AUSTIN, Texas — The magical season that saw William & Mary win the program’s first CAA Championship and in turn make its first NCAA Tournament appearance came to an end at the Moody Center on Saturday night.
Two days after winning its First Four contest over High Point, the Tribe hung tough with No. 1 seed Texas for a half, but in the end, the size of the Longhorns took over in a 105-61 victory.
Senior guard Bella Nascimento, the MVP of the CAA Tournament, capped her collegiate career with a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds. She totaled 580 points in 2024-25, which marked the second most in a single-season in school history.
The sophomore pair of Cassidy Geddes and Monet Dance continued to shine during the Tribe’s postseason run. Geddes finished with 14 points on Saturday, hitting 2-of-5 from 3-point range and added five rebounds. Dance tallied eight points and a career-high seven assists compared to just two turnovers in 32 minutes of action.
Senior Anahi-Lee Cauley added 11 points on a near-perfect shooting night of 5-of-6 from the floor, including making her lone 3-point attempt.
With its win, Texas (32-3) advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to face Illinois on Monday.
The Longhorns scored seven of game’s first nine points. Back-to-back Madison Booker baskets gave the home team a 7-2 just 2:35 into the contest.
Dance scored six of W&M’s first 10 points. She tallied four in a row to pull the Tribe even at 10 on a fastbreak jumper with 5:46 left in the first quarter.
The Texas lead was only two, 20-18, after Geddes found graduate student Kayla Beckwith for a fastbreak lay-up with 41 seconds left in the frame.
Texas stretched its lead with an 18-2 run, spanning the end of the first quarter and start of the second. Taylor Jones scored five in a row, including 3-point play with 6.1 left that gave Longhorns a five-point lead at the end of the first.
Booker added four during the run as part of nine in row for the Longhorns. Her lay-up at the 5:32 mark extended the Texas lead to 38-20. The margin reached as much as 25, 49-24, in the opening half following a pair of Booker free throws.
The Tribe (16-19) ended the half on a 9-1 run to close within 50-33 at the break. Geddes and Nascimento each knocked down 3-pointers, before freshman Marley Long hit a baseline jumper with 28 seconds remaining to narrow the gap to 17 at the break.
Nascimento scored five-straight points early in the third quarter. Her left wing 3-pointer off a Texas turnovers cut the deficit to 16, 54-38, just 1:29 into the second half.
The Longhorns shot 56.8% (21-of-37) in the second half on the way to victory. Texas finished the game at 54.7% overall (41-of-75) and put five players in double figures. Booker led all scorers with 20 point on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting and had 14 rebounds for a double-double. Taylor added 19 points and Kyla Oldacre finished with a 15-point, 15-rebound double-doubles.
The Tribe finished the contest at 38.7% shooting (24-of-62) and knocked down seven 3-pointers, shooting 43.8% from long range (7-of-16).
W&M won four games in four days to win the program’s first CAA Championship, following a 66-63 win over Campbell on March 16 in Washington, D.C. The Tribe followed with its first win in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, topping Big South Champion High Point, 69-63. W&M became the first sub-.500 team to win an NCAA Tournament game.
