Career Night for Dance Sends No.9 William & Mary Past No. 1 N.C. A&T 74-66 in Overtime

Career Night for Dance Sends No.9 William & Mary Past No. 1 N.C. A&T 74-66 in Overtime

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Ben Kane

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Washington D.C. (Mar. 14, 2025) – Behind 53 combined points from sophomore guards Monet Dance and Cassidy Geddes, William & Mary became the first No. 9 seed to advance to the semifinals of the Credit Union 1 CAA Women’s Basketball Championship since 2019, batting past No. 1 North Carolina A&T 74-66 in overtime on Friday afternoon battle at CareFirst Arena.

The Tribe (13-18), which reached the semifinals for the second time in three years, will meet either Drexel or Monmouth on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Aggies (19-11) will await their matchup in a postseason tournament as the CAA regular-season champion.
 


Dance put on a clinic from behind the arc, tying the CAA Tournament record with a 7-for-9 effort from three. She finished the game with a career-high 27points, topping the 16 she tallied against A&T earlier this season. Geddes matched her career high with 26 points and added seven rebounds and five assists. The Tribe was extremely efficient scoring on a .517 clip from the floor, including 57.9% (11-19) from deep.

Three starters reached double-digits for the Aggies, led by Paris Locke’s 16points and 13 apiece from Jordyn Dorsey and Chaniya Clark. As a team, A&T shot 37% from the field and 22.7% from behind the arc.

William & Mary had early success from the corner, hitting three 3-pointers through Dance (2) and Bella Nascimento to take a quick 9-4 lead. Despite the Tribe’s 57.1% shooting performance from behind the arc, the Aggies tallied 20 points with six coming from Jordyn Dorsey to hold a six-point advantage at the end of the first quarter.

With three lead changes in the second quarter alone, both teams had opportunities to pull ahead, but the game remained at a deadlock. A&T held the largest lead of the frame after Maleia Bracone scored a jumper to make it 22-14, but William & Mary clawed back with a 9-2 run in just over two minutes. Geddes had eight of her 26 points in the quarter, while six Aggies found the scoresheet to post a 34-34 scoreline heading into the final 20 minutes.
 


Momentum swung in favor of the Aggies as Tarrell Robinson’s side pieced together an 8-2 in the first minute and a half of the second half. Locke had five straight before Aija James knocked one down from behind the arc. 

Dance lifted the Tribe back into contention in the fourth quarter, draining eight of William & Mary’s 10 points within a minute and a half. Coming out of the media timeout, Geddes drove to the cup, leveling the game at 59 with five and a half to go.

Knotted at 64 with 32 seconds on the clock, William & Mary forced the Aggies into a shot-clock violation but the Tribe wasn’t able to convert a jump shot, sending the game to overtime. 

Dance got to the hoop early in the extra session to give William & Mary a two-point lead, before extending it to five with her seventh trey of the game. The Tribe poured in five more, ultimately sealing the deal for William & Mary.