Tribe Cruises Past Georgia State, 75-57

01/17/08 10:00PM

ATLANTA, Ga. - Seniors Kyra Kaylor and Devin James combined to score 44 points as the William and Mary women’s basketball team earned a 75-57 victory at Georgia State on Thursday evening. W&M has now won two consecutive games and improves to 8-8 overall and 2-2 in conference play, while GSU falls to 3-12 overall and 0-4 in league action.

Kaylor scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while James finished with 21 points (15 in the second half) and five steals. James connected on 7-of-10 shots and sank all four of her attempts from beyond the arc. Sophomore Kelly Heath added 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while freshman Katherine DeHenzel tallied seven assists and six steals.

The College shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the field and went 8-of-15 from long range. Additionally, W&M totaled 15 steals and forced the Panthers into 23 turnovers.

The Tribe began the game well and connected on a trio of three-pointers to take an 11-4 lead at the initial media timeout. James sank two of the three-pointers, while sophomore Courtney Portell also made a longball.

W&M extended its lead to as many as nine on three occasions during the middle portion of the stanza, but GSU utilized a 6-2 spurt to cut the margin to just five, 21-16, with 9:03 remaining in the half.

With the College still ahead by five, 25-20, shortly thereafter, it rattled off six straight points on a pair of three-pointers by Kaylor to push the lead into double figures with 4:22 showing.

Although the Green and Gold remained in control during the remainder of the half, GSU’s Brittany Hollins sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut W&M’s lead to seven, 36-29, as the teams went to the locker room.

Kaylor led the Tribe with 10 points at the break, while DeHenzel had four steals. As a team, W&M was shooting 48.4 percent (15-of-31), while limiting the Panthers to just 41.4 percent shooting (12-of-29). Additionally, the College was 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.

GSU began the second half with a 10-3 run and evened the score at 39-39 with 14:37 remaining.

While neither team was able to pull away by more than three points during the middle portion of the half, Kaylor scored 11 straight points for the Tribe during a 3:08 span to help W&M build a 55-47 lead with less than eight minutes remaining.

Although GSU briefly cut the lead to six points, the Green and Gold maintained a double-digit advantage during the final five minutes en route to earning the 18-point triumph.

The Tribe will return to action when it hosts Old Dominion on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Box Score