W&M's Last-Second Try Falls Just Short at Georgia State, 63-60

Tiffany Benson Scores 1,000th Point, Janine Aldridge Ties School Record With Seven Triples

02/07/10 3:41PM

ATLANTA, GA - With just half of a second showing on the shot clock and her team down three, William and Mary sophomore Taysha Pye (Bronx, N.Y.) lofted a three from the hash mark that rimmed out by the slimmest of margins to foil the Tribe's bid for overtime on the road at Georgia State, 63-60. The Tribe moves to 10-12, 3-8 in the CAA, while the Panthers improve to 13-9, 4-7 in the league.

Box Score

Despite the loss, the College had several very notable performances on the afternoon. Senior Tiffany Benson (Virginia Beach, Va.) became the 13th player in school history to reach 1,000 points early in the first half, and finished (fittingly) with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds. The historic basket came at the 13:50 mark of the first half, when a short jumper from the left by freshman Jaclyn McKenna (Huntington, N.Y.) fell off the basket on the right side, and Benson was there to clean-up with the rebound and the put-back. The senior also finished with a career-high five assists.

Sophomore Janine Aldridge (Massapequa, N.Y.) led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, tying the W&M school record with seven three-pointers on 7-14 shooting. The 14 attempts were also a career-high for the sophomore. Pye had 11 points to go with six rebounds and four assists, and captain Katherine DeHenzel (Bowie, Md.) also dished out four helpers. McKenna also finished with six rebounds, as the Tribe out-worked Georgia State on the boards by 16 (49 to 33).

William and Mary twice went on major runs in the game to close seven-point Georgia State leads and return the game to a tense, one-or-two point stand-off. The first, a 12-2 scoring jag, spanned the intermission and put W&M ahead by ahead by three with 16:38 remaining in the game. After the Panthers hit a lay-up with just under two minutes remaining in the half, Aldridge buried a three from the corner on the other end, and Pye and Benson added shots from the paint, the last with only two seconds remaining before the break. Coming out of the locker room, freshman Emily Correal (Venetia, Pa.) was fouled and converted both of her attempts to tie the game at 39, and Aldridge added another triple to go up 42-39.

Georgia State ran the lead to seven again at 55-48, before W&M responded with another run of 10-2 that featured a pair of Benson lay-ups and threes from Aldridge to go up, 58-57. After that, the defenses on both sides locked down for the final 4:49, with the Tribe remaining in the game thanks to a 26-13 rebounding advantage in the second half.

After a quick two games on the road, William and Mary returns home this week, hosting James Madison Thursday at 7 p.m. and Towson on Sunday at 2 p.m. Both games also represent great chances for Tribe fans to help those affected by life's tragedies. The Thursday, February 11 game is Military Appreciation night, and W&M will be collecting donations for the Wounded Warrior Project, while Sunday, February 14, is the Tribe's "Pink Zone" game to help the fight against breast cancer.