The following story originally appeared on the W&M Athletics website. It has been updated to include information about the NCAA Tournament. – Ed.
William & Mary women’s basketball is headed to the Big Dance.
The team clinched its first trip to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday with a 66-63 win over Campbell in the CAA Championship game.
After trailing by 14 in the first quarter and still facing a 13-point deficit late in the third, the team came back to lock in the first appearance in the Big Dance for either of the university’s teams — men’s and women’s.
W&M is a 16 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament and takes on 16-seeded High Point in a First Four contest on Thursday at 9 p.m. at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
Senior guard Bella Nascimento turned an MVP performance with a career-high 33 points and 11 rebounds in leading the Tribe to the league crown. She scored 20 points during the Tribe’s second-half comeback, 10 in each quarter. Nascimento was 14-of-26 from the floor, including 2-of-5 from 3.
Sophomores Cassidy Geddes and Monet Dance joined Nascimento on the All-Tournament team. Geddes, who came off the bench and was slowed by an injury she suffered in the second quarter of the semifinal win on Saturday, totaled 10 points and three steals in the victory. Dance had a career-high 27 in the quarterfinal win over NC A&T and averaged 15.3 for the tournament.
Campbell (21-12) led by 13 points, 51-38, with just two minutes remaining in the third quarter following a personal six-point run from Oliva Tucker.
W&M (15-18) flipped the momentum, closing the third quarter on an 11-2 run sparked by Nascimento. The senior guard scored eight-straight Tribe points and then found graduate student Rebekah Frisby-Smith for a corner 3-pointer at the horn. Frisby-Smith’s third triple of the quarter closed the gap to 53-49.
Campbell maintained its four-point cushion, 55-51, just 2:19 into the final quarter on a Gianni Boone layup.
Geddes scored five-straight points, including a left corner 3-pointer off a pass from Dance, to give W&M its first lead of the game at 57-56 with 6:45 left.
After the Camels briefly retook the lead on its ensuing possession, Nascimento did what the greats do. She scored four-straight points, putting back her own miss and then driving to the basket for a lay-up off a nice hesitation dribble. The bucket gave W&M a 60-57 lead and forced a Campbell timeout with 4:39 left.
The Camels closed the gap to one on three occasions, but each time the Tribe had an immediate answer. Nascimento scored eight of the Tribe’s final 10 points, including the last four. Her step-back jumper with 11.7 seconds remaining provided the final margin.
After a Camels’ timeout, Tucker’s 3-pointer to tie was long, and senior Anahi-Lee Cauley pulled down the rebound. Following a few Campbell fouls, the Tribe celebrated its first CAA title.
W&M connected on 17-of-29 (58.6%) in the second half, including 61.5% (8-of-13) in the fourth quarter. For the game, the Tribe shot 42.9% (27-of-43) and hit eight 3-pointers. Frisby-Smith finished 4-of-7 from 3-point range for 12 points in 38 minutes.
Campbell scored the game’s first 14 points. Courtney Dahlquist and Gemma Nunez knocked down 3-pointers during the run, and Boone scored six points on the fastbreak. Her free throws at the 5:45 capped the opening push.
Nascimento got the Tribe started with a jumper in the paint just 37 seconds later. A Natalie Fox old-fashion 3-point play off an offensive rebound, closed the gap to 16-7 with 3:32 left in the opening frame.
The Camels led 20-9 at the end of one, but Nascimento kept the Tribe close, scoring six of the team’s first eight points of the second quarter. Her jumper just over two minutes into the period closed the gap to 23-15.
Back-to-back Nunez lay-ups midway through the second frame pushed the Campbell lead to 30-17 midway through the quarter.
The Campbell lead was 11 in the closing seconds when Nascimento send the Tribe to the locker room in a frenzy. She pulled down a defensive rebound with five seconds left and raced down court before hitting a running 28-foot, one-handed shot at the horn to close the gap to 34-26 at the intermission.
Dahlquist led Campbell with 19 points, while Boone added 15 and Nunez tallied 13.