WASHINGTON – Entering her first season as the head women’s basketball coach at VCU, Chelsea Banbury knows how to craft a winning formula. Over the past seven seasons at High Point, she has taken the Panthers to three NCAA Tournaments, winning the Big South Conference Tournament three times and the regular-season title four times.

Banbury’s coaching journey began at her alma mater, Florida Gulf Coast. She learned from then head coach, and now Atlanta Dream bench boss, Karl Smesko, spending the last five seasons there as associate head coach.

Banbury went 140-79 at High Point and her team led the Big South in assists, field goal percentage, blocks per game, scoring defense and scoring margin last season.

Now she is ready to take on the next challenge, bringing another A10 title to VCU. But that opportunity is part of why she accepted the position.

“It’s kind of what this league has turned into,” Banbury told Field of 68’s Talia Goodman. “I just have so much respect for this league, the coaches in it and the success they’ve had being a multi-bid league every single year, beating P4 teams in their non-conference schedules. After talking with the AD and what he wants out of his women’s program and where he sees that it can go, it got me excited. It seemed like the right step in my career, the competitor in me was intrigued.”

Here is a look at the Rams:
Coach – Chelsea Banbury - 1^st season

Last year- VCU went 8-23 overall and 4-14 in A10 play. VCU’s season started by winning three of its first four games, all at home. The Rams struggled in the second half of the season, falling to Duquesne in the Betterment Atlantic 10 Tournament First Round.

They’ll miss- Mary-Anna Asare (17.4 ppg/86.7% FT), Makenna White (7.5 ppg/4 rpg), Ty Williams (4.4 ppg)

Impact returners- Katarina Knezevic (10.3 ppg/6.1 rpg/41 stls), Cyriah Griffin (7.5 ppg), Patricia Augustin (6.6 ppg/4.5 rpg)

Newcomers of note- Macy Spencer (18.6 ppg/42.8% FG/81.2% FT/46 stls/103 3-pointers @ High Point), Lexi Fleming (6.0 ppg @ High Point), Ada Toribio Saez (freshman)

Reasons to be optimistic- Banbury brings Macy Spencer and Lexi Fleming to the program from High Point. Spencer, a senior guard, was named the Big South Player of the Year and Big South Newcomer of the Year in 2025-26.

Spencer’s challenge for this season is to become an elite leader. Banbury believes Spencer has improved from last year, and this represents the next step in her journey. Spencer followed Banbury to VCU largely thanks to the coach’s confidence and belief in her game, and credits Banbury for bringing that scoring belief out of her.

Fleming is a leader who can shoot the ball. The Rams will run things properly when she is in on the floor, evidenced by High Point’s low turnover rate during her playing time last season.
Freshman Ada Toribio Saez has Banbury excited, noting her pace, smarts and defensive ability. 

“People enjoy watching her play,” Banbury noted.

X Factor- Eight total Rams elected to stay from last year’s roster, including Katarina Knezevic, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder a season ago.

Banbury felt that continuity was important with this roster, meshing new talent with players that already know the A10 and the program.

To the prospective returners, Banbury sold a vision of how she wants VCU to play and the expectations that she plans to set. She knew that might scare some players away, but instead her student-athletes embraced the challenge.

“They definitely welcomed us with open arms,” Banbury explained. “I think we turned up the intensity a little bit to what they were used to and what they have done in the past. I do think the group was hungry for a change. Competitors want to compete and want to win so they’ve accepted how we want to play. Sometimes the process may have seemed slower than we would like but as of late, we’ve been making quite a bit of progress.”

Circle the date- VCU plays the majority of its non-conference schedule at home or around the Richmond area, with one true road game on Nov. 19 against Maine. A Nov. 12 tilt against Virginia Tech marks the first of two opportunities against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season. The other chance will come on Nov. 28 against Ohio State as part of the 4 Tha Culture Holiday Classic in Henrico, Va. That contest will tip off at the Henrico Sports & Events Center, home of the 2027 Betterment Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Bottom line- Banbury certainly believes the Rams can achieve success in her first season but emphasized they must not overlook small details in pursuit of a larger goal.
 
"It is big goals versus important day-by-day goals to keep on task," said Banbury. "I want us to be better individually and as a team. I think if you can maintain that (mindset) and the players enjoy playing with each other, I think you put yourself in a really good position in March and that’s what I want."
  Zac Weiss is a college athletics beat writer for Pittsburgh Sports Now, primarily reporting on Duquesne Athletics. Across his career, he has covered over 1,000 A10 sporting events.