The date was March 8, 2025, and William and Mary women’s basketball was in trouble.
The Tribe had just concluded the regular season by suffering an 18-point defeat to Campbell, marking its seventh loss in eight games. After starting Coastal Athletic Association play hot, the Green and Gold underwent a monthlong skid that dragged it down the league leaderboard, bringing its overall record to 11-18 and its conference record to 8-10. With neither momentum nor optimism on its side, William and Mary was doomed at the CAA tournament — at least, from an outsider’s perspective. Inside the locker room, the mentality could not have been more different.
“There was a lot of motivation throughout the team to turn it around,” junior guard Cassidy Geddes recalled. “I think the big moment that most of the team remembers was the bonfire we had at one of our teammates’ houses, and we kind of just sat there. We really just were imagining, like, what if we won the first game? What would happen then? What if we won the second game? We had it planned out, especially because it was pretty much all the teams we had just lost to in the prior two weeks. And then, like, what would happen if we won the championship?”
The Tribe did not have to wonder for long. In one of the most memorable runs in the history of William and Mary athletics, Geddes’ squad rumbled through the tournament bracket as a No. 9 seed, knocking off Hofstra, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical, Drexel and Campbell en route to claiming the first March Madness bid for either of the Tribe’s basketball programs. Immediately, the Tribe mounted a frantic turnaround to Austin, Texas, balancing exam preparation with film study.
“Right when we won, I remember them being like, ‘We’re coming back to Williamsburg,’” Geddes said. “‘Wash your clothes in four hours, pack it up, and we’ll be in Texas.’ And then that went by so fast. We were there, and we all still had school. It was kind of coming up near midterms. I remember most people, if they weren’t watching film or playing basketball, were all [with] computers out, studying so hard.”
A 69-63 victory over fellow No. 16 seed High Point in a play-in game served as a triumphant conclusion to William and Mary’s magical two weeks. Although the Tribe eventually lost to No. 1 seed Texas, hundreds of alumni descended on Austin to cheer on the Green and Gold; the team was mobbed by teary-eyed fans upon its return to Williamsburg; players were given standing ovations in class.
For Geddes, it wasn’t quite enough. Although she averaged 12.3 points, three rebounds and 2.5 assists per game during William and Mary’s Cinderella run and describes her March Madness experience as “surreal,” she also remembers the Tribe’s regular season winning percentage of 37.9%. Aware that William and Mary isn’t traditionally known as a “basketball school,” Geddes wants to make sure the world knows its postseason success was no anomaly. What better way to do that than win another CAA title, perhaps this time as a No. 1 seed?
“I still think there’s big motivations for this upcoming season, because we didn’t play throughout the whole season how we wanted to,” Geddes said. “I mean, we lost seven of our last eight games heading into that tournament. So I think we still have a lot to prove, you know, to show that it wasn’t a fluke.”
William and Mary has its work cut out. Although the Tribe avoided significant transfer portal losses over the offseason, with its only notable defector being junior forward Kayla Rolph, it saw four seniors graduate, including star guard Bella Nascimento ‘25. Nascimento led the team in scoring last year and averaged 19.6 points per postseason game, dropping 33 in William and Mary’s conference championship win over Campbell. The Tribe also lost center Kayla Beckwith ‘25 and forwards Rebekah Frisby-Smith ‘25 and Anahi-Lee Cauley ‘25, who left Williamsburg with a combined 348 games of experience under their belts.
Now, the Green and Gold possesses one of the youngest rosters in the CAA, with guard Alexa Mikeska standing as its lone senior. Along with Mikeska and junior guard Monet Dance, much of the team’s leadership duties lie on the shoulders of Geddes, a preseason All-CAA selection. At CAA Media Day, William and Mary head coach Erin Dickerson Davis described Geddes as a “brilliant” leader; the compliment was returned by Geddes, who credited Dickerson Davis with influencing her leadership philosophy.
“Coach E was the coach who believed in me and brought me here,” Geddes said. “Everything that she’s taught me, especially about leadership — I feel like she expects so much out of me, but there’s never been pressure to hit certain numbers or anything. I mean, the biggest thing she expects from me has always been leadership and just bringing the drive that I have and trying to uplift others.”
Geddes also praised the rest of William and Mary’s staff, along with Sugar Rodgers, her former position coach who left Williamsburg last spring for a role with the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries. According to Geddes, Rodgers helped catalyze not just her basketball development but her character development. Using the lessons she’s learned from her mentors, Geddes has established a leadership style of her own.
“I think I had seen a lot of rowdy leaders, and I knew that that wasn’t me, but I did need to incorporate a more vocal style of leadership,” Geddes said. “I know that I’ve always been centered on work ethic first. If I can’t do it, I don’t really feel as confident speaking for others. So I think always being in a position to try and do the right thing at practice and be in the right position and the right spots has helped me feel more confident leading my teammates and encouraging others to get to our common goal.”
Geddes’ leadership abilities were put to the test over the summer as the Tribe was tasked with building team chemistry, welcoming six newcomers into its midst. With two exceptions — junior guard Kyah Smith, a Navy transfer who was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2024, and junior forward Aisha Dos Santos, a junior college transfer — all are true freshmen. To help the rookies get acclimated to the life of a college basketball player, Geddes and her teammates coordinated with men’s basketball to plan cross-program activities, hoping to build bonds capable of carrying the newcomers through otherwise lonely winters.
“We’re one of the only sports that’s here all summer, all winter break, and a lot of times it’s just us on campus,” Geddes said. “So I think we did a good job of planning stuff just to have fun. You know, when you’re here, and you’re only doing basketball, it kind of can just get hard sometimes. So doing things with them, going to College Creek, a lot of that stuff our teams did together, and I think that kind of helped build bonds and have friends outside of maybe your specific team when it’s cold, and it’s winter, and there’s no one else here and we’re only getting four days for Christmas break.”
Dickerson Davis designed William and Mary’s non-conference schedule with her squad’s youth in mind. Last year’s squad entered CAA play sporting a 3-8 record and reeling from a 50-point loss to Maryland. Wanting to avoid a similar outcome, Dickerson Davis scheduled slightly weaker opponents, intending to prepare the Tribe for the conference slate. Geddes has personal goals for this stretch — the Hickory, N.C., native is “excited” to battle teams from her home state like Wake Forest and opening opponent Davidson — but her ultimate goal is to ready the Tribe for its second consecutive conference title.
“We want everyone who comes here to experience that feeling,” Geddes said.
