With her subtle confidence and the Dennis Rodman T-shirt she wore on her recruiting visit, Grace Ezebilo left two lasting impressions on guard Taryn Barbot and College of Charleston head women’s basketball coach Robin Harmony.
“She was quiet,” Barbot told The IX Basketball. But quiet didn’t mean passive.
Harmony remembers hearing about Ezebilo’s meeting with a math professor during her visit. Ezebilo said she wanted to major in mathematics. One professor raised an eyebrow, then picked up a marker and wrote a complicated problem on the board.
Ezebilo easily solved it, on the spot.
“He was like, ‘Wow, you know that?’” Harmony said, still amused. “I don’t know too many kids who go on an official visit and have to solve a math problem to prove they’re a great math student. But she did it.”
Back home in Nigeria, the updates travel faster than any box score.
“My mom is proud of me,” Ezebilo said. “Every day, my aunties or uncle call me and tell me they heard from my mom. She keeps updating them. Not about basketball, but about my school and my classes.”
When they talk, her mother doesn’t ask about double-doubles, single-season rebounding records, or the Cougars’ second straight 20-win campaign.
“She’s asking, ‘Do you have an exam coming up? Are you studying? What are your grades looking like?’”
But Ezebilo doesn’t mind. She knows what she represents. Her parents never had the opportunity to pursue higher education. Her mother is now enrolled in weekend health sciences classes. Her father, the eldest son in his family, gave up his own college dreams to work and help fund his siblings’ education.
Recently, her mother bought an Android phone. She doesn’t use it to stream highlights or check scores. She uses it to share prayers and scriptures with her daughter. She asks for photos of grades.
“I feel like I was kind of a relief for her, to even start thinking about taking classes for college,” Ezebilo said. “My leaving gave her space to make a better life for herself. She’s happy now. She’s proud of herself. She talks about her classes. She says she only has three more semesters left. So I really like that.”
So when she says she was a relief for her mother, it’s important to understand what that cost.
Ezebilo didn’t pick up basketball seriously until she was 16 in Nigeria. Two years later, she was on a 15-hour bus ride to the Lagos airport. Her family couldn’t afford to travel or stay overnight, so she made the trip by herself, carrying their hopes and prayers instead of hugs and photos.
“I knew it was going to be a big change for me and everybody,” Ezebilo said. “I was excited, but I was also sad to leave. Most of the crying and talking and prayers were over the phone. I wish it was hugs and pictures, but it was not.”
From Lagos, she flew nearly 23 hours to Texas to begin her junior college career — even though she’s afraid of flying.
On the 18-hour leg from Lagos to Washington, D.C., she stayed awake, gripping the armrest and, at one point, the hand of a stranger who reached forward after noticing her shaking. With in-flight WiFi, she texted her family updates — “we’re still in the air” — as every minute dragged “like a plank,” a stretch of time she said she felt through both flights.
By the time she arrived in Charleston, she had already crossed more than geography.
“It was mostly for academics and basketball because I knew playing basketball would provide a way for me to come here and study,” Ezebilo said. “I’m not from a well-to-do family, and I really wanted to go to college. I didn’t want to just stop at what we call secondary school, what you call high school here. … I knew that playing basketball and playing it well would help me come to America, study, and earn a college degree.”
While her father was recovering from a stroke and didn’t want his children around the strain of rehab, Ezebilo wandered to a nearby stadium to occupy her time. She planned to try soccer or volleyball until a basketball coach spotted her at the gate and redirected her to the court, unknowingly altering the trajectory of her life.
It didn’t take long for her to understand that rebounding, the simplest and most physical part of the game, could become her passport. Sometimes, when they ran pickup games back home, Ezebilo had to fight just to get on the court.
“The coaches spent more time working with the guys than the girls, so when they were done, we’d play pickup,” Ezebilo recalled. “They didn’t really like putting the girls in because they felt like we weren’t doing much. So I felt like if I wanted to play with them, I needed to learn how to shoot mid-range and give them second-chance opportunities by rebounding so they would want me in the game.
“Sometimes, when we played pickup, the guys would be picking teams, and they’d call me, and somebody would get mad, like, ‘Why haven’t you picked me?’ I remember them saying, ‘She rebounds more than you. I’m getting her on my team.’ I knew I wanted to play with the guys and not waste my trip to the stadium that day, so I needed to rebound.”
Ezebilo is still rebounding.
The skill that once earned her a place in pickup games now anchors the College of Charleston, Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) regular-season champions, ranked ninth in the latest CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Cougars finished 16-2 in the CAA, the most conference wins in program history.
