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Tribe's four game win streak ends; falls to Hofstra

Sydney Wagner led W&M (4-3, 3-1 CAA) with 20 points on 7-of-20 shooting. Nyla Pollard, who scored a career-high 21 on Saturday, had 12 along with five assists.
Credit: W&M Athletics

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Hofstra led William & Mary for not quite four minutes Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately for the Tribe, that included the final 106 seconds.

W&M led by five points with 3:09 remaining but went scoreless the rest of the way in a 75-68 loss at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe was close to taking a sweep over the Pride to start the Colonial Athletic Association season but hurt itself by going 0-for-4 with four turnovers on its final eight possessions.

"Real disappointing loss," W&M coach Ed Swanson said. "Hofstra made great adjustments and pushed the pace on us. We took care of the ball yesterday, but they had 21 points off turnovers (Sunday). Too many follow shots and they got to the foul line too many times.

"We weren't disciplined on the defensive end. They really ran the ball right down at us, and the only thing we could do was foul them. Not a great day."

Sydney Wagner led W&M (4-3, 3-1 CAA) with 20 points on 7-of-20 shooting. Nyla Pollard, who scored a career-high 21 on Saturday, had 12 along with five assists. Bailey Eichner finished with 11 rebounds.

After turning the ball over only nine times in Saturday's 63-56 win, W&M had 16 Sunday — six coming in the fourth quarter. Hofstra attempted 32 free throws, making 21, and outscored the Tribe in the paint 34-22.

Statistically, the 68 points were the most W&M had scored all season. But 24 of those points came in the first quarter. In the final three periods, the Tribe added only 44 points.

The Tribe led almost from the jump and, though it had trouble putting Hofstra away, appeared safe with a 68-63 lead and 3:09 remaining. On consecutive possessions, the Pride (3-5, 1-1) got two free throws and a layup from Jaylen Hines. It was a one-point game with 2:30 remaining.

Then, after a W&M turnover, Jaala Henry made a pair of free throws give Hofstra a 69-68 lead with 1:46 left. That turned out to be all the points the Pride would need, but it went 6-of-8 from the free throw line to seal it.

"They were denying Syd the ball, which makes it hard for us a little bit," Swanson said. "That shouldn't be something new to us. Teams the last couple of games have been doing that.

"Really, they out-toughed us there in the second half. They ran right by us for too many layups."

W&M had no answer for Hines, a 6-foot forward. She finished with 27 points and was 10-of-15 from the field, 7-of-9 from the free throw line.

"Hines was obviously on the top of our marker board in terms of who we needed to stop," Swanson said. "As for the points in the paint, we have players who can score in the paint. We need Gabby Rogers to do a little more, and I think she can put people on her back and score in there.

"We lost this with careless turnovers and putting them at the foul line way too many times. They out-toughed us and out-willed us down the stretch.

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