VAUGHN DROPS 17, VCU LEAD WIRE-TO-WIRE IN 68-54 WIN OVER TRIBE
2-15-07
Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. –Virginia Commonwealth University used suffocating defense to storm out to a big halftime lead and never looked back in defeating William & Mary, 68-54 Thursday at the Alltel Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

Krystal Vaughn (Baltimore, Md./Lake Clifton-Eastern) (pictured) paced the Black and Gold with 17 points. Junior point guard Lakea Jones (Fort Washington, Md./National Christian Academy) added a season-high 14 points and the Rams forced a season-high 14 steals in the Colonial Athletic Association match-up. Sophomore center Quanitra Hollingsworth ( Chesapeake, Va./ Great Bridge) kicked in 12 points and nine rebounds for the Black and Gold.

With the win, VCU moves to 13-11 on the season, 6-8 in the CAA. William and Mary falls to 15-10, 7-7 in the CAA.

VCU jumped out to an 8-2 lead on two free throws by Vaughn at the 15:49 mark. Later, Hollingsworth keyed a 15-1 Black and Gold run that pushed the margin to 20 points at 34-14 with 2:03 to go in the first half. The Rams would eventually take a 36-19 lead into the break. The Rams are now 10-0 this season when leading at halftime.

William & Mary wouldn’t go away easily, however, as the Tribe pulled to within eight with 6:07 remaining in the game on a Devin James bucket. But the Rams used a traditional three-point play by Vaughn and two Jones free throws to extend the lead to 13 with 5:03 on the clock. William & Mary would not threaten seriously again.

The Tribe was led by Courtney Portell, who scored 12 points on four 3-point baskets. She was one of the few bright spots for William & Mary, however, as VCU held the Tribe to 33 percent (20-of-60) shooting from the floor. The Rams limited reigning CAA Player of the Year Kyra Kaylor to just 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting and forced the Tribe’s second-leading scorer, Devin James into a 5-of-17 night from the field.

The Rams return to action on Sunday, hosting the George Mason Patriots at the Alltel Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center at 4 p.m.