She ranks fourth nationally in offensive rebounds per game (4.8), seventh in rebounds per game (11.9), and 12th in total rebounds (346). The total rebounds are a single-season program record. She also sits among the top 25 in defensive boards per game (7.2). As a team, Charleston ranks in the top 20 nationally in offensive rebounds per game (15.8), turnover margin (6.68), and scoring margin (17.1).
Ezebilo has recorded seven double-doubles and swallowed a season-high 24 rebounds in a key road victory over Campbell. That effort earned her CAA Player of the Week honors. The Rodman T-shirt she wore on her recruiting visit suddenly felt less like fashion and more like foreshadowing.
Harmony said they knew from the moment they began recruiting Grace that there was more there than what she showed in junior college, where practice time and individual development can be limited. Since arriving in Charleston, she has grown into the piece the Cougars were missing — a reliable interior scorer who controls the glass and, in doing so, unlocks opportunities for everyone around her.
“And now she’s a walking double-double machine,” said Harmony, who became the winnngest coach in Charleston history following the Cougars season-ending win over North Carolina A&T last Saturday. “Don’t try to rebound with her if you’re her teammate because she’s taking it from you. You’d better get up there and jump. Grace is a great kid. She’s a great person. She’s older than her years in maturity and level-headedness.”
Barbot has also noticed something different about her roommate from their initial visit. Ezebilo snatches rebounds with urgency. She claps her hands emphatically. She pulls teammates aside to offer encouragement.
“She’s being more of a leader on the floor,” Barbot said. “She talks to the team. Tells us what we’ve got to do to lock in and win the game. She’s really a big piece of our offense and defense on both ends.”
Ezebilo’s presence allows Taryn and Taylor Barbot to attack the basket, gives Tyja Beans room to slash through lanes, and creates space for Sophia Tougas to launch 3-pointers. Against Towson, during an 88-76 road comeback victory from a 15-point first quarter deficit on Feb. 20, Ezebilo grabbed 19 rebounds.
More importantly, she created second chances and erased mistakes.
Ezebilo has helped the Cougars live up to preseason expectations as the conference favorite while easing the pressure on Taryn to always have to score, even though she’s averaging a healthy 19.4 points per game, which leads the CAA.
“It is challenging … to be named preseason Player of the Year and live up to expectations,” acknowledged Taryn, who has 1,615 career points, which is sixth on Charleston’s all-time scoring list. “I just feel like I can’t have a bad game. It’s fun too at the same time, because it’s, like, they gave me that award for a reason, right? I feel like this year our team has many different scorers because you never know who’s gonna get hot. Someone could come in the game and score like 10 points. You just never know, like, whose day it’s gonna be.”
She gives Charleston a second star, turning every Taryn drive into a decision: score it herself or reward the rebounder sealing space at the rim. But Ezebilo admits the transition to Charleston wasn’t seamless.
She had never played full‑court press and came from a junior college system built around high‑low action, not the wide‑open style the Cougars prefer. It took time to learn the system, figure out where she needed to be, and prove to Harmony every day in practice that she could be trusted. Now, though, she feels fully blended into the program, buoyed by the confidence that comes from playing alongside stars like the twins and knowing her coaches are drawing up plays specifically for her.
“They make the game easy,” Ezebilo said of playing with the twins. “They make the game more beautiful and fun. I’m like, yeah, I’m confident and want to play the game. I want to play. When is our next game coming up?”
Away from the court, Ezebilo makes her favorite dishes from home — even if her love of cooking comes with one big problem for her roommate.
“I don’t really like onions,” Taryn laughed, “but Grace be cooking with them. They burn my eyes.”
Pots of spicy jollof rice and stew simmer on the stove, filling her room with the aromas of home. Cooking keeps Nigeria close. The flavors are bold and unapologetically spicy, the kind of heat that “will have you drinking three cups of water,” she joked, which means her Charleston teammates rarely take more than a cautious bite.
Ezebilo doesn’t measure herself by box scores, even as she rewrites them. She ducks conversations about her rebounding numbers, wary that dwelling on records might dull her edge. She still remembers a game where she grabbed 17 boards but fixates on the one she didn’t secure in the final seconds. The accolades, she says, can wait.
For now, she refuses to relax. She sees basketball as a bridge, not a finish line. A mathematics major with a computer science minor, Ezebilo plans to pursue a master’s degree in software engineering. She knows she won’t play forever, and she refuses to waste an opportunity her parents never had.
Every rebound, every late-night study session, each one is a part of something larger — a chance to change her family’s story and widen the path for those coming after her.
