The 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began on November 4, 2024. The regular season ended on March 16, 2025, with the 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 19 and ending with the championship game at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on April 6.
Rule changes On May 2, 2024, the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee proposed a few rule changes for the 2024–25 season. These changes were approved on June 6 by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel. A one-game suspension has been added to the ejection of any player, coach, or bench personnel who "disrespectfully contacts an official or makes a threat of physical intimidation or harm, to include pushing, shoving, spitting or attempting to make physical contact with an official". Officials will be able to review whether a player's foot last touching the court was inbounds on a made shot before time expired. If a player's foot is determined to be out of bounds, officials would put the exact time of the violation on the game clock. However, if the shot is made and time remains on the game clock, a video review would not occur. Officials will now immediately conduct a replay review to judge whether a basket should count or not if an off-ball foul is called near the time a field goal or free-throw attempt is occurring. Previously, these reviews were conducted during the next electronic-media timeout.
Season headlines May 29, 2024 – Stephen F. Austin announced that it would leave the Western Athletic Conference on July 1 to rejoin the Southland Conference after a three-year absence. July 1 – IUPUI's athletic teams renamed to Indiana University Indianapolis (IU Indy) after the Indiana and Purdue university systems split the university into IU Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis. September 12 – The Pac-12 Conference, which had been reduced to 2 members after its remaining 10 schools left for other power conferences a month earlier, began a rebuilding process by announcing that Mountain West Conference members Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State would join the Pac-12 in 2026–27. September 24 – The Pac-12 Conference's rebuilding continued as Utah State would join the other Mountain West defectors in 2026–27. September 30 – Gonzaga announced it would leave the West Coast Conference to join the Pac-12 Conference for all sports except for football in 2026–27. October 1 – UTEP announced it would join the Mountain West from Conference USA in 2026–27. October 9: The NCAA Division I Council approved a proposal that reduced the duration of the transfer portal to 30 days. Going forward, the window opens on the day after the completion of the second round of the Division I women's tournament. The council also abolished the National Letter of Intent program effective immediately. Written offers of athletics aid replaced the NLI. The council introduced a proposal that would shorten the transition periods for schools wishing to reclassify from Division II or Division III to Division I. Following eventual approval at the council's January 2025 meeting, the transition periods for Division II and III schools has now dropped by a year, respectively to three and four years. October 15 – The Mountain West announced that Hawaiʻi, which has been a football-only member of that conference since 2012, would leave the Big West Conference in 2026–27 to become a full MW member. November 1 – The Mountain West announced that Grand Canyon would join the conference no later than 2026–27 for all sports except for football. Grand Canyon's official announcement stated that it would not compete in the West Coast Conference, which it had previously been scheduled to join in July 2025, and that if Mountain West bylaws allowed, it would join that conference in 2025. November 7 – The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved the name change of the former Texas A&M University–Commerce to East Texas A&M University. December 10 – The Mountain West announced that UC Davis would join the conference for all sports except football in 2026–27. January 15, 2025 – The Division I Council adopted new criteria for divisional reclassification. Schools moving from Division II or III must meet objective measures of academic success and athletic financial aid. Reclassification periods are now three years for moves from Division II and four years for moves from Division III, contingent on schools meeting these new criteria. February 27 – The Horizon League announced that Northern Illinois would join the conference in 2026–27, coinciding with the football team's departure from the Mid-American Conference to the Mountain West. March 19 – Cal Baptist announced it would join the Big West from the Western Athletic Conference in 2026–27. March 25 – Saint Francis announced that it would reclassify to NCAA Division III starting in 2026–27, when it will leave the Northeast Conference for the Presidents' Athletic Conference.
Milestones and records November 15 – UConn head coach Geno Auriemma drew even with recently retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer as the winningest head coach in NCAA basketball history across all divisions, earning his 1,216th win after the Huskies' 69–58 win over North Carolina. November 20 – Auriemma took sole possession of the career wins record after UConn's 85–41 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. December 14 – Tennessee defeated North Carolina Central, 139–59, and broke multiple school and NCAA records in the process. These include largest margin of victory in program history (80), and most three-point field goals made in Division I history (30). February 16 – Vanderbilt freshman guard Mikayla Blakes broke the record for most points scored in a single game by a freshman in NCAA basketball history across all divisions, after she scored 55 points to help the Commodores to a 98–88 overtime road win over Auburn. March 16 – In the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final, Murray State's Katelyn Young became the 17th woman with 3,000 career points in Division I play, scoring 34 points in the Racers' 83–62 win over Belmont.
Conference membership changes A total of 23 schools joined new conferences for the 2024–25 season. Of these, 20 moved within Division I, two began reclassification from NCAA Division II, and Chicago State ended its two-year stint as an all-sports independent to join the Northeast Conference.
SchoolFormer conferenceNew ConferenceArizonaPac-12Big 12Arizona StatePac-12Big 12CaliforniaPac-12ACCChicago StateIndependentNECColoradoPac-12Big 12Kennesaw StateASUNCUSAMercyhurstPSAC (D-II)NECMerrimackNECMAACOklahomaBig 12SECOregonPac-12Big TenOregon StatePac-12WCCSacred HeartNECMAACSMUAmericanACCStanfordPac-12ACCStephen F. AustinWACSouthlandTexasBig 12SECUCLAPac-12Big TenUSCPac-12Big TenUtahPac-12Big 12UTRGVWACSouthlandWashingtonPac-12Big TenWashington StatePac-12WCCWest GeorgiaGulf South (D–II)ASUN
The 2024–25 season was the last for five Division I schools in their respective conferences, and was also the last for one Division II school before starting a transition to Division I.
