WILLIAMSBURG, Va.—William & Mary women's basketball travels to Farmville, Va. this weekend for the Shirley Duncan Classic hosted by Longwood.
The Tribe's three-game slate begins Friday with a matchup against McNeese at 2 p.m. They will play the hosts Longwood at 4 p.m. Saturday before playing South Carolina State at 1 p.m. Sunday. All games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with a free audio broadcast on the Tribe Sports Network.
Tribe Sports Network
For the second consecutive year, the Tribe Sports Network will be providing free audio broadcasts of all W&M women's basketball away contests. Jack Angelucci will be on the call with a pregame show beginning 30 minutes before tip featuring a pregame interview with
Erin Dickerson Davis. Fans can listen at
tribeathletics.com/listenlive.
TRIBE NOTES
• The Matchup
The finale of day one at the Shirley Duncan Classic in Farmville, Va. will feature the first ever matchup between McNeese and William & Mary and the Tribe's first ever matchup with a Southland Conference member. The showdown will be the first of three for the Tribe in Farmville with tip at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
• The Opponent
Despite coming in at 4-3, McNeese, like William & Mary, will be looking for their first DI win of the season at the Shirley Duncan Classic. Their three DI contests have been losses to Utah, BYU and Utah Tech. The Cowgirls were picked preseason 11th in the Southland.
• Last Time Out
W&M dropped their final home non-conference matchup on Friday against Howard 74-63. The game featured eight lead changes and five ties, with W&M holding a 34-32 halftime lead before a 19-11 third quarter spurred the Bison on to the win.
Cassidy Geddes scored a career-high 23 in the win to lead the Tribe.
• Running the Gauntlet
Saying that the Tribe's schedule to open the season has been challenging would be an understatement. The six teams that have beaten the Tribe this season currently have a combined record of 34-14 as of Wednesday. Five of those six games were on the road for W&M as well.
• Career Game for Cass
Cassidy Geddes' 23 points against Howard on Friday set a new career-high for the sophomore guard, beating her previous career-high was 22 last season over Hofstra. Geddes' effort on Friday came on nine makes, with five three pointers, doing so off a career-most 25 shot attempts and 15 tries from deep. It was the fourth 20+ point performance of her career.
• But Wait, There's More
Geddes' 23 was not the only career-high for W&M vs. Howard.
Monet Dance scored nine points and snagged seven rebounds, both career-highs. Graduate center
Kayla Beckwith handed out a career-best five assists, while
Marley Long knocked down two 3-pointers for a career-high six points.
• Sharing is Caring
The Tribe played extremely unselfish on Friday vs. Howard, dishing out 20 assists on 22 made field goals. The effort ranks tied for the second most helpers under
Erin Dickerson Davis and the fourth time W&M has hit 20+ since the start of last season. The 91% of baskets assisted is the most in a game under Davis, surpassing last year's 18 assists on 20 makes vs. Hampton.
• Speaking of Sharing...
Rebekah Frisby-Smith and
Kayla Beckwith each had five assists vs. Howard, marking the first time two Tribe players had five-plus helpers in a game since Riley Casey and
Alexa Mikeska vs. Monmouth on 3/3/23.
• Career-High for Sallman
With
Natalie Fox out the last three games due to injury,
Jana Sallman has seen a nice spike in minutes for the Tribe and stepped up to provide scoring at Old Dominion. The sophomore scored eight points, surpassing her previous career-high of seven that she set last year playing at Memphis. Sallman also went 4-for-6 from the free-throw line, setting a career mark for both makes and attempts.
• Ballin' Bella
Bella Nasicmento had gotten off to a hot streak scoring the ball to start the season. The preseason All-CAA guard scored 21 in each of the first two games of the year. Her streak of scoring 10+ would extend to six games before ending last time out vs. Howard. The six straight games in double-digits tied Nascimento's career-long from her sophomore year at Manhattan.
• KB Stuffs the Stat Sheet
On top of posting a career-high five assists,
Kayla Beckwith added six points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Her first ever game with six-plus points, eight-plus boards, multiple assists and multiple swats in her career.
• Pack Your Bags
From Nov. 29 until Jan. 3 the Tribe will not play a game at home. The 35 straight days without a home game is the fifth longest stretch in DI.
• Ready From the Jump
Despite just the one win this season, the Tribe left no doubt from the opening tap in the victory. W&M's 29-6 advantage after the first quarter against Chowan ties the largest lead the Tribe have ever held after one in the quarters era (2015-16). W&M held a 27-4 lead over Hofstra after the first in 2020.
• Newfound Height
The Tribe adds six new players to the roster in 2024-25, four freshmen and two transfers. Five of the six newcomers are over 6-feet tall. The average height of the six new players is slightly over 6'1, while the average height of the eight returners is 5'9.
•Punching the Time Clock
All eight of the returners for W&M played in at least 24 games last year and averaged over 10 minutes per game, accounting for 84% of minutes and 81% of starts for the Tribe a season ago. The group also accounted for 94% of the Tribe's assists last year and 70.7% of last year's scoring.
• Coach E Extended
W&M Director of Athletics, Brian Mann, announced in late August that head coach
Erin Dickerson Davis had agreed to a contract extension through 2029. Through two seasons Davis became the fastest coach to 20 CAA wins in program history and fastest to 30 career wins in 95 years.
• Preseason Accolades
Bella Nascimento earned Preseason All-CAA Second Team honors on Oct. 18 and is the Tribe's returning leading scorer at 12.4ppg.
Cassidy Geddes earned a preseason honorable mention coming off her CAA All-Rookie honors last year. W&M was picked tied for fourth in the preseason poll.
• 60 is the Magic Number
60 points is a key number for W&M. The Tribe is 18-5 under
Erin Dickerson Davis when holding teams below 60. While team's have had a mixed bag of success scoring in the 60s vs. W&M, opponents are 31-4 against them when scoring 70+ since 2020-21. Offensively, the Tribe is 32-12 when scoring over 60 and 2-20 when held below 60 under Davis.
