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WILLIAMSBURG — Eight days earlier, William and Mary’s women had lost by 26 points at VCU. It was the low point of what so far was a terrific start for the Tribe.

Tuesday night at Kaplan Arena, W&M trailed Old Dominion by 14 points midway through the second quarter. But instead of letting this one get away, the Tribe went from dormant to dominant and rolled to a 75-64 win.

It was W&M’s third win in the last six games against ODU but only its fifth in the 61-game series.

“I really think it was a breakthrough win,” Tribe coach Ed Swanson said. “Down 32-18 and not playing our best basketball, I’m sure a lot of people in the stands, a lot of people on press row, were saying, ‘Here we go again.’ But this team just has a certain fight about it.

“We took Old Dominion’s best shot in the beginning and didn’t go away. They hadn’t taken our best shot yet.”

William and Mary’s best shot was a Tyson-like knockout. After falling behind 32-18 with 4:49 left in the second quarter, the Tribe outscored ODU 57-32 the rest of the way.

“We kept rolling and making baskets and the momentum changed,” said guard Marlena Tremba, who scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half. “We showed tenacity and were able to turn it around.”

Old Dominion (4-8) played its best first quarter of the season, at least in terms of scoring, in taking a 23-14 lead. And with 4:49 left in the second quarter, Jennie Simms’ two free throws gave ODU its biggest lead at 32-18.

With the Lady Monarchs in perfect sync, the Tribe had nothing resembling offensive rhythm. But all of that changed and in a blink.

W&M (9-2) scored the final nine points of the quarter to cut the lead to 32-27 at halftime. The Tribe began the third quarter with a 7-1 run and took its first lead (34-33) on Abby Rendle’s layup with 8:24 showing.

“We were stuck a little bit in the second half,” said Simms, who had 35 points. “We (needed) to keep our foot on the gas pedal.”

ODU pulled even twice after that, the final time at 40 with 4:20 left in the third. But William and Mary closed the quarter with a 11-1 run, giving it a 51-41 lead heading into the fourth. The Lady Monarchs never got the margin below seven points the rest of the way.

“We were (playing) rushed in the beginning and (Swanson) said, ‘This is just like practice. Stop, score, stop,’ ” forward Alexandra Masaquel said. “That’s a drill we do, and that’s how we went on the run. We took that and implemented it into the game.”

W&M shot 44 percent from the field, pretty impressive after missing many early shots. But the big stat was rebounding, where the Tribe dominated 53-34. W&M had 19 offensive boards and 17 second-chance points.

The Lady Monarchs clearly missed top rebounder Destinee Young, who sprained her wrist in practice Monday and didn’t play.

“You realize what a big part of the game she is,” ODU coach Karen Barefoot said. “She gives us that punch on the rebounding end.”

Men:

W&M 88, Central Michigan 84

Omar Prewitt had an excellent all-around game with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists as the Tribe outran the Chippewas in an entertaining nightcap at Kaplan.

“That was really a quality win,” W&M coach Tony Shaver said. “We beat a really fine basketball team tonight, and it took a great effort to do it. I think we beat an NCAA-caliber team.”

There were 14 lead changes, nine in the second half, and nine ties. Despite an energetic pace by both teams, there were only 14 turnovers — seven by each side.

Daniel Dixon’s 3-pointer from the left corner gave W&M (8-3) the lead for good with 6:19 left, but it was by no means over. It wasn’t over even when the Tribe took its biggest lead at 80-71 with 1:03 remaining.

Central Michigan (6-6) had no interest in leaving early and made it an 87-84 game on John Simons’ fourth 3-pointer with 11.7 seconds left. On the inbounds, CMU’s Braylon Rayson knocked the ball away from Connor Burchfield and out of bounds. But after a review, the ball was ruled off the Tribe.

Rayson missed a deep 3, and W&M’s Terry Tarpey got the rebound. He went 1 of 2 from the free-throw line to seal it.

W&M got a major contribution from its bench, which outscored CMU’s 26-11. Connor Burchfield had 14 points and was 4 of 6 from the 3-point arc.

“They’ve all gotten comfortable playing in the college game,” Prewitt said. “Our bench has been really solid this year.”