WILLIAMSBURG, V.A. – For many, mid-March to early April is a time of the year for rejuvenation as the season springs into something anew.
The same thing can be said for collegiate basketball at both men’s and women’s Division 1 campuses. As one chapter of the story closes, another one takes its place in the form of the post-season NCAA tournament. Both women’s and men’s tournaments wrapped up on April 6 and 7, respectively.
Although the national champions have been declared, with the University of Connecticut securing the title in the women’s field and the University of Florida earning bragging rights for the men’s side, the journey to one’s success is also vital.
Some teams played well enough to clinch a spot in the ‘Big Dance,’ while others still had everything to prove in order to gain its position.
In the case of The College of William & Mary women’s basketball program, an automatic berth to the national stage was not a foregone conclusion.
Riding into its Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Conference tournament, which was formerly called the Colonial Athletic Association, the Tribe used a ‘We Believe’ mantra in hopes of advancing past its foes.
A member of the Tribe is former Newton-Conover High standout guard and Hickory, N.C. native, Cassidy Geddes.
Geddes was a four-time all-conference talent and two-time conference player of the year. As a freshman with the Lady Red Devils varsity basketball program, Geddes was a prominent piece of its first state championship run since the 1992 season under head coach Sylvia White.
She was also a first-team all-district selection by the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (NCBCA) during her junior season in 2021-22; she averaged 21.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 4.5 steals per game while shooting 53 percent from the floor.
Akin to making waves at the high school level, Geddes has demonstrated her ability to be a focal point in her first two seasons with the Tribe.
As a freshman in 2023-24, she started 18 games and appeared in 29 contests. Much like her story throughout the high school ranks, Geddes led her squad in steals at 1.7 per game and finished seventh in the conference in total steals with 50. She led the team in scoring nine times and in assists a team-best 11 times.
She also obtained 20 or more points three times including a then-career best 22 against Hofstra on Jan. 26, 2024. She was the third-highest scoring athlete with the program last season, averaging just under 10 points per contest and played the second-most minutes at 28.5. Given her accomplishments as a freshman, she was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team.
The Tribe finished 15-14 overall and 12-6 in CAA action, which included a second-round exit against Hofstra in the conference tournament.
With a solid year under her collegiate belt, Geddes came into her sophomore season with more confidence. She scored 20 or more points three times during the regular season including a career-best 26 at conference opponent Monmouth on Jan. 12, 2025.
It was a slow start to the 2024-25 season for William & Mary as it began the year losing seven of its first 10 games. Despite a small window in which it won five consecutive contests from Jan. 12 to Jan. 31, the Tribe had its fair share of setbacks including losing eight of its final 10 games of the regular season.
Nevertheless, as every athletic program knows, once the post-season arrives, there is a clean slate and a reconfiguration of a team’s standing. The Tribe was a basketball program which adapted to this philosophy.
Playing with house money, William & Mary entered the CAA tournament held in Washington, D.C., as the No. 9 seed. Its first challenge was in the form of No. 8-seeded Hofstra, a team that had, as aforementioned, defeated the Tribe in the previous year’s tourney.
Withstanding that early test in the second round on March 13, the Tribe collected a 76-65 victory. The team was led by senior Bella Nascimento and sophomore guard Monet Dance, who garnered 17 and 12 points, respectively. Geddes finished with seven points and four assists.
The next obstacle in William & Mary’s way was top-seed North Carolina A&T, a program which it succumbed to twice during the regular season (77-52 on March 6, and 67-44 on Feb. 21).
Despite steep odds, the Tribe forced an overtime period and ultimately pulled out a win, 74-66, on March 14.
Geddes and Dance combined for 53 points. Dance scored a career-best 27 points, the most by a Tribe player in conference tournament history.
As for Geddes, she obtained 26 points (2-of-4 3PTs), five assists and seven rebounds. Dance also connected on a CAA tournament record seven 3-pointers. The Tribe then defeated No. 4 Drexel in the semifinals on March 15, a little more handily, 76-54.