Heavy heart fueling North Carolina A&T’s Clark
Chaniya Clark rose up beyond the arc and banked in a game-winning 3-pointer to end a triple-overtime thriller against Northeastern. The shot kissed the glass and dropped through. For a split second, silence hung in the air before a wave of sound erupted from the Club Corbett bleachers. Her teammates rushed her, arms outstretched, joy flooding the court.
The following week, she poured in a career-high 26 points in a road win at Monmouth, threading pinpoint passes and owning the glass as if fatigue were optional. Two days later, against Drexel, Clark snatched a rebound with one hand while fading from the rim and flipped in the tying basket with the same hand. Then she blocked a shot on Drexel’s next possession that ultimately forced overtime, which ended with a 65-63 loss.
The 6-foot-5 North Carolina A&T senior center is playing this season for her mother, who passed away last August after battling breast cancer.
“She told me that she still wanted me to finish,” Clark said during a recent Zoom call with The IX Basketball. “The day that she found out she was going to pass the next week, she told me, ‘No matter what happens to me, I need you to finish your academics and basketball. I don’t want you to quit just because I’m not here.’ I did have some doubts about playing again. I was like, I’m not going to come back because I still have to take care of my brother. But my brother is fine. This year was really for her.”
Clark’s journey into basketball did not begin with a ball in her hands; rather it began at a ballet barre.
“My mom put me in ballet,” Clark said with a small laugh. “But I wanted to follow in her footsteps and be a basketball player. This was actually my mom’s dream, not mine.”
Her mother once wanted to play. To go to school, to see how far the game could take her.
“So, I just wanted to finish,” Clark said. “Go farther than what she did.”
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Clark made that wish real, returning to Greensboro almost immediately to prepare for the season. She came back not because the pain faded, but because her word still mattered. That resolve impressed North Carolina A&T’s veteran head coach Tarrell Robinson, who attended her mother’s funeral.
“As soon as she buried her mom, she texted me that night to say she’d be back on campus the next day,” Robinson recalled to The IX Basketball, standing near the Aggies’ idling bus after the Drexel game. “That says a lot. I told her to take her time, but she said, ‘My family’s there, too.’ So she came back where she felt comfortable and welcomed.”
The next day, she laced up her sneakers at Corbett Sports Center, joining drills as if routine itself could steady her. And months later, as the season unfolded, that commitment persisted in subtle ways.
After Sunday’s game at Drexel, Clark logged heavy minutes with 17 points and 10 rebounds, her fifth double-double of the season and the 25th of her sterling career. Her body language said it all. In a gray sweatsuit, she moved slowly to the postgame meal, shoulders dipped, carrying a clear container of food. The performance was forceful. The exhaustion was honest.
February — a month layered with meaning — became her strongest stretch. Clark averaged 17.0 points over seven games, ending with three games of 20 or more points as conference play intensified. She shot 53.5% from the field, anchoring the Aggies on both ends.
But Clark has not carried that weight alone. Inside the cauldron of that triple-overtime night, Clark was surrounded by whom she calls her sisters.
“Playing with my sisters and eventually getting the dub,” Clark said, still shaking her head at the memory. “I can’t believe I hit that shot. I was trying to draw a foul. I didn’t even know it’d go in.”
Paris Locke remembers that stretch differently. Not just the shot, but the season.
“We were just all there for her,” Locke said. “If you know [Clark], you know her mom was right beside her. So now that she’s no longer here, we know she’s watching down. And we’re here for her no matter what.”
In the loudest moments, grief does not disappear; instead, it is absorbed, shared, and carried collectively. It is this shared weight that has forged the Aggies.
Alongside veterans D’Mya Tucker and Paris Locke, Clark is steadying a young North Carolina A&T roster navigating unfamiliar territory in the middle of the CAA standings. For a program accustomed to living near the top as the reigning CAA regular-season champion, this winter has required patience and perspective.
Locke delivered the first triple-double in program history in that win over Northeastern, a milestone that felt bigger than the box score.
“It’s still crazy — I still can’t believe it,” Locke said. “In the press conference, I didn’t know I was close to a triple-double. I’m just grateful to be the first. Coach Rob trusted me, I trusted my teammates, and they trusted me. I’m still in shock.”
Clark was not surprised.
“Paris is a beast,” she said. “I’ve never played with someone who can play one through four — she rebounds, shoots, drives, posts up. I’m super proud of her. From the time she got here to where she is now, I knew Paris was going to break records because of how good she is and how much her game has grown.”
Together, Clark, Locke, and Tucker remain among the last links to North Carolina A&T’s championship lineage and cutting nets, a bridge between the banners already hanging and the ones this program still expects to raise again.
