2024–25 Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs basketball team

The 2024–25 Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs basketball team will represent Alabama A&M University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bulldogs, who were led by first-year head coach Dawn Thornton, will played their home games at the Alabama A&M Events Center in Huntsville, Alabama as members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

2024–25 Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs basketball
WNIT, First Round
Conference	Southwestern Athletic Conference
Record	21–11 (14–4 SWAC)
Head coach	Dawn Thornton (1st season)
Associate head coach	Tim Valentine
Assistant coaches	Briona Brown Erika Sisk
Home arena	Alabama A&M Events Center

2024–25 SWAC women's basketball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Southern †	15	–	3		.833			21	–	15		.583
Texas Southern	14	–	4		.778			17	–	16		.515
Alabama A&M	14	–	4		.778			21	–	11		.656
Jackson State	13	–	5		.722			16	–	15		.516
Grambling State	12	–	6		.667			15	–	15		.500
Alcorn State	10	–	8		.556			14	–	18		.438
Bethune–Cookman	7	–	11		.389			10	–	21		.323
Florida A&M	6	–	12		.333			9	–	21		.300
Mississippi Valley State	6	–	12		.333			8	–	23		.258
Prairie View A&M	6	–	12		.333			10	–	19		.345
Alabama State	4	–	14		.222			6	–	24		.200
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	1	–	17		.056			3	–	25		.107
† 2025 SWAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Lady Bulldogs finished the 2023–24 season 15–16, 10–8 in SWAC play to finish in fifth place place. They were upset by Arkansas–Pine Bluff in the quarterfinals of the SWAC tournament.

On March 19, 2024, the school announced that head coach Margaret Richards would be stepping down from her head coaching position. On April 6, 2024, the school named Arkansas–Pine Bluff head coach Dawn Thornton as the Lady Bulldogs' next head coach.

Preseason

On September 19, 2024, the SWAC released their preseason coaches poll. Alabama A&M was picked to finish third in the SWAC regular season.

Preseason rankings

SWAC preseason poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Grambling State	276 (10)
2	Southern	232 (2)
3	Alabama A&M	226 (4)
4	Jackson State	211 (4)
5	Florida A&M	178 (3)
6	Prairie View A&M	165 (1)
7	Alcorn State	157
8	Bethune–Cookman	142
9	Texas Southern	117
10	Alabama State	114
11	Arkansas–Pine Bluff	86
12	Mississippi Valley State	46

Source:

Preseason All-SWAC Teams

Two Lady Bulldogs were named to the first Preseason All-SWAC teams.

Preseason All-MEAC Teams

Team	Player	Position	Year
First	Coriah Beck	Guard	Senior
	Alisha Wilson	Forward

Source:

