Women’s college basketball enters a new season with the NCAA Tournament approaching later this month. While UConn and UCLA dominate the competition and South Carolina and Texas top the SEC, some other notable programs have had a mixed year. Duke is better than Notre Dame and Tennessee, but they both have questions to answer heading into Sunday’s Selection Game.
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The way it all unfolds will have a greater impact. In the women’s tournament, teams will be awarded a performance unit for the tournament for the first time. According to the Associated Press, teams that advance to the Final Four will receive about $1.26 million over a three-year rolling period to pay conference expenses. The decision puts the championship on par with the men’s championship and provides financial incentives for athletic programs to continue investing in the growing sport.
Here’s what you might have missed in March.
UConn: No problem staying undefeated without Page
After a storybook end to Paige Bueckers’ career a year ago in Tampa, the Huskies (34-0) are improving themselves. The defending champion enters the NCAA Tournament undefeated with a 50-game winning streak and a +38.4 scoring average. They’re on pace to have the third-largest scoring differential in NCAA Division I history, trailing only the 2015 championship team, which averaged 40.6 points, and the 2016 championship team, which averaged 39.7 points.
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Does this make them better than they were a year ago?
“We’re a much different team than we were last year, right,” head coach Geno Auriemma told reporters after the season. “But what if we’re a better team than we were last year? I don’t think so.”
They could do what the Bueckers couldn’t and become the 12th team since the NCAA began governing women’s basketball in 1982 to finish the season undefeated. The Huskies have accomplished this feat seven times before, including in Breanna Stewart’s final season in 2016. They are chasing their 13th national title in program history, all since 1995.
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Sarah Strong, a strong contender for National Player of the Year, leads UConn with 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks in 26.6 minutes per game. She is approaching a 50/40/90 season, averaging 59.5% from the field, 40.7% from outside, and 88.1% from the free throw line. Azzi Fudd, the NCAA’s 2025 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, is averaging career highs in points (17.9), assists (3.0) and steals (2.5) while shooting 45.1% from three-point range.
UCLA’s deep, experienced roster seeks redemption
UCLA head coach Corey Cross learned the lessons on and off the court from his team’s historic run to the Final Four, which ended with a record-setting defeat. The Bruins, who suffered their only neutral-site loss to Texas State in November and went undefeated in the Big Ten regular season and tournament, were looking for redemption and a possible shot at the program’s first NCAA championship. In 1978, before the NCAA began regulating women’s sports, UCLA won the AIAW national championship.
This is the most talented and experienced group of Kroos’ tenure. It centers on 6-foot-7 senior and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Betts, one of three returning starters in guard Kiki Rice and tight end Gabriela Jaquez. Close brought back former transfer Charles Ledger-Walker from injury and welcomed Utah transfer Gianna Kipkens to bolster her outside shooting. With the exception of Angela Dugalic, the Big Ten’s sixth player of the year, these six players are all departing seniors who have one last chance to win a championship.
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The Bruins (31-1) outscore their opponents by an average of 28.3 points, ranking fifth in DI and second in NET behind UConn. Thanks to the talent in the Big Ten, their 14-1 win is more than any other team. They almost swept the top ten individual awards. The only Big Ten national championship was the 1999 Purdue team, led by head coach Carolyn Peck and guard Stephanie White.
The Big Ten championship isn’t the only trophy Corey Close and the UCLA Bruins hope to hoist in the postseason. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
(Michael Hickey via Getty Images)
SEC dominates, expected to reach Final Four
The SEC is filled with title contenders. Four SEC teams finished in the top seven of the NET, and nine teams finished in the top 30. South Carolina and Texas are in the lead after beating the Gamecocks in the conference title game for the second time this season. LSU, led by senior guard Flau’jae Johnson, and Vanderbilt, with its National Player of the Year contender Mikayla Blakes, also could be headed to Phoenix.
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The Big Ten once again showed its strength this year, with UCLA, Michigan (NET 6), Minnesota (8) and Iowa State (10) included in the top 10. Aside from the Bruins, there aren’t as many clear-cut Final Four contenders as there are in the SEC.
The Wolverines’ sophomore guard trio of Syla Swords, Olivia Olson and Mila Holloway are the most intriguing of the bunch. They trail UConn, UCLA and Vanderbilt by three points each. With a lineup that featured Hannah Stuelke and Ava Heiden, Iowa defeated Michigan State for the second time in a week to advance to the Big Ten title game.
