The 2025–26 Big Ten women's basketball season began with practices in October 2025, followed by the start of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November 2025. The regular season ended in March of 2026. The UCLA Bruins won the regular season with an 18-0 record, and a Number 1 seed in the 2026 Big Ten women's basketball tournament, which they also won.2026 Allstate Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket Announced. Big Ten Conference, March 1, 2026 This is the first undefeated conference season for the Bruins since they began play in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten conference since the 2014–15 Maryland Terrapins women's basketball team.Galuzzo, Steve - No. 2 UCLA women dominate rival USC to finish Big Ten play undefeated. Los Angeles Times, March 1, 2026
The season was the conference's second with 18 teams. The conference announced that all teams will play 18 regular season conference games with each school playing one school both home and away, while facing 16 teams once. This is the first undefeated conference season for the Bruins since they began play in the NCAA and first in the Big Ten conference since the 2014–15 Maryland Terrapins women's basketball team.Galuzzo, Steve - No. 2 UCLA women dominate rival USC to finish Big Ten play undefeated. Los Angeles Times, March 1, 2026 However, only 15 of the 18 teams qualified for the Big Ten tournament. Following the completion of the regular season, the tournament bracket was announced on March 1, 2026.2026 Allstate Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket Announced. Big Ten conference bigten.org, March 1, 2026 The top four seeds were UCLA, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota. Penn State, Northwestern, and Rutgers did not participate as the lowest three teams in the standings.
For the second year in a row, a record-tying twelve Big Ten teams were invited to the 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament: UCLA, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan State, Washington, Illinois, Oregon, USC, and Nebraska.Big Ten Conference Ties Record with 12 Programs Headed to the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Big Ten conference, bigten.org, March 15, 2026 Five teams hosted first round games. Wisconsin was invited to the 2026 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament.Wisconsin Chosen for 2026 WBIT Field. Big Ten Conference bigten.org, March 15, 2026 The 2025-26 UCLA Bruins finished the season 37-1 and won the program's second women's basketball national championship, and the first basketball championship in the NCAA era.Robinson, Cameron Teague - UCLA clobbers South Carolina for first NCAA national title in program history. New York Times, april 5, 2026 It was the first title for a Big Ten team since the 1998-99 Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball team.
Head coaches Coaching changes Wisconsin On March 9, 2025, Marisa Moseley resigned as head coach at Wisconsin after four years. On March 25, 2025, former Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton was named Moseley's successor.
Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Big Ten record Big Ten titles Big Ten Tournament titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsIllinois Dayton 4 63–35 30–24 0 0 2 0 0Indiana Teri Moren Indiana State 12 246–112 124–68 1 0 7 0 0Iowa Jan Jensen Iowa (Assoc.) 2 23–11 10–8 0 0 1 0 0Maryland Brenda Frese Minnesota 24 607–169 159–34* 6 5 21 3 1Michigan Kim Barnes Arico St. John's (Asst.) 14 284–144 129–91 0 0 8 0 0Michigan State Robyn Fralick Bowling Green 3 44–19 23–13 0 0 2 0 0Minnesota Dawn Plitzuweit West Virginia 3 45–27 13–23 0 0 0 0 0Nebraska Amy Williams South Dakota 10 158–123 79–80 0 0 4 0 0Northwestern Joe McKeown George Washington 18 268–258 110–182 0 0 2 0 0Ohio State Kevin McGuff Washington 13 224–109 116–62 4 1 8 0 0Oregon Kelly Graves Gonzaga 12 241–123 10–8 0 0 6 0 0Penn State Carolyn Kieger Marquette 5 73–105 26–83 0 0 0 0 0Purdue Katie Gearlds Marian 5 61–64 24–47 0 0 1 0 0Rutgers Coquese Washington Notre Dame (Assoc.) 4 31–63 10–44 0 0 0 0 0UCLA Cori Close Florida State (Assoc.) 15 321–143 16–2 0 1 9 1 0USC Lindsay Gottlieb Cleveland Cavaliers (Asst.) 5 93–35 17–1 1 0 3 0 0Washington Tina Langley Rice 5 61–60 9–9 0 0 0 0 0Wisconsin Robin Pingeton Missouri 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0 0 Notes: All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2025–26 season. Overall and Big Ten records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the season. Frese's ACC conference record excluded since Maryland began Big Ten Conference play in 2014–15.
