Top-Seeded Towson Advances to CAA Championship with 76-59 Win Over Fourth-Seeded William & Mary
Hunter Peters
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TOWSON, Md. (March 11, 2023) – Top-seeded Towson used a dominant second-half effort to defeat fourth-seeded William & Mary 76-59 in the semifinals of the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Primis Saturday afternoon at SECU Arena.
The Tigers (21-10) advance to the CAA Championship for the second time in program history and will look to be the first team to win the conference title on their home court since 2010. Towson awaits the winner of No. 3 Northeastern and No. 7 Monmouth at 2 p.m. on Sunday. William & Mary falls to 18-13 after making its first CAA Semifinal appearance since 2017.
Kylie Kornegay-Lucas recorded her sixth double-double this season to lead Towson. The redshirt junior guard scored 21 points and matched a career-high with 15 rebounds while adding seven assists. Quinzia Fulmore and Patricia Anumgba joined her in double figures with 15 points each.
Sydney Wagner paced the Tribe with a game-high 30 points, shooting 12-of-26 from the floor with six assists. It marks her second 30-point effort this season and 10th game with 20 or more.
Towson outscored William & Mary 52-27 after halftime to overcome an eight-point deficit at the break. The Tigers shot 55.2 percent (16-29) in the second half and went 6-of-10 from three-point range while limiting the Tribe to 28.1 percent (9-32) shooting.
Towson erased its eight-point halftime deficit, connecting on six of its final eight shots from the floor to tie the game at 48 heading into the fourth. A 7-0 run early in the frame pulled Towson to 36-34 at the 7:08 mark. Rebekah Frisby-Smith hit a three, pushing the Tribe lead back to five; however, out of the media timeout Patricia Anumgba knocked down a jumper, and Quinzia Fulmore converted a three-point play on the next possession to bring the Tigers even at 41. W&M had a mini 5-0 spurt, but Towson scored seven of the last nine in the frame, including a second chance putback from Fulmore to tie the game with seven ticks on the clock.
Towson took its first lead in the game 19 seconds into the fourth quarter as India Johnston splashed home a trifecta, and the Tigers never trailed in the fourth. Maintaining a 56-55 lead, Towson rallied off six straight points, pushing the lead to seven with 3:52 remaining. The Tribe cut it to five at the 3:24 mark, but it was as close as they would get. Towson responded with a three, and the house came down at the 1:54 mark as Fulmore converted her second three-point play in the quarter, giving the Tigers a 68-57.
The defense came to play early as the teams combined to shoot just 8-for-23 in the first quarter. William & Mary was the first to reach double figures, taking an 11-6 lead off a Wagner three with 36 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. Towson closed the quarter with two free throws from Fulmore before Kornegay-Lucas stole the ensuing inbounds and converted the layup with two seconds on the clock.
At the 7:20 mark in the second quarter, William & Mary maintained a 13-12 before Riley Casey hit 3-of-4 free throws after getting fouled and a technical. Bre Bellamy knocked down a jumper on the ensuing possession for a five-point swing. W&M pushed it to a 9-0 run and took a 22-12 lead with 5:33 remaining in the first half. The Tribe went 5-for-6 from the floor over the final 4:17, pushing its advantage to 13 before Towson cut the deficit to eight (32-24) with back-to-back baskets in the last 30 seconds.
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