WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Sophomore forward Courtney Hurt registered her fourth double-double in the last six games with a game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead a balanced scoring attack as Virginia Commonwealth University held on to a 85-77 victory against William & Mary Sunday at Kaplan Arena.

VCU extends its season-high winning streak to seven games and improves to 12-5 overall and a perfect 5-0 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while William & Mary drops to 9-7, 2-3 in conference action.

"First and foremost, this was a real character win for us," said VCU Head Coach Beth Cunningham.  "To go on the road the last two games, and especially coming off a little adversity with La'Tavia [Rorie]'s injury, it was great to see the way our kids stepped up and responded the way they did today.

"It was very much like a roller coaster ride.  I thought we got away from how we wanted to play on both ends of the floor a little bit late in the first half and certainly during moments of the second half.  I think some of that was just being undisciplined on our part and getting away from our game plan and what we were trying to do.  The other part was how William & Mary forced us to play the way they wanted us to play."

The Rams had five players score in double figures as senior forward D'Andra Moss and junior guard Ebony Patterson each contributed 16 points for VCU, while senior guard Kita Waller and junior guard Jessica Taylor added 11 points apiece for the Black and Gold.

Sophomore guard Taysha Pye paced William & Mary with 17 points and seven rebounds.  Freshman guard/forward Taylor Hilton registered 14 points off the bench and sophomore guard Katherine DeHenzel chipped in 11 points.

Both teams traded baskets early as the Tribe took a 10-9 advantage on a layup by freshman center Jaclyn McKenna with 14:37 to go in the first half.  The Rams regained the lead on the ensuing possessions as Hurt hit a jumper to spark a 14-5 run spanning five minutes to put VCU on top 24-14.

The Rams, who scored 20 of their first 30 points off 12 William & Mary turnovers, continued to pressure the Tribe and went up 43-24 just four minutes later.  The Tribe closed the opening period with a 16-5 run and pulled within 48-40 at the break on a 3-pointer by Hilton with eight seconds showing.

Hurt led all scorers with 12 first half points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, while Moss scored 11 and Patterson chipped in 10 points in the opening period.

VCU went cold coming out of the locker room and hit just two of its first 11 from the field to start the second half and William & Mary pulled within 55-52 on a layup by senior forward Tiffany Benson with 15:54 remaining.  The Rams turned the ball over on the following possession and DeHenzel drained a triple from the right corner to tie the score at 55-55.

Taylor put the Rams back on top 58-55 on a 3-pointer with 12:18 to go.  VCU then forced a William & Mary turnover and Taylor took a feed from Waller on a fast break to give the Black and Gold a 60-55 advantage just 30 seconds later.

William & Mary got within 62-60 on a trey by Hilton with 10:55 left but it was as close as the Tribe would get the remainder of the game. 

Following a layup by McKenna less than a minute later, VCU reeled off 12 of the next 16 points to take a 77-66 lead with 3:22 remaining. 

The Tribe made one last push and got within 80-77 on a layup by Pye with 59 second showing, but VCU went 5-of-5 from the free throw line down the stretch to secure the victory.

VCU returns home to face CAA foe Delaware on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.