SPORTS
Balanced Offense Leads Women’s Basketball to 76-65 Win over W&M
DAVIDSON, N.C. —Davidson snapped a three-game skid with a well-balanced offense behind five double-digit scorers in taking a 76-65 victory at home against William & Mary Saturday afternoon inside John M. Belk Arena in women’s basketball.
Justine Lyon led the way with 17 points off the bench for the ‘Cats (3-3), while Ally Welling and Kianna Speight each dropped in 14 points. Sarah Donovan had her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while adding five assists and three steals.
Katie Turner rounded out the five double-figure scorers with 11 points, while Cassidy Gould filled the box score with eight points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Clinging to a 65-63 lead with 2:09 left in the fourth quarter, back-to-back three-balls from Speight and Turner gave Davidson all the momentum they would need to close out the win in opening up a 71-63 lead and forcing W&M to call a timeout.
The ‘Cats sealed up the win by going 5-for-6 at the charity stripe in the closing 43 seconds.
Pacing the Tribe (2-2) on offense was Bianca Boggs, who had 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and three steals. Victoria Reynolds had 13 points, and Harper Birdsong and Gabby Rodgers scored 10 each.
Davidson finished the day shooting 45.2 percent for the game, including 8-of-16 in the fourth quarter when it outscored the Tribe, 27-19.
Lyon ended an impressive first quarter for the Wildcats with a buzzer-beating three-ball from the wing for a 23-17 lead. They shot 9-of-14 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
The second quarter saw both teams trade the lead four times in the last five minutes before Lyon struck again, this time swishing home a pair of free throws with 42 seconds left to give Davidson a 33-31 edge at the half.
Davidson remains at home and will face off against High Point Monday evening at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES: This was the seventh meeting between both school’s women’s basketball programs dating back to 1993-94 … Davidson moved to 2-5 in the series with the win, avenging a defeat on the road last year …. Davidson had season highs of 16 second-chance points and 19 bench points … Donovan’s double-double was the sixth for her career … Lyon moved up to 14th in the all-time scoring with 1,082 points … Speight has scored in double figures in all six games this year … this was the first time this year the Wildcats had five double-figure scorers … the game featured four ties and six lead changes.