Preseason Preseason Big Ten poll Prior to the conference's annual media day, conference standings were projected by a panel of writers. RankTeam1UCLA2Maryland3Michigan4USC5Ohio State
Preseason All-Big Ten A select media panel named a preseason All-Big Ten team and player of the year.
Honor RecipientPreseason Player of the YearLauren Betts, UCLAPreseason All-Big Ten Team Hannah Stuelke, Iowa Yarden Garzon, Maryland Kaylene Smikle, Maryland Olivia Olson, Michigan Syla Swords, Michigan Grace VanSlooten, Michigan State Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State Lauren Betts, UCLA Kiki Rice, UCLA JuJu Watkins, USC Sayvia Sellers, Washington
Regular season Rankings
Record against ranked non-conference opponents This will be a list of games against ranked opponents only (rankings from the AP Poll):Big Ten Conference teams in bold Date Visitor Home Site Score Ref November 9, 2025 No. 18 USC No. 9 NC State † Spectrum Center ● Charlotte, NC W 69–68 1–0 November 10, 2025 No. 6 Oklahoma No. 3 UCLA † Golden 1 Center ● Sacramento, CA W 73–59 2–0 November 13, 2025 No. 11 North Carolina No. 3 UCLA † Michelob Ultra Arena ● Paradise, NV W 78–60 3–0 November 15, 2025 No. 14 Michigan No. 18 Notre Dame † Wayne State Fieldhouse ● Detroit, MI W 93–54 4–0 November 15, 2025 No. 2 South Carolina No. 8 USC † Crypto.com Arena ● Los Angeles, CA L 52–69 4–1 November 16, 2025 Ohio State No. 1 UConn PeoplesBank Arena ● Hartford, CT L 68–100 4–2 November 18, 2025 Purdue No. 20 Kentucky Memorial Coliseum ● Lexington, KY L 35–76 4–3 November 20, 2025 No. 21 Iowa No. 7 Baylor † State Farm Field House ● Bay Lake, FL W 57–52 5–3 November 21, 2025 No. 11 USC No. 24 Notre Dame Joyce Center ● Notre Dame, IN L 59–61 5–4 November 21, 2025 No. 6 Michigan No. 1 UConn † Mohegan Sun Arena ● Uncasville, CT L 69–72 5–5 November 26, 2025 No. 3 UCLA No. 4 Texas † Michelob Ultra Arena ● Paradise, NV L 65–76 5–6 November 26, 2025 No. 21 West Virginia Ohio State † Baha Mar Convention Center ● Nassau, Bahamas W 83–81 6–6 November 26, 2025 No. 16 Kentucky No. 7 Maryland † Roberto Clemente Coliseum ● San Juan, PR W 74–66 7–6 November 28, 2025 Wisconsin No. 13 Ole Miss † Ocean Center ● Daytona Beach, FL L 56–65 7–7 November 30, 2025 Indiana No. 10 Iowa State † Alico Arena ● Fort Myers, FL L 95–106 7–8 November 30, 2025 No. 14 Tennessee No. 3 UCLA Pauley Pavilion ● Los Angeles, CA W 99–77 8–8 December 10, 2025 No. 11 Iowa No. 10 Iowa State Hilton Coliseum ● Ames, IA L 69–74 8–9 December 13, 2025 No. 1 UConn No. 16 USC Galen Center ● Los Angeles, CA L 51–79 8–10 December 14, 2025 Penn State No. 3 South Carolina Colonial Life Arena ● Columbia, SC L 55–95 8–11 December 20, 2025 No. 11 Iowa No. 1 UConn † Barclays Center ● Brooklyn, NY L 64–90 8–12 December 22, 2025 No. 24 Michigan State No. 15 Ole Miss † Harrah's Cherokee ● Cherokee, NC W 66–49 9–12 January 19, 2026 No. 9 TCU No. 12 Ohio State † Prudential Center ● Newark, NJ W 71–69 10–12 January 19, 2026 No. 7 Michigan No. 5 Vanderbilt † Prudential Center ● Newark, NJ L 69–72 10–13
Team rankings are reflective of AP poll
† denotes game was played at neutral site ^ denotes NCAA tournament game