“Even as we went through a rough patch during the regular season, my teammates never lost faith in me and continued to encourage me to play my best,” said Geddes. “Also, my coaches continued to work with me, so I would gain confidence in my preparation so I would be able to perform come game time in postseason play.
“Being a year in at William and Mary made it easier in the games because I was comfortable playing with my teammates and felt it was easier to get into a rhythm. It was easy to fall back on the trust we had built over the past season and a half when adversity would hit during the game.”
This led to William & Mary’s advancement to the CAA championship for the first time since 1993. In this rare air, the Tribe took advantage in narrowly escaping No. 3 seed Campbell, 66-63, to become conference champions for the first time in program history.
“Being on many championship teams in high school prepared me for the mentality and preparation it takes to be successful at any level,” said Geddes. “I’ve been able to transfer that ability over to college and see success there as well now.
“Understanding how to create the feeling of true belief and motivation in a team from my early years in high school played a large role in my impact during our championship run this season at William and Mary.”
Nascimento led the Tribe to the crown as she posted an MVP-worthy performance of 33 points and 11 rebounds. She hit a pair of triples and was instrumental in the second-half comeback, scoring 10 points each in the third and fourth quarters.
Geddes was slowed by an injury off of the bench that she sustained in the semifinals, but she managed to obtain 10 points and a trio of steals in the historic win. She and Dance were ultimately selected to the CAA All-Tournament team alongside Nascimento. Dance averaged 15.3 points per contest during the tourney.
Therefore, given the accomplishment, for the first time since it became a Division 1 school in 1984, William & Mary clinched a berth to the NCAA tournament. This was a first for both the men’s and women’s programs.
By securing a national tournament berth, the Tribe entered the First Four play-in as a No. 16 seed. It was forced to battle No. 16 High Point University with an official spot in the first round of March Madness on the line.
In that match-up against High Point on March 20, William & Mary added to its list of monumental accomplishments as an all-around effort led by Nascimento’s 24 points was enough for the 69-63 victory inside of Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
The Tribe became the first under-.500 team to win an NCAA tournament game in women’s division history. It had four athletes in double figures including Nascimento, Dance, Geddes and freshman big Natalie Fox.
Fox obtained 12 points and 12 boards while Geddes corralled 12 points including a pair of triples and two assists. Dance was the second-leading scorer with 15 points and a real spark with the deep ball as she went 3-for-3. Dance and Geddes also each finished 4-of-4 from the foul line.
Following its win, the Tribe geared up to battle No. 1 seed Texas (eventual Final Four participant) in the Austin Region of the bracket on March 22. In an apparent uphill face-off, the Longhorns dominated en route to a 105-61 victory, thus putting an end to the Tribe’s unprecedented run.
However, the Tribe only trailed 23-18 at the end of the first quarter before Texas opened things up on the offensive end.
William & Mary’s leading scorers on the night were Nascimento with 19 points (3-of-5 3PTs) and seven rebounds, along with Geddes and senior forward Anahi-Lee Cauley.
Geddes garnered 14 points, five rebounds and two assists. Cauley finished with 11 points and a triple while shooting 5-of-6 from the floor. Dance rounded out with eight points and seven assists.
The Tribe ended its 2024-25 campaign with a 16-19 overall record. Despite the outcome, Geddes is confident in the future of the program moving forward.
“Going from losing seven of our last eight regular season games to being conference tournament champions was an unbelievable turnaround for our team,” said Geddes. “No one, but the people in our locker room truly believed we could do it; however we had known our potential the entire time.
“It’s crazy to look back on it now knowing we played six tournament games in nine days and had traveled from Washington D.C. back to Williamsburg and then fly out to Austin, Texas in a less than 24 hour turnaround.”
Geddes, who averaged 9.7 points per game while starting in 32 of the Tribe’s 35 games, said she also believes that she and Monet Dance will continue to lead in the backcourt next season.
“She is my roommate and best friend here at college,” she said. “We work out together and push each other to be our best every day. We are going to be a very hard backcourt to stop next year.”
