Thursday, March 20, and Saturday, March 22, No. 16 William and Mary women’s basketball (16-19, 8-10 CAA) competed in its first-ever National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
The Tribe defeated 16th-seeded High Point (21-12, 13-3 Big South) in a First Four play-in game on Thursday, earning them the right to play top-seeded Texas (34-3, 15-1 SEC) in the tournament’s first round. The triumph over the Panthers proved tightly contested.
“Only people on the outside felt we couldn’t win these games,” head coach Erin Dickerson Davis said after the victory. “We know that we were built for this, and I’m just glad that we were able to show everyone that we can fight, and we can be resilient.”
High Point senior guard Aaliyah Collins kicked off the game with back-to-back layups, but Tribe senior guard Bella Nascimento drained a free throw in response. Collins proceeded to convert a jump shot, but freshman forward Natalie Fox nailed one of her own, thanks to an assist from sophomore guard Cassidy Geddes.
Both teams exchanged baskets for the remainder of the quarter, with Nascimento sinking another free throw and a jumper from outside the paint. In the 10th minute, sophomore guard Monet Dance capped off the period with a three-pointer that stretched the Tribe’s lead to 17-15. During the first quarter, the Green and Gold shot 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, while the Panthers missed all five of their three-point attempts.
Although High Point responded to the Tribe’s baskets with a few of their own, William and Mary maintained its lead throughout the second quarter. In the 16th minute, Geddes hit a three-pointer, extending the Green and Gold’s advantage to 29-21. Assisted by senior forward Anahi-Lee Cauley, Dance converted another three to further widen the gap.
The Panthers picked up momentum in the 18th minute. Senior guard Lauren Scott nailed a three-pointer that was followed by a layup from senior guard Jaleesa Lawrence. With High Point chipping away at the Tribe’s lead, Geddes hit a jumper to make the score 34-28 in favor of the Green and Gold going into halftime.
Both teams returned from the locker room with intensity. With 3:27 left in the third quarter, a layup from High Point senior guard Shakira Baskerville narrowed William and Mary’s lead to just two points. After converting a layup and a free throw, Collins put the Panthers ahead for the first time in the third quarter. By the end of the period, however, strong performances from Nascimento and Geddes had helped the Green and Gold regain a 47-46 advantage.
The lead continued to change hands in the fourth quarter. Fox was a key contributor down the stretch, securing multiple offensive rebounds and racking up six points for the Tribe in the period alone. Ultimately, Fox posted a career-high 12 points.
“We just play together, we have each other’s backs,” Fox said.
With 7:41 left on the game clock, Collins made a layup, propelling High Point into the lead at 48-47. Nascimento put William and Mary in front again with a layup of her own, but the Panthers reclaimed the advantage with a three-point jumper from Scott.
However, two 36th-minute free throws from Fox gave the Green and Gold a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Consecutive jumpers from junior forward Kayla Rolph and Fox further inflated the Tribe’s margin, and Dance sealed William and Mary’s first-ever March Madness victory with two late free throws.
The Tribe went on to lose to Texas 105-61, but it was a game that capped off a historic season for William and Mary.
“I want to thank this team for believing in me and the vision for this program, and most importantly, believing and not giving up on each other,” Dickerson Davis said following the loss.
Dickerson Davis, Geddes and Nascimento emphasized the vital role of fan support in their success. Hundreds of Tribe fans watched Saturday’s game at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va., while others attended viewing parties across the country.
“They came out to see us play, they came out to see me play, they came out to see every single one of us on the court,” Nascimento said. “That was just incredible.”
Heading into Saturday’s matchup, Dickerson Davis acknowledged Texas’ strengths.
“We’re about to play against a team that, respectfully to every other basketball coach, should get to the Final Four,” Dickerson Davis said. “It’s just going to be such a fun time, a fun environment, and to be able to have that kind of experience, how could you be mad?”
The Green and Gold fought hard in the first quarter, going seven-for-12 from the field and shooting 75% from the free-throw line.
“We just believed in one another,” Geddes said. “We knew ball screens were going to be good for us, we wanted to be confident in our shots, confident going to the basket.”
After Texas opened the scoring with a free throw and a layup, Geddes answered with a layup of her own, set up by a crisp assist from Dance. After four minutes of back-and-forth action, Dance sank a jump shot that tied the score at 10-10.
The Longhorns began to pull away behind the efforts of senior guard Rori Harmon, who recorded four points and an assist to stretch her team’s lead to 18-13. Despite buckets from Geddes, Cauley and graduate center Kayla Beckwith, the Green and Gold failed to substantially cut into its deficit. The hosts closed the first quarter with a 23-18 advantage.
The Tribe began losing momentum in the second quarter as Texas started to fire on all cylinders, rattling off a nine-point scoring run — their longest of the game — that was capped off by a jumper from Harmon. With eight minutes, two seconds left in the first half, Nascimento converted a layup, narrowing Texas’ lead to 29-20. The top-seeded team continued dominating, however, and parlayed an impressive performance from All-American sophomore center Madison Booker into a 50-33 halftime lead.
Texas held the upper hand for the remainder of the matchup, at one point stretching its advantage to 45 points. As the clock ticked down, junior guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda nailed a jump shot to push the Longhorns past the 100-point mark. Cauley answered with a layup, followed by a jumper from Nascimento, solidifying the Tribe’s final score at 61 points.
Texas head coach Vic Schaefer applauded the Tribe’s performance following the game, making note of Nascimento’s 19 points and seven rebounds.
“That team is really what March Madness is all about,” Schaefer said. “That team was fearless, and that’s what I want my team to be.”
Schaefer also commended Dickerson Davis’ coaching.
“That’s coaching, to get your kids to believe and buy in,” he said. “They did not back down, they were not fazed by our crowd, and that’s a reflection of your head coach.”
Though the 2024-2025 season has concluded, Dickerson Davis remains proud of her team.
“Because of the things that we’ve gone through, that is why this team is filled with so much pride and joy,” she said. “They were able to figure it out, and I think that’s extraordinarily rewarding.”
Dickerson Davis looks forward to the team’s continued success.
“This is what our standard is,” she said. “We were fighting to get here, now we’ve had a taste of it, and we can’t go backwards.”
