WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — No. 8 seed William & Mary women's basketball opens play in the 2026 Credit Union 1 CAA Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday afternoon when it faces No. 9 seed N.C. A&T at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m., with the game streamed on FloCollege.
The Tribe (16–13, 9–9 CAA) enters the tournament after closing the regular season with a 61–60 victory at Hampton on Saturday, securing its third straight win. N.C. A&T (12–17) comes into the matchup following a 70–64 loss to Charleston to end the regular season.
Thursday's contest marks the 11th all-time meeting between the programs, with the series tied 5–5. William & Mary won the most recent matchup, 60–49, on Jan. 2 in Greensboro, N.C., and also defeated the Aggies 74–66 in overtime in last season's CAA Championship quarterfinals.
TRIBE NOTES
• The Matchup
This marks the 11th all-time meeting between William & Mary and N.C. A&T, with the series tied 5-5. The Tribe claimed the most recent matchup, earning a 60-49 victory on Jan. 2, 2026, in Greensboro, N.C.
Dynasti Pierce led W&M with a career-high 14 points, while
Cassidy Geddes added 11 points and four steals. Thursday's contest will mark the second meeting between the programs in the CAA Championship. Last season, No. 9 seed William & Mary upset No. 1 seed N.C. A&T, 74-66 in overtime, in the quarterfinals of the 2025 CAA Championship.
• The Opponent
N.C. A&T enters Thursday's matchup at 12-17 overall after closing the regular season with a 70-64 loss to Charleston on Saturday. The Aggies are led by Chaniya Clark, who ranks 10th in the CAA in scoring at 13.0 points per game. Clark also ranks among the league leaders in several categories, sitting third in the conference in rebounding (7.6), fourth in field goal percentage (.455) and third in blocked shots (1.7) per game.
• Last Time Out
William & Mary closed the regular season with a 61– 60 victory at Hampton on Saturday afternoon at the Hampton University Convocation Center. The Tribe led by as many as 15 points before holding off a late Hampton rally to secure its third straight win.
Cassidy Geddes led the way with a game-high 22 points, while
Alexa Mikeska added 12 points and six rebounds.
Monet Dance chipped in eight points and four assists, and
Jana Sallman added eight points and six rebounds off the bench.
• Geddes Earns All-CAA Honors
Cassidy Geddes earned postseason recognition from the CAA, being named to the All-CAA Second Team while also receiving the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.
• Neutral Site Winning Streak
William & Mary has won eight consecutive neutral site games and is 8-0 in neutral-site contests over the last two seasons.
• Geddes Joins 1,000-Point Club
Cassidy Geddes became the 23rd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points after scoring 22 points in the Tribe's 61-60 win at Hampton (3/7).
• Scoring 70+
William & Mary is 7–0 this season when scoring 70 or more points. The Tribe has also been highly successful offensively over the past three seasons, posting a 23–4 record when reaching the 70-point mark.
• Taking Care of the Basketball
William & Mary features two of the CAA's top five players in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Alexa Mikeska ranks third in the conference with a 2.0 ratio, totaling 98 assists to just 48 turnovers, while
Monet Dance sits fifth at 1.7 with 98 assists and 57 turnovers this season.
• Dominating the Glass
William & Mary controlled the boards in Sunday's win at UNCW, outrebounding the Seahawks 46–29 for a +17 margin. It marked the Tribe's largest rebounding advantage since Feb. 9, 2025, when W&M outrebounded Hampton by 24 on the road.
• Double-Double Marley
Marley Long recorded her first career double-double in William & Mary's 60–41 victory at UNCW on March 1, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She added two steals, one assist and one block while helping the Tribe control the glass in the win.
• From Deep
Sixth in the CAA at 13.6 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.
• 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 ten road wins this season, 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 33-11 under
Erin Dickerson Davis when holding teams below 60. Offensively, the Tribe is 58-19 when scoring at least 60 and 6-40 when held below 60 under Davis. W&M is 13-2 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.