Of the nine players who saw action against Drexel, six were either freshmen or sophomores. Freshmen Crystal Hardy, Jamyia Lindsay, Ja’naya Meyers and Anaya Karriem had moments of brilliance, combining for 20 points. Sophomore Rachel Griffin scored nine points. The roster is younger than it has been in years.
“We’re in good shape,” Robinson said. “We’re playing freshmen who are growing every game. We’re competing with the hottest teams in the league, and it’s not about talent—it’s about us executing, being mentally tough, and cleaning up the small things so we can finish the season right and make a run at the conference tournament.”
With all this, the path is steeper, yet the expectations remain unchanged.
“Although we’re not at the spot we’d like to be, it’s anybody’s game in the tournament,” Locke said.
The CAA tournament has not favored the predictable lately. In each of the last three seasons, a seventh seed or lower has cut down the nets. A year ago, North Carolina A&T entered as the No. 1 seed and fell to ninth-seeded William & Mary in an overtime stunner. The Tribe went on to win four games in four days and claim the title.
This season alone, the Aggies and Northeastern have played 13 quarters of basketball against each other — a double-overtime battle decided on a Locke layup and a triple-overtime classic finished by Clark’s banked 3-pointer.
This March, the Aggies arrive as a No. 9 seed. And March rarely requires less. It demands more. The math suggests uncertainty, but the league suggests possibility.
Ultimately, the Aggies carry something deeper than seeding; they have experience, shared responsibilities and a motivated Clark, who has already proven she knows how to finish. She already has once this season.
Campbell finishes strong
Campbell’s rise in the CAA this season hasn’t been led by experience. Rather, it’s driven by youth unafraid of the moment, powered by a fearless freshman who already embraces big-game situations.
All winter, freshmen and sophomores filled the rotation for veteran head coach Ronny Fisher. Despite their youth, the Camels handled the league’s nightly grind with composure and grew more confident in tight moments.
The result was a 20–11 overall record, a 13–5 mark in conference play, and the No. 2 seed in the CAA tournament. This is the sixth time in the past 10 years Campbell has reached the 20-win plateau. It’s also the program’s most conference victories since joining the league three seasons ago.
Fisher routinely trusted multiple freshmen and sophomores with heavy minutes. Despite that inexperience, the Camels navigated league play with consistency and poise. That identity revealed itself during one of Campbell’s most defining wins of the season.
Already riding a two-game losing streak, the Camels trailed Charleston on the road by 10 points on March 1 entering the fourth quarter, the kind of deficit that can rattle a young team. Instead, Campbell locked in defensively and refused to blink. The Cougars missed their final nine shots. They did not make a field goal over the last 7:55 as the Camels stormed back for a 59–57 victory.
The comeback came just two days after a home loss to Towson and ignited a season-ending three-game winning streak that helped solidify Campbell’s hold on the No. 2 seed.
Freshman point guard Jasmine Nivar’s big plays energized the Camels. Team captain Jasmine Felton provided leadership, while shooting guard Olivia Tucker delivered timely baskets. Forward Gianni Boone contributed with strong defense, and center N’na Konate dominated the boards. Without these efforts, the Camels likely would not have finished second in the conference.
Individually, several players have grown into defined roles that complement one another. Boone battled back from injury and early-season inconsistency. She has emerged as Campbell’s primary defensive stopper. Boone often guards the opponent’s top perimeter scorer. She anchors the Camels’ defense and, with less pressure on offense, she has become more efficient. With 1,139 career points, Boone has scored in double figures in nine of Campbell’s last 11 games.
Tucker has become a confident scorer and elite shooter. Her three-point shooting and late-game shot-making have swung several contests. She made a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers to help Campbell rally against Charleston. Tucker leads Campbell with 58 3-pointers and is sixth in the CAA in 3-pointers made per game.
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Averaging 9.7 points per game, Felton is the program’s heartbeat. Named a captain as a sophomore, Felton has been praised for her work ethic, consistency, and impact beyond the box score, contributing on defense, rebounding, shot blocking, and with steady energy.
Konate has developed into a force in the paint. Her rim protection anchors Campbell’s defense and gives the Camels belief in their championship hopes. Her shot-blocking changes opposing offenses. Fisher believes if she keeps growing and avoids foul trouble, Campbell’s postseason hopes could get a boost.
In the season finale against Stony Brook, Konate scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and matched her career high with four blocks. Ciara Alexander also adds interior scoring and toughness.