Roster

2024–25 Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Darian Burgin 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Walnut Hills High School Cincinnati, Ohio G 1 Mailyn Wilkerson 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Sr Arkansas State Houston, Texas G 2 Jaiyah Harris-Smith 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Sr Little Rock Miami, Florida F 3 Alisha Wilson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Academy of Art La Verne, California G 4 Kourtney Rittenberry 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Arkansas–Pine Bluff Loganville, Georgia F 5 Crystianna Whitehead 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Arkansas–Pine Bluff Cordova, Tennessee G 8 Nyla Allen 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) GS Savannah State Jacksonville, Florida G 11 Aniya Palmer 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Georgia State LaGrange, Georgia G 12 Tia Harvey 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Little Rock Sachse, Texas G 15 Coriah Beck 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Sr Arkansas–Pine Bluff Memphis, Tennessee C 21 LaCambria Shakespeare 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Sr Collins Hill High School Atlanta, Georgia G 22 Shelomi Sanders 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) RS Jr Colorado Rockwall, Texas C 23 Maori Davenport 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Sr Arkansas–Pine Bluff Troy, Alabama G 24 Lauryn Pendleton 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Arkansas State Little Rock, Arkansas G 25 Kalia Walker 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Sr Arkansas–Pine Bluff Alexander, Arkansas	Head coach Dawn Thornton (Jackson State) Assistant coach(es) Tim Valentine (Southern Wesleyan) Briona Brown (Jacksonville) Erika Sisk (Mississippi) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 19, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 4, 2024* 6:30 p.m.		Oakwood	W 96–50	–	Alabama A&M Events Center (1,391) Huntsville, AL
Non-conference regular season
November 7, 2024* 7:30 p.m.		No. 24 Alabama	L 59–84	0–1	Alabama A&M Events Center (5,639) Huntsville, AL
November 9, 2024* 1:00 p.m.		at Eastern Michigan	W 66–57	1–1	George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,147) Ypsilanti, MI
November 12, 2024* 5:30 p.m.		UAB	L 67–74	1–2	Alabama A&M Events Center (1,065) Huntsville, AL
November 19, 2024* 11:00 a.m.		Kansas City	W 57–52	2–2	Alabama A&M Events Center (4,237) Huntsville, AL
November 22, 2024* 5:30 p.m., FloSports		at Alabama–Huntsville	W 71–68	3–2	Spragins Hall (828) Huntsville, AL
November 29, 2024* 2:00 p.m.		vs. Utah Valley San Diego MTE	L 54–56	3–3	Jenny Craig Pavilion (88) San Diego, CA
November 30, 2024* 2:00 p.m.		at San Diego San Diego MTE	W 78–67	4–3	Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,012) San Diego, CA
December 7, 2024* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Lindenwood	W 61–58	5–3	Hyland Performance Arena (297) St. Charles, MO
December 17, 2024* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at North Alabama	W 80–77	6–3	CB&S Bank Arena (1,176) Florence, AL
December 20, 2024* 1:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Tulane Tulane Holiday Tournament	L 46–53	6–4	Devlin Fieldhouse (586) New Orleans, LA
December 21, 2024* 12:00 p.m.		vs. Central Arkansas Tulane Holiday Tournament	W 55–53	7–4	Devlin Fieldhouse (535) New Orleans, LA
December 29, 2024* 11:00 a.m., SECN		at Vanderbilt	L 64–93	7–5	Memorial Gymnasium (3,061) Nashville, TN
SWAC regular season
January 2, 2025 6:00 p.m.		Mississippi Valley State	W 89–53	8–5 (1–0)	Alabama A&M Events Center (1,187) Huntsville, AL
January 4, 2025 2:00 p.m.		Arkansas–Pine Bluff	W 66–52	9–5 (2–0)	Alabama A&M Events Center (1,503) Huntsville, AL
January 9, 2025 5:00 p.m.		at Jackson State	L 55–65	9–6 (2–1)	Williams Assembly Center (523) Jackson, MS
January 11, 2025 1:00 p.m.		at Alcorn State	W 66–56	10–6 (3–1)	Davey Whitney Complex (121) Lorman, MS
January 18, 2025 2:00 p.m.		Alabama State	W 54–47	11–6 (4–1)	Alabama A&M Events Center (5,981) Huntsville, AL
January 25, 2025 2:00 p.m.		Texas Southern	L 65–75	11–7 (4–2)	Alabama A&M Events Center (1,017) Huntsville, AL
January 27, 2025 5:30 p.m.		Prairie View A&M	W 68–59	12–7 (5–2)	Alabama A&M Events Center (1,108) Huntsville, AL
January 30, 2025 6:00 p.m.		at Bethune–Cookman	W 66–49	13–7 (6–2)	Moore Gymnasium (588) Daytona Beach, FL
February 1, 2025 3:00 p.m.		at Florida A&M	W 58–54	14–7 (7–2)	Al Lawson Center (450) Tallahassee, FL
February 6, 2025 6:00 p.m.		Grambling State	W 70–58	15–7 (8–2)	Alabama A&M Events Center (1,109) Huntsville, AL
February 8, 2025 2:00 p.m.		Southern	L 44–50	15–8 (8–3)	Alabama A&M Events Center (2,135) Huntsville, AL
February 13, 2025 TBA		at Arkansas–Pine Bluff	W 69–55	16–8 (9–3)	H.O. Clemmons Arena (674) Pine Bluff, AR
February 15, 2025 4:00 p.m.		at Mississippi Valley State	W 95–76	17–8 (10–3)	Harrison HPER Complex (1,070) Itta Bena, MS
February 20, 2025 6:00 p.m.		Florida A&M	W 70–67	18–8 (11–3)	Alabama A&M Events Center (1,329) Huntsville, AL
February 22, 2025 2:00 p.m.		Bethune–Cookman	W 70–62	19–8 (12–3)	Alabama A&M Events Center (1,079) Huntsville, AL
March 1, 2025 1:00 p.m.		at Alabama State	W 71–63	20–8 (13–3)	Dunn–Oliver Acadome (1,655) Montgomery, AL
March 6, 2025 6:30 p.m.		at Grambling State	L 65–77	20–9 (13–4)	Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center (1,400) Grambling, LA
March 8, 2025 2:30 p.m.		at Southern	W 48–35	21–9 (14–4)	F. G. Clark Center (3,978) Baton Rouge, LA
SWAC tournament
March 13, 2025 11:00 a.m., ESPN+	(3)	vs. (6) Alcorn State	L 53–56	21–10	Gateway Center Arena (641) Atlanta, GA
WNIT
March 22, 2025* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Chattanooga Round 1	L 49–53	21–11	McKenzie Arena (640) Chattanooga, TN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources: