WILLIAMSBURG, Va.—The William & Mary women's basketball heads to Philadelphia Friday night for a CAA heavyweight showdown the second-place Drexel Dragons. Tip is set for 6 p.m. on FloCollege with an 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 at 1:30 p.m. featuring a pregame interview with
Erin Dickerson Davis. Fans can listen at
tribeathletics.com/listenlive.
TRIBE NOTES
• The Matchup
William & Mary heads to Philadelphia on Valentine's Day for the second of three straight on the road for a pivotal showdown. The second-place Drexel Dragons host the third-place Tribe at 6 p.m. on FloCollege.
•
The Opponent
The Dragons offense, while not potent, is extremely efficient and focused on sharing the ball. The Dragons lead the CAA in assists per game at 16.3 and lead the nation in assist rate with 71.6 of their baskets assisted on. The Dragons are winners of six of their last seven and have a 10-1 record at home this season.
• Last Time Out
While not easy by any means, the Tribe earned a 72-65 overtime win at Hampton on Sunday, tying last year's team for best conference start after 10 games at 7-3. W&M overcame 32 turnovers on the game thanks to a +24 margin in the rebound category to score the win.
Bella Nascimento scored 25 points with nine rebounds, while
Kayla Rolph posted her first career double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds) for the Tribe.
• Top of the Class
Bella Nascimento has asserted herself as one of the best players in the CAA, currently leading the league in scoring during conference play at 19.8 per game. Nascimento's 25 on Sunday at Hampton marked her sixth game of 20-plus in CAA action, also a league best. She has scored in double figures in all but three games this year.
• Real Deal Rolph
Much like Nascimento,
Kayla Rolph has been turning heads around the CAA during conference play for the Tribe. The junior posted her first career double-double on Sunday at Hampton with a career-high 13 rebounds. Her eight games in double figures this year are more than she had combined in her first two years with W&M.
• Running it Back
After posting the best overall conference start in program history a season ago, W&M is just one win shy of tying that mark in 2024-25. Sunday's win at Hampton tied last year's squad for best 10-game start at 7-3, with last year's 8-3 start being the best overall in program history.
• Glass Cleaning
With the high number of turnovers on Sunday at Hampton it is fair to say the Tribe won the game thanks to its rebounding efforts. W&M outrebounded the Pirates 53-29, with the +24 margin being the largest for the Tribe under
Erin Dickerson Davis. The last time W&M was +24 or better on the boards was November 2018 when they were +29 against ECU.
• Everybody Assists
With
Anahi-Lee Cauley's five assists at Hampton on Sunday the Tribe has had a player hand out five-plus helpers in four of the last five games. Cauley has done so twice, with Bella Nasicmento having a career-high seven vs. Campbell and
Cassidy Geddes six vs. UNCW.
• Not Afraid to Work Overtime
The Tribe's success in overtime matchups under
Erin Dickerson Davis continued on Sunday at Hampton. With the OT victory the Tribe improved to 6-1 in games requiring extra time under Davis. W&M's only OT loss in her tenure came earlier this year in the loss to Elon.
• Fox Finds New Career-High
Thanks to a strong second half,
Natalie Fox put up a career-best 11 points to go with eight boards in the win over Hampton. Nine of those 11 came in the second half for the freshman, marking her second game in double figures for her career and first in CAA action.
• Balanced is Better
W&M used four players in double figures to pick up the win Sunday at Hampton.
Bella Nascimento (25),
Jana Sallman (11),
Natalie Fox (11) and
Kayla Rolph (10) were the quartet in double figures for the Tribe, marking the second time this season has had four players with 10 or more.
• Taking Care of the Rock
The Tribe has won the turnover battle in seven of the last nine games, dating back to the first meeting with Elon. Over that span W&M has turned the ball over under 10 times twice, while also turning the opponent over 15-plus times on six occasions.
• Injury Bug
After a year in which injuries were few and far between for the Tribe, the injury bug has caught up with them through 21 games in 2024-25. The Tribe has had five different players miss time with injury this year for a total of 27 games.
Kayla Beckwith (11),
Natalie Fox (8),
Alexa Mikeska (3),
Rebekah Frisby-Smith (2), Anahi Cauley (2),
Marley Long (1) is the group who makes up those absences.
• Sharing the Rock
62.7% of the Tribe's baskets this year has been assisted, the second highest rate in the CAA and 40th in the nation. Drexel is the only CAA team with a higher percentage of assists at 71.6%, which is the best in the nation.
• Month to Remember
The Tribe closed out January 6-2 thanks to Friday's win. The six wins is W&M's most in a month under
Erin Dickerson Davis and the third straight January the Tribe has won five-plus games. Davis has never had a losing January or February or won less than five games in each of those months during her tenure.
• 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.
• 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.
• 60 is the Magic Number
60 points is a key number for W&M. The Tribe is 23-6 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 33-5 against them when scoring 70+ since 2020-21. Offensively, the Tribe is 39-14 when scoring over 60 and 4-23 when held below 60 under Davis.
