Women's Basketball Drops Season Opener At American, 78-59

DeHaven Leads Tribe With 14 Points

11/21/04 7:56PM

WASHINGTON, D.C. - American University shot 60% from the floor and held the Tribe to a 34% effort as the Eagles gained its first win of the year with a 78-59 win this afternoon at Bender Arena. The Eagles improve to 1-1 while the Tribe falls to 0-1.

AU captured the lead in the opening minutes of the first half and never relinquished it as William and Mary never climbed to closer than 13 points in the second frame. The Eagles scored 38 points in the paint as the bench contributed 19 points in head coach Melissa McFerrin's first win.

American dominated in the opening frame, shooting 62.1 percent from the field on their way to an 18 point halftime lead. After the two teams traded a couple of possessions without a score, American caught fire jumping out to a 19-4 lead with just over 10 minutes to play in the half. The Tribe closed the lead to 11 points but AU capitalized on nine Tribe first-half turnovers to expand the margin to 18 points at the break.

The team picked up where it laid off in the second half, scoring points off turnovers and hitting their shots with precision. The College clawed to within 13 points at the 9:50 mark but the Eagles' offense stayed persistent opening up a 22 point lead with under five minutes left in the game.

AU senior Kim Salem led all scorers with 17 points in 34 minutes of work, matching her career high.

Guard Kyle DeHaven (Herndon, VA) led the Tribe with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. Kyra Kaylor (PIttsburgh, PA) and Devin James (Pipersville, PA) scored 13 and 12 points respectively in the contest. William & Mary finished the game shooting 34.5 percent from the field and going 0-12 on three-point attempts.

The Tribe forced 22 Eagles turnovers and collected 11 steals, five by Kaylor and three by DeHaven, who also had three assists in 37 minutes.

The Tribe is back in action Tuesday night when it opens up its home schedule with a game against Longwood at 7:00 at William and Mary Hall.

Box Score