SEC and Big Ten teams being seeded in the top 16 will heavily impact advancement. One of the committee’s principles is that the top four seeded teams from the same conference must be in different divisions. If they have competed three or more times, they should not meet before the regional finals and should generally stay as separate as possible until the regional finals.
Duke enters March as great unknown
Duke entered the season as a legitimate Final Four contender but languished amid an extremely difficult non-conference schedule. They got off to a 3-6 start with blowout losses to Baylor, West Virginia and South Florida, as well as Final Four contenders South Carolina, UCLA and LSU.
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The Blue Devils (24-8) bounced back and won 17 straight games, consisting largely of ACC talent that can’t be matched in the SEC or Big Ten. On top of that, they ended the regular season losing two of three games, including a loss to then-bubble Clemson, and narrowly missed the ACC regular-season title.
Defense is head coach Kara Lawson’s calling card that should help Duke heading into March. A day later, they beat Louisville in overtime in the ACC Championship Game, as the Fighting Irish mishandled the ball on their final possession and avoided an upset against Notre Dame. Duke’s offense hasn’t been that reliable, and they remain a huge unknown after a chaotic season in the less competitive ACC.
How Duke will fare in the NCAA tournament is anyone’s guess. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
(Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images)
Tough times for the ACC
Nightly games are often entertaining and uncertain, but none of the top teams are highly regarded contenders for a spot in the Final Four.
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Louisville (27-7) is second only to Duke in terms of prospects, but its season opener against UConn seems like an eternity in the past, and its 24-point victory over Tennessee in December is now viewed in a different light. The Cardinals are a skilled team, with four of the five starters averaging between 10.1 and 11.5 points per game and six players averaging at least 23 minutes per game.
Notre Dame (22-10) lost in the ACC after leaving the transfer portal, including three-time All-American point guard Olivia Myers (TCU) and center Kate Koval (LSU). The Fighting Irish haven’t added the same level of talent in guard Hannah Hidalgo, who has shouldered a heavy load on both sides of the ball this season. The junior averaged 25.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 5.6 steals in 36.1 minutes per game.
Their 38-point loss to UConn in January was the largest loss in the series’ history, but they were still one point shy of their early-season loss to AP Top 10 Michigan. ACC losing schools include Virginia, Clemson, Cal and Georgia Tech.
Tennessee finds itself in dramatic situation to end season
The mystery of Tennessee is presented in a more dramatic way.
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The Lady Vols (16-13) lost nine of their final 11 regular-season games against the SEC’s best teams. They entered Sunday’s Selection Game on a seven-game losing streak that included a blowout performance in the SEC Tournament during which the players appeared disorganized and largely disinterested.
Head coach Kim Caldwell’s second season began when Ruby Whitehorn was arrested in August and charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession in November, and he was subsequently fired. They started 14-3 and tied the SEC 6-0, but then collapsed. After the team’s record-setting 43-point loss to South Carolina on Feb. 8, Caldwell criticized her team for “giving up a lot.”
Caldwell said third-time transfer Jania Barker did not travel with the team to Oklahoma State because she failed to meet program standards. At the end of the regular season, senior Kaiya Wynn announced that she was leaving the program after reaching her “maximum” as she did not start on her senior day. After last week’s 76-64 loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, Talaysia Cooper exited the locker room with a staff member and did not participate in the public media portion. Caldwell thought it was an effort to give the junior, who was benched in the fourth quarter, a chance to breathe.
The Lady Vols have never missed the NCAA Tournament.
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TCU realigns transfer portal under Olivia Miles
The transfer portal darling remains atop the Big 12 after an offseason of realignment. But with a loss to West Virginia in the Big 12 Championship Game, these Horned Frogs are likely to lose their spot in hosting first- and second-round games. If they do host, and are placed in the Fort Worth Super Regional, they could stay in their own bed until the Final Four.
It started with Olivia Myers, an All-American point guard transfer from Notre Dame who passed on the WNBA draft to stay on the college team for one more season. She fills the void left by WNBA rookie Hailey Van Lith, who reached the regional finals last year.
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In the pick-and-roll-heavy system favored by head coach Mark Campbell, she averaged a career-high 20.1 points per game, while posting more typically flashy all-around numbers: 6.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.9 assists. She becomes the fourth transfer point guard to earn Big 12 Player of the Year honors in five years under head coach Mark Campbell. Her five triple-doubles tie Caitlin Clark for the third-most in a single season in NCAA history.
The Horned Frogs won the Big 12 regular season championship, becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships in three seasons in the bottom half. TCU is just two years removed from holding open tryouts after an undefeated start.
