Tribe Cruises Past M.I. Express, 90-42, in an Exhibition Game

11/02/07 11:00PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women’s basketball team cruised to a 90-42 triumph against M.I. Express in an exhibition game on Friday evening at Kaplan Arena.

Sophomore Tiffany Benson recorded a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 17 rebounds. The Virginia Beach, Va., native also provided four assists, three blocks and a pair of steals. Junior Courtney Portell also came up big with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, while senior Devin James finished with 14 points and four steals. Like Benson, senior Kyra Kaylor dominated the glass and snared 14 rebounds.

As a team, W&M limited M.I. Express to just 20.7 percent shooting and forced the opposition into 28 turnovers. Addi-tionally, the College dominated the rebounding battle, 64-33, and registered an impressive 30 offensive boards.

While the Tribe trailed 5-2 in the opening minutes of the contest, it charged ahead with a 22-0 run during a six-minute span. Portell connected on a trio of three-pointers during the stretch, while James contributed six points.

M.I. Express never got closer than 15 points during the remainder of the half, as W&M took a commanding 22-point lead into the locker room.

At the half, the Tribe was out-shooting the opposition 45.0 percent to 25.9 percent. Additionally, the College held a 27-18 advantage on the boards and had already totaled 11 steals. Individually, Portell led all scorers with 14 points on 4-of-6 long-range shooting, while Benson was also in double figures with 10 points.

Although M.I. Express sank a pair of three-pointers to start the second half with a 6-1 spurt, the Tribe answered shortly thereafter with a 15-2 run to build a 67-37 lead. Junior Dani Kell, sophomore Lindsey Moller and Portell all sank three-pointers during the run.

W&M continued to play well down the stretch, as it closed out the game by scoring 23 of the final 26 points to claim the lopsided victory.

The Tribe will begin the regular season when it squares off against Campbell at the ISES Cancer Awareness Tip-Off at Elon on Nov. 9.

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