WILLIAMSBURG — The William & Mary Tribe women’s basketball team will open its 2025-26 season on the road Nov. 6 against Davidson College.
Ahead of the tip, head coach Erin Dickerson Davis and junior guard Cassidy Geddes sat down with WYDaily to discuss the upcoming season.
Last season, the Tribe women earned a 16-19 overall record and placed ninth in the conference with a record of 8-10 and averaged 61.9 points per game. However, it was after the regular season ended that a magical run began.
The No. 9 seed entering the CAA Conference tournament, the Tribe played four games in four days to earn a spot in the championship game against Campbell University.
The Tribe edged the Camels by 3 points, winning the game 66-63 to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
In the NCAA tourney, the Tribe was once again the underdog, scheduled for a play-in game against High Point University. After another heart-pumping contest, the Tribe had its first March Madness win in school history, winning 69-63.
The Tribe was ousted from the tournament by No. 1-seeded University of Texas in the next round, but the 2024-25 team already etched itself into Tribe Athletics history as the first William & Mary basketball team — men’s or women’s — to advance in the NCAA March Madness tournament.
Dickerson Davis, entering her fourth season as the head coach of the Tribe women’s program, is using the success of last season to push the team towards a repeat this year.
“We know what we want, we know what we’re working toward, and we know the experience that we need to be able to do that. It’s just a really exciting time. We got to celebrate the 2024-25 season one last time with a ring and banner ceremony, and after that, we’re turning the page for this new season where we will try to do some really remarkable things,” Dickerson Davis said.
Geddes, who was the team’s leading scorer last season, noted last season’s success and all of the attention that came with it have inspired the team this preseason.
“The banner ceremony really inspired that feeling we all had last year. For our returners, knowing what everything felt like in that moment when we were at the top of the world winning, and so I think, putting that banner ceremony right before the season really kicked us forward toward our first game and to remind us where we want to be back,” Geddes said.
Dickerson Davis is hoping to lead her team to become the next back-to-back conference champions, something James Madison pulled off in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
“I would love to know the last back-to-back champions, especially in the new CAA. It’s extraordinarily hard to do. That doesn’t mean it’s not possible … that is our goal, Dickerson Davis said. “We want to be able to compete to be in that same court. We want to say that we are competing for a championship. It’s difficult, but with the work that you put in, that’s the goal. We never waver away from that goal.”
“Every single day in practice, before practice starts, I say, ‘you guys are champions, act like it.’ Approach the day like you are a champion. Don’t just come in and show up and tie your shoes and think we’re going to be able to win that day,” she added. “Having a champions mindset, if you can focus on the mindset that it requires to win, then inevitably you will win games.”
While the team is aiming for a repeat, Geddes said they are also looking at the 2025-26 season as a chance for redemption.
“I don’t really feel pressure because I feel like even though we won the CAA, we were the ninth seed in the tournament, there was a lot of potential that we didn’t live up to during the regular season,” Geddes said. “I still feel like we’re hungry, I still feel like we’re the underdog, going out to prove this wasn’t a fluke. I want us to be a good team all year round, it’s not just in the tournament. This season, we want to prove that we’re good all year round.”
The Tribe women will face Barton, Richmond, Old Dominion, Coppin State, Stony Brook, Charleston, Hampton, Hofstra, Campbell, UNCW, Towson, Monmouth, Drexel, and Elon at Kaplan Arena this season.
On the road, the women will face Davidson, Howard, Tennessee State, Wake Forest, American, Stetson, Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T, Campbell, Northeastern, Hofstra, Towson, Elon, Charleston, UNCW, and Hampton.
The 2026 CAA Championships will round out the season and will take place March 11-15 in Washington, D.C.
For more information on Tribe women’s basketball, visit TribeAthletics.com.