The top women's college basketball storylines and stars you missed during football season

The top women’s college basketball storylines and stars you missed during football season

Posted by author January 23, 2025 Basketball

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The first 12-team College Football Playoff is in the books after Ohio State’s national championship game win over Notre Dame, and that means focus on campus will quickly turn to college basketball and the March Madness that looms less than two months away.

Women’s college basketball, in particular, is in the midst of a crucial moment in its history, with more attention paid to the sport because of what generational players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have done for its popularity in recent years. This season – even with Clark and Reese off to the professional ranks – appears poised to continue that momentum, having already produced a series of intriguing headlines and another batch of stars with the potential to further fuel the growth of women’s basketball.

The national championship contenders are separating themselves from the pack now that conference play is here and there are several key games coming up soon that will set the tone heading into Selection Sunday. If you haven’t been paying attention to the women’s college basketball season until now, here’s a breakdown of some key trends and stories to track ahead of the 2025 NCAA tournament.

UCLA, LSU are only two undefeated teams left

No. 1 UCLA and No. 4 LSU are the only women’s college basketball teams without a loss through games played on Wednesday, Jan. 23. Each team, however, is preparing to face another stern test in the coming days.

The Bruins handed No. 2 South Carolina its only defeat of the season in nonconference play and have wins over Louisville, Michigan and Baylor during the best start in program history. But a matchup with No. 10 Maryland awaits this weekend to kick off the teeth of UCLA’s first Big Ten schedule.

LSU’s path to an unblemished record has been slightly easier with just two wins over ranked opponents. But coach Kim Mulkey’s team has reeled off five-straight SEC victories and gets a chance to cement its status as a Final Four contender against South Carolina on Friday in a showdown delayed by one day due to inclement weather in the southeast.

Who will be player of the year?

A four-way race appears to have broken out to be crowned this season’s best women’s college basketball player with less than two months to go until Selection Sunday. Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, USC’s JuJu Watkins, UCLA’s Lauren Betts and UConn’s Paige Bueckers all have cases to make.

Hidalgo is the biggest reason why the Fighting Irish are the only team to beat USC and Texas this season, while Watkins is backing up her record-setting freshman season with the Trojans by becoming a more efficient player as a sophomore. Betts is averaging a double-double while emerging as a two-way force at UCLA. Bueckers, who recently missed just two games after an injury scare, became the fastest player in UConn history to score 2,000 career points this week.

South Carolina well-positioned for another repeat

The Gamecocks might not have a player of the year candidate, but they look poised to be a force again when March Madness arrives. South Carolina is attempting to win its fourth national championship under coach Dawn Staley, a feat that would include the Gamecocks taking back-to-back titles.

South Carolina lost versatile forward Ashlyn Watkins to a season-ending knee injury earlier this month, but 10 players are averaging at least 15 minutes per game as part of the Gamecocks’ deep rotation. They’ve already taken down Texas once and LSU could be next. Will they get to eventually avenge their lone loss this season to UCLA in the Final Four? It’s hard to bet against the Gamecocks, who keep rolling no matter what players take the court.

An LA collision course

UCLA and USC seem headed for a duel atop the Big Ten standings this winter, with Watkins and Betts ready to play starring roles in a script made for Hollywood. These are two women’s basketball teams capable of making the Final Four at rival schools in Los Angeles, right as the region needs a distraction to bring it together in the wake of devastating wildfires that have killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 15,000 structures, according to authorities.

UCLA and USC play two games as part of their first season in the Big Ten. USC hosts UCLA on Friday, Feb. 13 and Trojans officials have already announced a sellout. The two teams then close the regular season against one another in Westwood when USC visits UCLA on March 1.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark hangover

The Hawkeyes were the talk of the sport led by Caitlin Clark, but the post-Clark era is in danger of beginning with Iowa (13-7) on the outside of the NCAA tournament bubble. Iowa has only three wins in its first nine Big Ten games thus far and still must play a brutal league schedule filled with ranked teams the rest of the way. The Hawkeyes made back-to-back Final Four appearances with players like Clark, Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall. It was never going to be easy to replace that historic group – and it hasn’t been.

Who has surprised?

No. 9 TCU was the highest-ranked Big 12 team in the national polls this week before losing a thriller to Oklahoma State, but the Horned Frogs were picked fourth in the league’s preseason poll. They’ve replaced Iowa State, one of this season’s disappointments so far, as a top Big 12 contender along with No. 8 Kansas State.

No. 18 Georgia Tech got off to a 14-0 start before a recent three-game skid in the ACC. No. 17 Tennessee started the season unranked only to reel off 13-straight wins under new coach Kim Caldwell, who’s due to give birth to her first child soon. The Vols have a gauntlet upcoming with games against Texas, South Carolina, LSU and UConn over the next few weeks.

Can Stanford keep NCAA tournament streak alive?

Stanford wasn’t expected to be elite in its first season following the departure of legendary coach Tara VanDerveer, who retired last year as the winningest coach in men’s and women’s college basketball. The Cardinal were unranked in the preseason polls and picked to finish seventh in their first year in the ACC. But Stanford entered this season with 36-straight NCAA tournament appearances, a streak surpassed only by Tennessee, and the distinction is in jeopardy of coming to an end.

Stanford has struggled against strong competition under new coach Kate Paye, with an 0-6 record in quadrant one games so far. It was slotted at No. 43 in the women’s basketball NET rankings ahead of Thursday’s action. ESPN had Stanford listed as one of its “first four out” in its most recent bracketology.