Yet the engine for the Camels has been Nivar, a game-changer who leads the Camels in scoring at 11.5 points per game and has been named CAA Rookie of the Week eight times.
That total ranks third in CAA history. Only Kiki Jefferson, with nine in 2019–20, and Elena Della Donne, with 10 at Delaware in 2009–10, have more. Nivar is also one of four NCAA players to win her conference’s Rookie of the Week at least seven times this season.
When games tighten, the ball often finds Nivar. She scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead a comeback victory over Norfolk State.
“Jasmine Nivar is a talented kid who wants the ball late,” Fisher said. “That steal and finish at Charleston, then the three in transition against Stony Brook — those are the plays that change games. She just brings our whole team confidence.”
Nivar plays with the joy of someone shooting hoops in a driveway late at night. Her older sister, Indya, is a key member of North Carolina’s squad. Their sibling rivalry sharpened her competitive edge.
Asked about one-on-one battles with her sister following a win at Drexel earlier this season, Nivar smiled and shook her head.
“They never finished,” Nivar told The IX Basketball. “My family is my motivation because they sacrifice a lot, and also my sister is my biggest inspiration. Watching her play and how she’s developed makes me want to become a better player, because that’s where I want to be, too — the WNBA. Just having that in the back of my mind, who I’m doing it for, helps me play harder and go out there and be a dog.”
Nivar’s path to Campbell included adversity. She started high school strong, then suffered a foot injury in her junior season. The setback forced her to regroup and respond as a senior. But her bounce-back season caught Campbell’s attention. The staff made her an offer, and she accepted.
On her visit, Nivar felt an immediate connection with the team. She also saw her style fitting naturally with the Camels’ system. And now she’s thriving — just as the rest of Camels are. They’ve have shown they can survive pressure, erase deficits and trust one another in tense games.
“I’m so proud of this team,” Fisher said. “The competition level and the desire of our kids told me early on that this team had a chance. To be honest, I thought we had a lot of talent, but I had no clue how good we could be early on. For a young team starting two freshmen and two sophomores, to handle pressure and adversity the way they did — that’s what I’m so proud of.”
For a young team that already knows how to respond, March now brings the ultimate test.
Watkins sisters give Drexel plenty in reserve
Like a Category Five hurricane gaining strength, Drexel has surged into March, powered by the collective force of its entire roster.
The spotlight often shines on Molly Rullo, Grace O’Neill, Amaris Baker, Deja Evans and Laine McGurk, who have collected multiple CAA Player of the Week honors and rank among the league’s statistical leaders. Yet, Drexel’s momentum — winning 12 of its last 14 games — owes just as much to the key contributions from role players.
Following Drexel’s 65–63 come-from-behind overtime win against North Carolina A&T on March 1, head coach Amy Mallon was effusive in the praise of her bench brigade: Mariah Watkins, Julia Garcia Roig, Bria Watkins and Iriona Gravley. Each played a critical role in the Dragons’ rally. Though they combined for just six points, their value stretched far beyond the box score.
“I think that’s been the difference in our team, relying on our bench and it looks a little different every day,” Mallon said to reporters in the postgame press conference after the North Carolina A&T contest. “I thought Iriona really set the tone today when she came in. We asked her to run the lanes, make those passes, and get touches, and she did exactly that. Her energy, for however long she was on the floor, really made an impact.
“We always say, ‘Do what you’re capable of,’” Mallon added. “Don’t worry about what you can’t do — just do what you can do. And I think she’s really bought into that.”
The most impactful shot came from Julia Garcia Roig, who drilled a game-tying 3-pointer in the fourth quarter as part of Drexel’s decisive 12–0 fourth-quarter burst against the Aggies.
“Julia coming off the bench has been great, too — she gives us a different look and a spark of momentum,” Mallon said. “The Watkins’ have continued to do that as well. And even Emilee Jones — she might only play a few minutes, but when she comes in, she’s capable of making something happen on the floor and giving our starters a break.”
In a win over Northeastern, the Dragons’ bench contributed 18 points, including eight during a decisive 25–11 third-quarter run. The Watkins sisters combined for 15 points, and Bria Watkins played a season-high 16 minutes. In the win over Hofstra on March 5, Bria scored a career-high 12.
This consistent production from the bench has been vital, easing pressure on Baker, McGurk, Evans and O’Neill, and ensuring that no single group feels responsible for carrying the Dragons alone.
The Watkins sisters bring a lifetime of chemistry to Drexel’s bench. Mariah, who battled back from a torn ACL and meniscus injury early in her college career, and freshman Bria grew up sharpening each other in fiercely competitive driveway battles in their Rochester, New York home, where both parents played college sports.
