WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — William & Mary women's basketball begins a two-game road swing through the Carolinas Friday night when it visits CAA-leading Charleston at TD Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., with the game streamed on FloCollege.
The Tribe (13–12, 6–8 CAA) looks to rebound after a narrow 63–61 loss to Drexel on Sunday, while the Cougars enter at 21–4 overall and 13–1 in conference play, riding a 15-game home winning streak.
Friday's contest marks the 35th all-time meeting between the programs, with William & Mary holding a 19–15 series advantage. Charleston claimed the first matchup this season, edging the Tribe 62–60 on Jan. 9 in Williamsburg.
TRIBE NOTES
• The Matchup
This marks the 35th all-time meeting between William & Mary and Charleston, with the Tribe holding a 19–15 advantage in the series. Despite W&M leading overall, the Cougars have won three straight in the matchup. In the first meeting this season, Charleston edged the Tribe, 62–60, on Jan. 9 at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg. The contest featured 11 ties and 16 lead changes, with W&M holding a three-point halftime lead before the Cougars rallied in the second half.
Natalie Fox led the Tribe with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while
Monet Dance added 12 and
Alexa Mikeska chipped in 10 points and five assists. On the road, William & Mary is 7–6 all-time against the Cougars.
• The Opponent
Charleston enters Friday's matchup at 21–4 overall and 13–1 in CAA play, sitting atop the conference standings. The Cougars are a perfect 9–0 at home and have won 15 straight at TD Arena, with their last home loss coming on Jan. 17, 2025, against Monmouth. Junior Taryn Barbot leads the CAA in scoring at 19.4 points per game and is coming off a 36-point performance in an 88–78 win at Towson on Feb. 20, marking her ninth career 30-point game.
• Last Time Out
William & Mary battled until the final seconds but fell to Drexel, 63–61, on Sunday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. The Tribe carried an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter before the Dragons rallied late and converted a go-ahead layup with seven seconds remaining.
Cassidy Geddes paced W&M with 22 points, including three free throws to tie the game with 11 seconds left, while
Marley Long added 10 points and nine rebounds. The Tribe shot 42.9% (9-of-21) from 3-point range but was held to just three field goals in the final quarter
• From Deep
Seventh in the CAA at 13.5 points per game,
Cassidy Geddes poured in 22 points against Drexel (2/22), connecting on five 3-pointers to match a career best while adding four rebounds and two assists.
• Finding Her Rhythm
Marley Long has scored in double figures in two of her last three games, marking the first double-figure performances of her career. She tallied 11 points vs. Towson (2/15) and added 10 against Drexel (2/22).
• Sallman Secures Second Weekly Conference Honor
Tika Sallman was named CAA Co-Player of the Week on Monday, Feb. 16 after recording a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds in William & Mary's 75–70 win over Towson. The Cairo, Egypt native shot 10-of-15 from the field and added four blocks in the Tribe's first season sweep of the Tigers since 2020. Sallman has now earned two CAA weekly honors this season.
• Road Tested
William & Mary has earned eight road wins this season, tied for the second most in a single season in program history. The program record is 11 road victories, set during the 2019–20 campaign.
• Career Days
Two Tribe players recorded career-high scoring performances in Sunday's win over Towson, as Tika Sallman poured in 25 points and Marley Long added 11 off the bench. The duo helped William & Mary complete the season sweep of the Tigers.
• Perfect December
The Tribe went 5-0 in December, the program's first perfect month since December 2016 (6-0). Before that, its last undefeated month with at least five games played was January 1978.
• Mo Buckets
Dance was named CAA Player of the Week for Dec. 22 after averaging 17.0 points and 7.0 assists in a pair of victories over Stetson and Bethune-Cookman at the Holiday Hoops Classic. The junior from Roswell, Ga. dropped 20 points and four dimes in Friday's comeback win at Stetson before handing out 10 assists in the win over BCU on Saturday. The 10 helpers is tied for the most by a CAA player this season, and the most by a member of the Tribe since Eva Hodgson had 10 vs. Charleston on Jan. 12, 2020.
• WWWWWWinning Streak
The Tribe's six-game non-conference winning streak to end non-con play is its longest under Erin Dickerson Davis and the longest since 2017-18. W&M's six non-league wins are the most under Davis as well. The last time the Tribe won seven-plus non-conference games was in 2019-20 when the Green & Gold started the season 9-2.
• Major Upset
W&M's win over Wake Forest marked a series of firsts.
- The first win over a power-conference opponent since Clemson in 2015.
- The first win over Wake Forest in school history.
- The first non-conference road winning streak since 2020.
- The first loss for Wake Forest, previously the ACC's lone remaining unbeaten team.
• Star of the Show
Tika Sallman was named CAA Player of the Week for Dec. 8 after averaging 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 67% from the floor. The Cairo, Egypt native keyed W&M's upset of Wake Forest, posting 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
• 60 is the Magic Number
60 points is a key number for W&M. The Tribe is 31-11 under Erin Dickerson Davis when holding teams below 60. Offensively, the Tribe is 55-19 when scoring at least 60 and 6-39 when held below 60 under Davis. W&M is 10-2 this year when scoring at least 60 points.
• Tribe on TV
Naturally, last season brought a new-level of national attention to the Tribe program, with W&M playing a program record 12 games on linear television. Additionally, W&M played its first three nationally televised games in program history in 2024-25. The Green and Gold will be on TV a minimum of 10 times this season with 10 home matchups broadcast on MASN.
• Excellence from E
No other coach in William & Mary women's basketball history has had the success that Erin Dickerson Davis has had through three seasons. With the 16 wins last year, Davis became the first Tribe coach to win 15-plus games in each of their first three seasons. The Tribe won 12 conference games in each of her first two years, tying the program record for CAA wins in a season. W&M's first win of the season against Barton was Davis's 50th in her head coaching career.
