College of Charleston
William & Mary
Cougars Head to William & Mary for First Road CAA Contest
1/8/2026 8:39:00 AM | Women's Basketball
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The College of Charleston women's basketball team heads to William & Mary for its first road CAA contest of the season Friday night.
GAME #14 — College of Charleston (10-3, 2-0 CAA) at Willliam & Mary (8-5, 1-1 CAA) | Friday, January 9 | 7 p.m. | Kaplan Arena | Williamsburg, Va. | FloCollege
OPENING TIP — CofC, the preseason Coastal Athletic Association favorites, began CAA play 2-0 with home victories over Hofstra and Northeastern last weekend. The team is 10-3 overall and finished non-conference play 8-3 with quality wins at Quinnipiac (a top-30 mid-major program) and at Florida State.
The Cougars' win over the Seminoles gave them a win over a Power 4 school for the second consecutive year. It was also Charleston's first victory over an ACC school since CofC defeated Clemson in 2009.
The Cougars are currently ranked 13th in the most recent College Insider Mid-Major top-25 rankings.
CofC returns two starters from last years WNIT Super 16 squad, including the reigning CAA Player of the Year in Taryn Barbot.
Charleston returns six key contributors from last year's team, while adding seven newcomers, including two starting transfers in Tyja Beans (Western Carolina), Grace Ezebilo (Tyler Junior College).
The 2024-25 Charleston women's basketball team set a record for the most wins in the program's Division I era with 25. Charleston also earned its first Power 4 win since 2009 with a 68-62 victory over Northwestern at the Hawk Classic on December 20, 2024.
FAN INFO — The contest will be broadcast on FloCollege and the stream can be found here. Tickets can be purchased here, live stats can be found here, and all other pertinent information and/or updates can be found on the Charleston women's basketball team's schedule page on cofcsports.com.
AMONG THE NCAA — The Cougars currently have two players who are in the top-10 in the nation in their respective categories. Taylor Barbot is one of only 18 players in the country to record a triple-double and is also 8th in the nation in assists per game (7.2). Grace Ezebilo is 6th in the nation in rebounds per game (11.7) and is also in the top-20 in total rebounds (152) and defensive boards per game (7.5). Additionally, Taryn Barbot is in the top-20 in points per game (20.5), while her twin sister Taylor is in the top-20 in total assists (94).
As a team, Charleston is in the top-20 in the country in offensive rebounds per game (16.8) and total rebounds per game (45).
(*Stats as of 1/6/26)
LAST TIME OUT — Led by a career day from Tyja Beans, the College of Charleston women's basketball team (10-3, 2-0) cruised to a 85-58 win over Northeastern (4-8, 0-2) at TD Arena Sunday afternoon.
- Powered by two Taryn Barbot triples, Charleston jumped out to a 15-3 lead at the first media timeout.
- The Cougars traded buckets with the Huskies in the remainder of the quarter as Charleston headed to the second period with a 21-10 advantage.
- Getting buckets from Tyja Beans and the Barbot Twins, CofC built a 37-21 lead with 4:16 left in the half.
- Northeastern closed the half on a 9-2 spurt as Charleston took a 39-30 edge into the break.
- Back-to-back threes in less than 10 seconds from Taryn Barbot gave Charleston a 53-36 lead with 4:46 left in the third.
- Taryn then hit two more triples as the Cougars took a 67-44 lead into the last stanza.
- As Tyja Beans earned a career-high in points (23) and tied a program record with her eighth steal of the game, CofC won the fourth quarter 18-14 and won the game by a final score of 85-58.
50TH ANNIVERSARY — The College of Charleston women's basketball team will celebrate the varsity program's 50th anniversary throughout the 2025-26 season.
The January 25th home game against NC A&T will serve as the main celebratory night and commemorate the 50 years of the program's existence. The 1974-75 Charleston women's basketball team, which was the first-ever varsity squad, will be honored at the game.
All throughout the entire 2025-26 campaign, feature stories on past Cougar greats and influential players will be shared on the College of Charleston official athletics website at cofcsports.com.
SCOUTING THE TRIBE — William & Mary opened CAA play with a 60-49 road win over N.C. A&T before dropping a home contest 57-73 to Stony Brook. The Tribe are 8-5 overall and earned a road win at Wake Forest in early December.