Those backyard battles helped them learn each other’s tendencies long before sharing the same college rotation. As the two leading scorers in Webster Schroeder High history, that familiarity shows up in their instincts, energy, and willingness to provide whatever the Dragons need in a given moment.
After spending much of last season sidelined, Mariah said the experience ultimately deepened her understanding of the game.
“Being able to sit out and observe definitely helped me,” Mariah Watkins told The IX Basketball. “Our motion offense was new to me, so I had time to really learn it and study it. I think it helped me grow intellectually as a player.”
Their impact also reflects the type of purpose they carry beyond basketball. Mariah, a health sciences major who plans to pursue a nursing degree, and Bria, a childhood education major inspired by her parents’ careers in teaching, both aspire to serve others in meaningful ways. That shared mindset of helping, supporting, and lifting people up mirrors the role they embrace on the court, where every rebound, defensive stop, or spark of energy strengthens the Dragons in ways that don’t always show up in the box score.
“It’s such a unique experience that not many people get to have,” Bria Watkins said. “Playing with my sister is just so much fun. We’ve played together our whole lives, so that chemistry is already there.”
The Dragons enter the CAA tournament as the No. 3 seed after dropping their season finale at Towson, where Bria Watkins and Garcia Roig combined for 11 points. Their steady production served as another reminder of the depth that has powered Drexel’s push into March and its quest for a second CAA tournament crown in three years.
“I’m excited about that because I think that’s our growth,” Mallon said. “We’ve got a lot of young players on the floor, and they’re all gaining confidence in what they can do.”
Morris is Towson’s human eraser
Kayla Morris alters the entire mood of the paint.
Arms whirling like windmills, the Towson senior center rises with a presence that seems to stretch from rim to rafters. Drivers who attack the lane often hesitate for a split second, glancing upward, aware that Morris might be waiting. And when she does meet them at the summit, the result is rarely subtle — volleyball spikes that send the ball sailing toward midcourt and the crowd buzzing.
For the Tigers, Morris has become a shot-blocking machine, a living eraser who turns layups into second thoughts.
“It’s just natural for me,” Morris said to The IX Basketball following Towson’s win over Drexel. “It’s just trying to get the ball at the highest point or just trying to get it before it leaves their hands. Either way, just try to go get it, and if you don’t get it, just make sure that you’re just altering shots — not only blocking shots, but making sure you’re making shots harder for other people. I take pride in that too.”
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Morris’ motivation behind is never far away.
Standing on the sideline is head coach Laura Harper, one of the game’s most decorated rim protectors. Harper dominated the paint during her playing days at Maryland, earning Most Outstanding Player honors while helping the program to the 2006 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Harper also coached Morris at Montverde Academy in Orlando, Florida.
Morris understands the lineage she’s stepping into.
She laughs about it sometimes, describing the experience as “walking in the shadow of a giant.”
But shadows can also point the way.
“I’ve been here for three years,” Morris said. “I came here for Coach Harper. She was my coach in high school. It’s a lot to look up to. And I love her with all my heart. I just love her here at Towson. She took me under her wing and treated me like I’m her daughter, and I would ask for nothing less from her.”
Morris leads the CAA in blocked shots per game (2.1), which is 19th nationally. Her 62 blocked shots are 18th in the country. She’s had 13 games with at least three blocked shots this season. Morris blocked a season-high six shots against Coppin State.
Beneath the stats though, is motivation. Even though she was cut from her third-grade basketball team a long time ago, the moment still fuels her every step. Morris spent two years at Cal State-Bakersfield where she played 30 games over two years before coming to Towson. She’s been a vital contributor for the Tigers.
“Being cut humbled me real bad and made me hungry,” Morris said. “Coach has helped because she often tells me try to get off-ball blocks, not just relying on post defense, and try to get it when my guards get beat. I think that’s how I get most of my blocks.”
She’s been a big key in Towson’s defense down stretch as it faced a season-ending gauntlet of playing the top five seeds of the CAA tournament, finishing with a 3-2 record after wins over Stony Brook, Campbell, and Drexel. The Tigers led College of Charleston at intermission and Monmouth at the end of the third quarter, bolstering their confidence they can enjoy a weekend to remember.
As the No. 7 seed, Towson knows the recent history. Two of the last three CAA champions were No. 7 seeds. The Tigers were on the flip side of that history three years ago when seventh-seeded Monmouth defeated No. 1 seed Towson at SECU Arena to win the title in Harper’s first year as head coach.
The first obstacle for the Tigers is a No. 10 Hofstra squad that’s won four of its last six games. Towson swept the season series by a combined four points.
