Kaylor Breaks School Record for Career Rebounds as W&M Defeats Towson, 56-53

02/07/08 10:10PM

TOWSON, Md. - Senior Kyra Kaylor broke the school record for career rebounds as the William and Mary women’s basketball team rallied back from a 15-point second half deficit to earn a 56-53 victory at Towson on Thursday evening.

Needing just five rebounds to pass Tiffany Stone’s mark of 1,043, Kaylor totaled a game-high 14 boards and 20 points. It was Kaylor’s sixth double-double of the season. Junior Dani Kell and sophomore Kelly Heath also came up big for W&M (11-11, 5-5), totaling eight points apiece.

As a team, the College limited Towson (15-6, 7-3) to just 30.0 percent shooting (18-of-60) and forced the Tigers into 22 turnovers.

While Towson opened the game with an early three-pointer, the Tribe countered by scoring nine of the next 11 points to take a 9-5 advantage with 15:31 showing. All of W&M’s points came on three-pointers, as freshman Katherine DeHenzel, junior Courtney Portell and Kell all connected on shots from beyond the arc.

Although the Tigers evened the score at 11-11 following a basket by Jamell Beasley, the College pushed ahead with a 6-1 spurt to build a five-point lead with 8:21 remaining in the half.

The Tribe still led by five shortly thereafter, but TU rallied back with seven unanswered points during a 1:30 span to go ahead, 21-19, with a little more than four minutes left in the stanza.

Towson extended the margin to as many as five, but a three-pointer and pair of free throws by Kaylor cut the Tigers’ lead to just two, 28-26, as the teams headed to the locker room.

At the break, Kaylor led the College with nine points and six rebounds, while DeHenzel had five points and five boards. As a team, W&M forced Towson into 13 turnovers.

Towson utilized a pair of three-pointers by Holly Mahan to begin the second half with an 8-2 run, extending its lead to 36-28.

Shortly thereafter, TU continued to build its advantage with an 11-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 47-32, with 12:31 showing.

Despite trailing by 15, the Tribe rallied back with a 12-2 run of its own to close the gap to 49-44 with 6:08 remaining. Kaylor came up big during the stretch with seven points, while Kell punctuated the run with a three-pointer.

While a pair of free throws by Shanae Baker-Brice put the Tigers ahead by seven, 51-44, the Tribe continued its comeback by rattling off 12 unanswered points to take a five-point lead, 56-51, with 1:00 remaining. A three-pointer from the left side by senior Devin James evened the score at 51-51 with 3:57 showing, while a three-ball by freshman Katy Oblinger finished off the run.

Two free throws by Baker-Brice cut W&M’s lead to three in the final minute, but Towson missed multiple contested looks from beyond the arc during the waning seconds as the College earned the win.

The Tribe will return to action when it plays at Old Dominion on Sunday at 2 p.m. The contest will be televised live locally on WSKY-TV 4.

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