Women’s Basketball Adds Graduate Transfers Tierra Simon and Skylah Travis to 2025–26 Roster
05/30/2025 | Women's Basketball
RICHMOND, Va. – Head Women's Basketball Coach Aaron Roussell announced on Friday the addition of graduate transfers Tierra Simon and Skylah Travis to the Spider roster ahead of the 2025–26 season.
Simon, a 6-1 forward from Houston, Texas, arrives at Richmond following a standout 2024–25 campaign at Saint Louis. The veteran post started all 32 games for the Billikens, averaging 8.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and averaged a block per game. She shot 43.9 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from three and 80.9 percent from the free throw line. Simon ranked fifth in the Atlantic 10 in total rebounds (285) and fifth in rebounding average. She logged seven double-doubles, posted double-digit rebounds 15 times and scored a season-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting — including two threes — inside the Robins Center against the Spiders on Feb. 16.
In 2023–24, Simon played in all 40 games for Saint Louis and made 10 starts during the Billikens' historic run to the program's first-ever WNIT Championship. She led the team in total rebounds (276), ranked second on the team in blocks (43) and recorded four double-doubles on the year.
"We have obviously been very familiar with Tierra over the last few years," Roussell said. "She is a high-level rebounder and proven scorer that will fit very well in our style of play. In addition to her relentless motor, she plays with a high IQ, as we saw firsthand last season in the Robins Center. She has emerging perimeter game and an ability to make shots from behind the arc while also being a strong defender inside."
Travis, a 6-3 forward from Weldon, N.C., spent last season with Louisiana after previous stops at Mizzou and Old Dominion. She appeared in 18 games for the Ragin' Cajuns and averaged 5.6 points and 6.6 rebounds in just under 15 minutes per contest while shooting 60.3 percent from the field. Prior to Louisiana, Travis spent two seasons at Mizzou, where she appeared in four games in 2021–22, and began her college career at ODU in 2020–21. A former North Carolina All-State selection and District 1 Player of the Year, Travis led Weldon High School to the Class 1A Championship game and averaged a double-double as a senior.
"We are very intrigued by Skylah and see her best basketball ahead of her," Roussell said. "She has battled injuries over her career, but she got healthy last season and proved to be a tenacious rebounder on the glass and a very efficient scorer at the basket. Her size and athleticism will make her a unique player in the A-10 and we are excited to witness her full potential in our system."
Richmond is coming off another historic season in 2024–25, earning back-to-back Atlantic 10 regular season titles for the first time in program history and claiming the program's first NCAA Tournament victory. The Spiders finished 28–7 overall and 17–1 in conference play, riding a program-record 17-game winning streak and earning marquee non-conference wins over Fairfield, Oklahoma State and Columbia, and were one of just three mid-major programs to finish in the top 75 of the NET. Richmond defeated No. 9 Georgia Tech in the NCAA first round before falling in a tight second-round matchup to top-seeded UCLA in Los Angeles.