Harper has enjoyed witnessing Morris’ growth.
“I say she’s a unicorn,” Harper said. “At her size, with her ability to shoot the three, block shots, rebound, and finish around the rim, she’s really special. This year she’s more confident in her body — we’ve been on her about fouling and jumping — and she’s learned that altering shots is just as good as blocking them. The biggest message for her has been securing and anchoring our defense.”
Freshmen fuel Elon
Elon enters the CAA tournament with momentum built inside Schar Center, where the Phoenix have quietly turned their home floor into a launching pad. Now, the trick is transferring that success to Washington, D.C.’s CareFirst Arena where the Phoenix begin the CAA tournament as the No. 6 seed. They open against No. 11 Hampton.
In their regular-season finale against UNCW, Quinzia Fulmore delivered a performance that captured the confidence Elon has carried into March. The junior forward carved through the Seahawks’ defense for a career-high 28 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, recording her first double-double of the season while consistently establishing position in the paint.
Affectionately named “Nice and Smooth”, LaNae’ Corbett and Laila Anderson have provided a steady presence and that showed in the season finale. Corbett finished with her 19th double-figure scoring game of the season when she finished with 12 points against UNCW. On the defensive end, Anderson and Maraja Pass set the tone with four steals apiece, turning defensive pressure into transition opportunities.
Elon closed the season by winning five straight CAA games at Schar Center for the first time since the 2017–18 season, and each of those victories came by double digits — the program’s first such run since 2016–17. The surge helped the Phoenix finish 10–4 at home, matching their best home record since the 2021–22 season.
As the CAA tournament begins, Elon arrives with a formula that travels well: relentless work on the glass, disruptive defense, and a frontcourt capable of taking over when possessions tighten.
The Phoenix also bring valuable depth. Freshmen Ashanti Fox and Tamia Watkins have provided impact throughout the season, helping Elon rank ninth nationally in bench scoring (28.3).
Watkins’ presence has been especially important. She and Fulmore shared the team lead in rebounding at 5.0 boards per game, giving Elon a steady presence around the rim on both ends of the floor.
Veteran head coach Charlotte Smith has watched Watkins’ growth reshape the team’s defensive identity.
“She’s changed the whole trajectory of our team defensively with her intensity and being on the front lines of our press defense and our zone defense,” Smith told The IX Basketball during a February Zoom call. “She’s a prolific passer. She’s probably one of the best passers on our team, just in terms of seeing the open floor and being able to hit people.”
If that energy, depth, and defensive pressure travel to the tournament floor the way they have all season, Elon could arrive in Washington as a team more than capable of scrambling the bracket.
Monmouth’s Gamble goes wild
It’s no secret that winning in March often requires a player capable of making difficult shots. One who ignores tight defense and a dwindling shot clock.
Monmouth has that kind of instant bucket-getter in junior guard Gigi Gamble. The IX Basketball profiled Gamble and Divine Dibula in January.
The Hawks guard erupted for a spectacular 41-point performance in Monmouth’s regular-season finale against Towson last week, delivering one of the most explosive scoring displays in recent CAA history. It marked the most points scored by a conference player since Drexel’s Keishana Washington produced four 40-point games during the 2022–23 season.
Gamble’s outburst also etched her name into the program record books and earned her CAA Player of the Week honors for the third time this season. Her performance set the OceanFirst Bank Center record for points scored by a Monmouth player. It’s the second-highest single-game total in program history behind a 42-point performance from Sandra Cook against Wagner in 1988.
The eruption was particularly striking considering the stretch that preceded it. Gamble entered the game having shot just 2-for-21 combined in home losses to North Carolina A&T and Hofstra.
Against Towson, Gamble flipped the script in emphatic fashion, shooting 14-for-20 from the field and pouring in 13 points in the fourth quarter to close the regular season with authority.
After finishing tied with Stony Brook for fourth place in the conference standings, Monmouth heads into the CAA tournament as the No. 5 seed. The Hawks will open play Thursday against the winner of the Northeastern–UNCW matchup with Gamble arriving as the kind of scorer capable of tilting a March game in an instant.
Hofstra peaking at the right time
Hofstra heads to Washington, D.C., playing some of its best basketball of the season.
The Pride have won four of their last six games, including a gritty road victory at Monmouth, and arrive at the CAA tournament showing signs of a team rounding into form at the right time. As the No. 10 seed, Hofstra opens tournament play Thursday against No. 7 Towson in a matchup that has already proven razor-thin.