School2024–25 conferenceFuture conferenceDelawareCAACUSA Grand Canyon WAC MW Missouri State Missouri Valley CUSA New Haven Northeast-10 (D–II) Northeast Seattle WAC WCCUMassA-10MAC
Arenas
New arenas Georgia Southern left the Hanner Fieldhouse after 55 seasons there for the new Hill Convocation Center. The team played its first game in the Hill Convocation Center on December 5, 2024. St. Thomas will play their final season at Schoenecker Arena, where they have played since 1981, before moving to the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena, which will open in the 2025–26 season. Tarleton State will play their final season at Wisdom Gym, where they have played since 1970, before moving to the new EECU Center, which will open in the 2025–26 season. Vermont was originally slated to open their new arena, Tarrant Event Center, as a replacement for the current arena, Patrick Gym. Construction was to continue in 2021 but it has been delayed indefinitely.
Arena of new D-I teams West Georgia will transition from Division II to Division I and play at The Coliseum in Carrollton, Georgia, where it has played since 2009. It will be ineligible for NCAA-organized postseason play (i.e., the NCAA tournament or NIT) until 2028. Mercyhurst will transition from Division II to Division I and play on the Owen McCormick Court in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, where it has played since 1977. It will be ineligible for NCAA-organized postseason play until 2028.
Other arena changes Bellarmine announced on August 28, 2024, that home games would return to campus at Knights Hall for the first time since 2019–20. The Knights had played in the interim at Freedom Hall on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center.
Seasonal outlook
The Top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaching polls.
Pre-season polls APRankingTeam1South Carolina (27)2UConn (2)3USC (1)4Texas5UCLA6Notre Dame7LSU8Iowa State9NC State10Oklahoma11Duke12Baylor13Kansas State14Ohio State15North Carolina16West Virginia17Louisville18Maryland19Florida State20Ole Miss21Creighton22Kentucky23Nebraska24Alabama25IndianaUSA Today CoachesRankingTeam1South Carolina (27)2UConn (3)3USC (1)4Texas5Notre Dame6UCLA7LSU8NC State9Iowa State10Oklahoma11Duke12Baylor13Kansas State14Ohio State15West Virginia16North Carolina17Louisville18Maryland19Florida State20Creighton21Ole Miss22Kentucky23Nebraska24Alabama25Indiana
Final polls
APRankingTeam1UConn (31)2South Carolina3UCLA4Texas5USC6TCU7Duke8LSU9NC State10Notre Dame11Oklahoma12Maryland13Kansas State14North Carolina15Tennessee16Kentucky17Ole Miss18Baylor19Ohio State20Alabama21West Virginia22Florida State23South Dakota State24Oklahoma State25MichiganUSA Today CoachesRankingTeam1UConn (31)2South Carolina3UCLA4Texas5USC6TCU7Duke8LSU9Notre Dame10NC State11Oklahoma12North Carolina13Kentucky14Maryland15Kansas State16Tennessee17Ohio State18Baylor19West Virginia20Ole Miss21Alabama22Oklahoma State23South Dakota State24Florida State25Creighton
Top 10 matchups Rankings reflect the AP poll Top 25.
Regular season Nov. 10, 2024 No. 1 South Carolina defeated No. 9 NC State, 71–57 (Ally Tipoff – Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC) Nov. 23 No. 6 Notre Dame defeated No. 3 USC, 74–61 (Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA) Nov. 24 No. 5 UCLA defeated No. 1 South Carolina, 77–62 (Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA) Dec. 5 No. 10 Notre Dame defeated No. 4 Texas, 80–70OT (ACC–SEC Challenge – Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN) No. 3 South Carolina defeated No. 8 Duke, 81–70 (ACC–SEC Challenge – Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC) Dec. 8 No. 3 South Carolina defeated No. 9 TCU, 85–53 (Coast-to-Coast Challenge – Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, TX) Dec. 12 No. 8 Notre Dame defeated No. 2 UConn, 79–68 (Rivalry – Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN) Dec. 21 No. 7 USC defeated No. 4 UConn, 72–70 (XL Center, Hartford, CT) Jan. 2, 2025 No. 5 Texas defeated No. 9 Oklahoma, 80–73 (Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, OK) Jan. 8 No. 4 USC defeated No. 8 Maryland, 79–74 (Xfinity Center, College Park, MD) Jan. 12 No. 2 South Carolina defeated No. 5 Texas, 67–50 (Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC) Jan. 20 No. 7 Texas defeated No. 8 Maryland, 89–51 (Coretta Scott King Classic – Prudential Center, Newark, NJ) Jan. 24 No. 2 South Carolina defeated No. 5 LSU, 66–56 (Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC) Jan. 26 No. 1 UCLA defeated No. 8 Maryland, 82–67 (Xfinity Center, College Park, MD) Feb. 5 No. 1 UCLA defeated No. 8 Ohio State, 65–52 (Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA) Feb. 8 No. 7 USC defeated No. 8 Ohio State, 84–63 (Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA) Feb. 9 No. 4 Texas defeated No. 2 South Carolina, 66–62 (Moody Center, Austin, TX) Feb. 13 No. 3 Texas defeated No. 8 Kentucky, 67–49 (Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, KY) No. 6 USC defeated No. 1 UCLA, 71–60 (Rivalry – Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA) Feb. 16