
