Hurt's Double-Double Pushes VCU Past William & Mary, 78-69

Hurt's Double-Double Pushes VCU Past William & Mary, 78-69

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UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (March 8, 2012) - Senior forward Courtney Hurt recorded her 19th double-double with 25 points and 18 rebounds as sixth-seeded VCU topped #11 William & Mary 78-69 in the final first-round game of the Virginia 529 CAA Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday night at The Show Place Arena.

The Rams (17-13) will take on third-seeded Drexel in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, while the Tribe ended their season with a 10-20 record.

With the performance, Hurt upped her VCU career-best point total to 1,999 and needs just one more to become the sixth player in CAA history to reach 2,000 points. She was one of five VCU players to score double figures as senior Andrea Barbour netted 14, Robyn Parks added 12 points off the bench and guards Robyn Hobson and Christina Carter chipped in 10.

Junior forward Emily Correal paced William & Mary with 18 points, all of which came in the second half. Junior Janine Aldridge hit three treys and scored 13 points and senior Taysha Pye had 12 points for the Tribe.

W&M never led in the game, but got as close as 41-40 on a Correal jumper with 19:12 to play. The Rams went on an 18-8 run and extended their advantage to 59-48 on a three-point play by Hurt with 12:33 remaining.

The Tribe battled back, however, as Correal scored eight points in a 4:16 span, with the final two bringing W&M to within 68-65 with 4:21 to play. VCU stopped the rally as Hurt hit layup to increase the lead to six and the Rams put the game away when Hobson drained a three-pointer with 1:12 to go that made it 76-67.

VCU jumped out to a 19-8 lead with just under 13 minutes left in the first half following back-to-back three-pointers by Hurt. W&M slowly closed the gap and pulled within 39-36 at halftime after Pye drove the lane and converted a layup just before time expired. Hurt led all scorers with 15 points in the opening half, while Pye tallied a team-best 10 points for the Tribe.

VCU shot 42.4% and outrebounded W&M 43-35, with 23 boards coming on the offensive end. The Tribe made an impressive 45.6% of their field goal attempts, but were hurt by 16 turnovers.