Jenny Allen, Staff Writer
Drew Thompson, Sports Editor
Chelsea Banbury was announced as the new VCU women’s basketball head coach after a challenging 2025-2026 season. Banbury was hired from High Point University and is the 14th head coach in VCU women’s basketball history.
The Rams ended last season with an 8-23 overall record after head coach Beth O’Boyle was dismissed from her position midway through the season. VCU former assistant coach Kirk Crawford filled the role as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
After Crawford took on the role as head coach, the team did not see another win the rest of the season. The Rams were hindered by coaching changes and injuries to key players as they crawled past the finish line.
Banbury is looking to revitalize the team after her seven successful seasons at HPU. She did not have a single losing season during her time at High Point, with an overall record of 140-79.
Banbury held a win percentage of 64%, compared to O’Boyle who held an overall win percentage of 53% during her VCU tenure.
Prior to O’Boyle’s dismissal, the Rams were lower in nearly every statistical category from Banbury’s Panthers.
Banbury and O’Boyle’s pace is about the same, with HPU only shooting an average of three more shots a game than VCU did last season. However, the outlier is where the shots come from and the quality of the looks.
VCU attempted nearly two more two-point shots per game than High Point, however High Point overtook VCU in terms of three-point shot attempts. The Panthers shot nearly 24 threes a game to the Rams 19, according to CBB Analytics.
High Point’s offense was also more efficient, with an effective field goal percentage of 50% compared to VCU’s 43%. Additionally, the Rams committed four more turnovers per game.
While the pace was the same, the better shot attempts made High Point’s scoring more explosive. HPU scored an average of 72.6 points per game compared to VCU’s 58.3.
Defense is where the real difference between the two coaches lie. Banbury promised to bring a relentless and disciplined defense, and her previous season at HPU emulate that.
High Point sat in the 95th percentile in defensive rating and was consistently one of the top teams in the nation in terms of not fouling, opponent field goal percentage and preventing assisted shots.
While the Panthers did not get a noticeable amount of steals or blocks per game, the disciplined defense consistently shut down opposing teams and made them uncomfortable.
Comparatively to VCU under O’Boyle last season, the Rams sat in the lower half for nearly every defensive stat, with some being in the lower fifth percentile in the nation.
VCU committed more fouls at a higher rate, allowed more assists and allowed more high percentage shots from opponents. This directly led to the Rams allowing 66 points per game while the Panthers kept opponents to 61.
Under Banbury, fans can likely expect a much more disciplined defense that will look for high percentage shots early and often into the shot clock. The team is not one that will sit around and wait for an opportunity to come to them, instead taking action and controlling the pace of the game.