The Pride dropped both regular-season meetings to Towson by a combined four points, a reminder of how narrow the margins have been for Hofstra this season. The Pride are 1–9 in games decided by three points or fewer, a record that underscores just how close they have been to flipping several outcomes.
Rebounding has been a constant strength for Hofstra, led by junior forward Sandra Magolico, the Pride’s second leading scorer at 8.1 points per game, second to Chloe Sterling’s 10.0 points per game. Alarice Gooden scores at a 7.9 point per game clip while Nevaeh Brown adds 6.9 points per game.
Magolico has thrived during conference play, ranking second in the CAA with 9.3 rebounds per league game while averaging 7.9 rebounds overall. Ten of Magolico’s 11 double-digit rebounding performances have come against conference opponents, a sign of her growing impact as the stakes have risen.
Magolico has also made her presence felt defensively in other ways. In Hofstra’s win over Monmouth, she collected a career-high seven steals, the most by a Pride player in a game since Rosi Nicholson recorded eight against New Orleans on Dec. 21, 2022. She also had a career-high four blocked shots against Elon.
Defense has fueled many of Hofstra’s brightest moments down the stretch. The Pride have held 11 of their last 12 opponents below 60 points, consistently turning games into grinding, possession-by-possession battles.
Their road win at Monmouth offered a clear example of that identity. Hofstra limited the Hawks to just 28.8 percent shooting (17-for-59), the lowest field-goal percentage the Pride have allowed to a Division I opponent this season. Monmouth also went scoreless over the final 2:51 as Hofstra closed the game with poise.
The defensive pressure has been evident elsewhere as well. Hofstra limited Northeastern to just 15 field goals, tied with UNCW on Feb. 22 for the fewest allowed by the Pride to a Division I opponent this season, while forcing the Huskies into 20 turnovers. It marked the fifth time this season — and the fourth during CAA play — that an opponent committed at least 20 turnovers against Hofstra.
Elsewhere around the CAA
Stony Brook outperformed preseason expectations in finishing fourth in the conference. The Seawolves were picked 12th and finished tied for fourth. The IX Basketball went inside Stony Brook’s season in February. Despite a tough season-ending trip, Stony Brook is confident entering the tournament. The Seawolves top scorers this season have been Janay Brantley (12.4 points per game), Diaka Berete (11.4), and Caitlin Frost (8.7 and 6.7 rebounds per game). Sandra Frau Garcia is second in the CAA in assists per game (4.7) and steals per game (2.3).
Defending tournament champion William & Mary claimed the No. 8 seed after winning a pair of games last week against Elon and Hampton. The Tribe will begin the tournament against North Carolina A&T, a team it defeated in last year’s quarterfinal during its amazing run to the NCAA tournament. Junior guard Cassidy Geddes scored 22 points including the 1,000th of her solid career during the Tribe’s 61-60 win over Hampton. Geddes averages 13.7 points per game, which is sixth in the conference.
Kiki Mcelrath has been Hampton’s leader all season. She leads the Lady Pirates in scoring with a 13.0 point per game average, ninth in the CAA. Mcelrath ended the season by scoring in double digits in three of Hampton’s final four games. She had consecutive 20-point outings against Stony Brook and Northeastern. Freshman Akilah Shelton has made her mark this season on the defensive side with a team best 49 blocked shots. That total ranks her 12th in the nation among freshmen. Hampton opens the CAA tournament against Elon on Thursday.
It’s been a tough ending to the season for UNC Wilmington. It lost leading scorer Rori Cox to a season-ending injury late in a heartbreaking 54-52 loss to Campbell. It was two days after Cox scored 33 points to lead the Seahawks to a win over North Carolina A&T. The Seahawks have battled but enter the tournament with a six-game losing streak. One of its conference victories was against Northeastern in the CAA season-opener when hope sprang eternal.
Kylah Silver has set career-high across the board in her return from an injury that cost her the 2024-25 season. The red-shirt sophomore has played in a career-high 27 games, scored a career-best 330 points, grabbed 159 rebounds and handed out 39 assists. She’s shooting 39.4% from the field and 29.5% from deep, both career-highs.
Here’s all you need to know about Northeastern: two of its three CAA wins were against Stony Brook and Monmouth and its two losses to North Carolina A&T, one was in double overtime and the other was in triple overtime. The Huskies may be the No. 12 seed and have to play in Wednesday’s opening round against Northeastern, but they have been better than their overall record. The IX Basketball went deep on Northeastern in December.
Justice Tramble has scored in double figures in nine of Northeastern’s last 10 games. She had 24 points in a loss to Hampton and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds in the triple overtime setback to the Aggies.
