"I could melt right now" - Coach Erin Dickerson filled with emotions after William & Mary notch first ever March Madness win

Coach Erin Dickerson led the William & Mary Tribe to a 69-63 win over the High Point Panthers in the First Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Thursday evening. The win was the first in the Tribe's program history.

During her postgame news conference, Dickerson reveled in the win and revealed how big of a deal it was to her and her team.

"I could melt right now," Erin Dickerson said. "How to calm their nerves. I kept saying, 'Oh I need to figure out' what things I wanna execute after timeouts and like all of this stuff. And then I couldn't focus on it because I needed to make sure that my girls were okay.

"These are my babies right? They have been through everything. They have given everything to be at William & Mary. They chose this place and they have completely bought into me, my staff and what this university stands for. So, to see them have this success that they are having right now, I could melt."

The game against High Point was not a straightforward one for William & Mary. The lead changed hands nine times in the contest, although the Tribe outrebounded the Panthers 45-31, making up for their 16 turnovers that resulted in 18 points for High Point.

Erin Dickerson makes history with the Tribe

Erin Dickerson led the William & Mary Tribe to history after being the last original Division I team from the 1938-1939 season to make the NCAA Tournament. They had to do it the hard way after losing seven of their last eight games in the regular season.

The Tribe followed that up by winning four games in four days to win the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament to earn an automatic bid into March Madness.

William & Mary is the second oldest school in the country (founded in 1693) and its CAA Tournament title win was its first in 106 years of the basketball team's existence.

The Tribe became the first team since Incarnate Word in 2022 to qualify for the Big Dance with a losing record (16-18). During her postgame news conference, Dickerson revealed the see-saw nature of their season:

"We've seen everything this season. We've been down a lot. We just kept saying nothing can tear us down."

Erin Dickerson will lead the William & Mary Tribe into a tough game against the No. 1-seeded Texas Longhorns on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.