Northeastern Edges Tribe, 65-64

02/17/08 6:00PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women’s basketball team fell to Northeastern, 65-64, on Sunday afternoon at Kaplan Arena.

Senior Devin James led the Tribe (11-14, 5-8) with a double-double, totaling 15 points and 12 rebounds. The Pipersville, Pa., native also added three steals. Senior Kyra Kaylor registered a game-high 18 points to go with eight boards, while sophomore Kelly Heath finished with 11 points. Freshman Katherine DeHenzel came up big defensively with five steals.

W&M played impressive defense early in the contest and limited the Huskies (8-15, 3-10) to just three points through the initial two media timeouts. During the opening stretch, the College held NU without a field goal (0-of-11). Despite the impressive defensive effort, the Green and Gold were unable to build a significant advantage and led by just three, 6-3.

While both teams continued to struggle offensively, Northeastern utilized a 5-0 spurt to take an 8-6 advantage with 9:41 showing.

A 6-0 run by the Tribe late in the half, fueled by a pair of Heath baskets, gave the College its biggest lead of the stanza, 16-12, with less than two minutes remaining. However, the Huskies battled back, and the teams went to the locker room with the score knotted at 17-17.

Heath led W&M with a team-high six points at the break, while James was the squad’s top rebounder with six. Additionally, the College limited NU to just 18.8 percent shooting (6-of-32) and forced the Huskies into 12 turnovers.

The Tribe got off to a great start in the second half and scored seven of the first eight points to build a 24-18 lead. Kaylor ignited the 7-1 run with a traditional three-point play, while James and Heath also sank jumpers during the stretch.

W&M maintained control of the game through the middle portion of the half and extended the margin to double digits, 44-34, when Heath sank a 15-foot jumper from the right wing and was fouled.

Although the College still led by double-figures, 54-44, after a layin by Kaylor with 7:03 remaining, the Huskies gradually began to mount a comeback. NU rattled off an 11-4 run during the next 2:08 to narrow the margin to just three, 58-55. A jumper by DeHenzel pushed the gap back to five, but Northeastern scored 10 of the next 12 points to go ahead, 65-62. Kendra Walton’s three-pointer with 2:52 left evened the count at 62-62, while Jasmine Crew’s layin at the 1:44 mark completed the run.

The Tribe cut the lead to a single point, 65-64, on a James putback with 1:18 left, and neither team was able to score on its next possession. After stopping NU once again on its following possession, W&M gained control of the ball with eight seconds remaining. However, the College was unable to advance the ball much past midcourt, and a deflected pass stopped the clock with just 0.2 seconds showing. Following a W&M timeout, junior Dani Kell inbounded the ball to Kaylor, but she was unable to get a shot away as time expired.

The Tribe will return to action when it hosts Drexel on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Box Score