The Tribe are led by junior guard Cassidy Geddes who made the All-CAA Preseason Second Team. Geddes is averaging 13.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest. Other double-digit scorers for Williiam & Mary include sophomore forward Natalie Fox (11.4) and junior guard Monet Dance (10.8). Junior guard Jana Sallman is posting 9.7 points per game and was named the CAA Player of the Week on December 8th.
William & Mary was picked 6th in the CAA Preseason Poll.
MATCHUP HISTORY VS. WILLIAM & MARY — Charleston is 11-14 all-time against William & Mary, but the Cougars have won the last two contests against the Tribe. CofC holds a 4-6 record at on the road against William & Mary.
PRESEASON FAVS — Charleston was picked as the preseason Coastal Athletic Association favorites, receiving eight of the 13 first place votes.
IN THE POLLS — The Cougars are ranked 13th in the most recent College Insider Mid-Major top 25 rankings.
AWARDS — Taryn Barbot has earned three CAA Player of the Week awards this season. Most recently, she won the award on January 5th after averaging 26.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in the opening weekend of conference play. She was also named the CAA Player of the Week on December 1st after a strong week at the Big Easy Classic in New Orleans, and once more on November 17th after posting her eighth career 30-point game in the 75-44 win over Iona.
Taylor Barbot garnered Coastal Athletic Association Player of the Week honors December 15th after leading all players in points (20) and assists (8) in the Cougars 75-70 win at Florida State.
Additionally, Taryn Barbot was picked as the CAA Preseason Player of Year and was named to the Preseason All-CAA First Team. She was also one of just 25 athletes named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year watch list. Taylor Barbot earned a Preseason All-CAA Second Team nod.
THE HARMONY FILE — The 2025-26 campaign is Robin Harmony's seventh as the head coach at College of Charleston. Harmony was named the program's eighth head coach on April 19, 2019 and has earned 105 wins at CofC, including back-to-back 20 win seasons at the helm.
In her most recent season, Harmony led the Cougars to their winningest season in D1 program history with 25 wins. The Cougars advanced to the semifinals of the CAA conference tournament and the Super 16 in the WNIT after earning their first postseason victory ever on their home court.
In her 18+ years as a head coach, Harmony has:
- 10 20-win seasons
- Led Charleston to back-to-back WNIT appearances
- Three Southland Conference regular season titles (Lamar)
- Led Lamar to three WNIT appearances
- Member of University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame
- Named an ACC Women's Basketball Legend in 2013
BARBOT'S WORLD — Taryn Barbot, the 2025-26 CAA Preseason Player of the Year is averaging 20.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.9 steals per contest this season.
Barbot was just one of 25 athletes named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List, which recognizes the best mid-major player in the country. Additionally, she's earned three CAA Player of the Week awards this season.
After earning the program's first CAA Rookie of the Year in 2023-24, Barbot came back and won the program's first CAA Player of the Year after the 2024-25 season. The Floral Park, N.Y. native amassed the 1,000 point mark on March 24, 2025 and became the first sophomore in program history and the fastest Charleston basketball player to do so (64 games). She's now scored 1,317 points as a Cougar and is 13th on the Charleston's all-time scoring list. She's also just the seventh Cougar in program history to score over 1,000 points and grab over 500 rebounds.
MTEs — Charleston went 1-1 at the Big Easy Classic in New Orleans, La. CofC defeated New Mexico State 72-42 Thanksgiving Day before falling to High Point 70-59 – a top-30 mid-major program – that Saturday.
CofC also split its contests at the Puerto Rico Clasico, falling 61-67 to Cleveland State before dominating UPR Mayaguez 114-40 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
MILESTONES
- Taryn Barbot: 1,317 points and counting (13th on the Cougars all-time scoring list)
- Taylor Barbot: 293 assists, 7 away from 300.
- Tyja Beans: 678 points, 22 away from 700.
- Grace Ezebilo: 880 rebounds, 20 away from 900.
- Sophia Tougas: 95 steals, 5 away from 100.
TWINTASTIC — The Cougar roster consists of two sets of twins: the Barbots and the Philpotts.
UP NEXT — Charleston will stay in Virginia for road contest at Hampton Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m., the game will be streamed on FloCollege and a link to the stream as well as live stats can be found on the women's basketball schedule page at cofcsports.com.
For complete coverage of Charleston women's basketball, follow us on X (@CofCWBB) and Instagram (@CofCWBB).