Awards and honors Players of the Week Throughout the conference regular season, Big Ten Conference offices named two players (Player and Freshman) of the week each Monday. Week Player of the week Freshman of the weekNovember 10, 2025Shay Ciezki, IndianaHila Karsh, PurdueJazzy Davidson, USCNovember 17, 2025Sayvia Sellers, WashingtonAddi Mack, MarylandNovember 24, 2025Ava Heiden, IowaDestiny Jackson, IllinoisDecember 1, 2025Gabriela Jaquez, UCLAJazzy Davidson, USCDecember 8, 2025Lauren Betts, UCLACearah Parchment, IllinoisDecember 15, 2025Shay Ciezki, IndianaMaya Makalusky, IndianaDecember 22, 2025Yarden Garzon, MarylandJazzy Davidson, USCJanuary 5, 2026Lauren Betts, UCLACearah Parchment, IllinoisJanuary 12, 2026Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio StateKylee Kitts, Ohio StateJanuary 19, 2026Hannah Stuelke, IowaAddie Deal, IowaJanuary 26, 2026Ava Heiden, IowaAddie Deal, IowaCearah Parchment, IllinoisFebruary 2, 2026Ehis Etute, OregonKara Dunn, USCJazzy Davidson, USCFebruary 9, 2026Shay Ciezki, IndianaKiki Rice, UCLAJazzy Davidson, USCFebruary 16, 2026Oliva Olson, MichiganJazzy Davidson, USCFebruary 23, 2026Ava Heiden, IowaCearah Parchment, IllinoisJazzy Davidson, USCMarch 2, 2026Olivia Olson, MichiganMaya Makalusky, Indiana All-Big Ten awards and teams On March 3, 2026, the Big Ten announced its conference awards. Honor Coaches Media Player of the Year Lauren Betts, UCLA Lauren Betts, UCLA Coach of the Year Cori Close, UCLA Cori Close, UCLA Freshman of the Year Jazzy Davidson, USC Jazzy Davidson, USC Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Betts, UCLA Lauren Betts, UCLA Sixth Player of the Year Angela Dugalić, UCLA Angela Dugalić, UCLA All-Big Ten First Team Lauren Betts, UCLA Lauren Betts, UCLA Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State Jazzy Davidson, USC Shay Ciezki, Indiana Ava Heiden, Iowa Jazzy Davidson, USC Oluchi Okananwa, Maryland Ava Heiden, Iowa Olivia Olson, Michigan Oluchi Okananwa, Maryland Kiki Rice, UCLA Olivia Olson, Michigan Sayvia Sellers, Washington Britt Prince, Nebraska Syla Swords, Michigan Kiki Rice, UCLA Berry Wallace, Illinois Syla Swords, Michigan All-Big Ten Second Team Kennedy Blair, Michigan State Kennedy Blair, Michigan State Shay Ciezki, Indiana Grace Grocholski, Minnesota Kara Dunn, USC Gabriela Jaquez, UCLA Katie Fiso, Oregon Gianna Kneepkens, UCLA Grace Grocholski, Minnesota Kiyomi McMiller, Penn State Gabriela Jaquez, UCLA Sayvia Sellers, Washington Tori McKinney, Minnesota Hannah Stuelke, Iowa Britt Prince, Nebraska Grace Sullivan, Northwestern Hannah Stuelke, Iowa Grace VanSlooten, Michigan State Grace VanSlooten, Michigan State Berry Wallace, Illinois All-Big Ten Third Team Amaya Battle, Minnesota Amaya Battle, Minnesota Yarden Garzon, Maryland Kara Dunn, USC Kiyomi McMiller, Penn State Katie Fiso, Oregon Grace Sullivan, Northwestern Tori McKinney, Minnesota Chit-Chat Wright, Iowa Gracie Merkle, Penn State All-Freshman Team Sienna Betts, UCLA Sienna Betts, UCLA Jazzy Davidson, USC Jazzy Davidson, USC Addie Deal, Iowa Destiny Jackson, Illinois Destiny Jackson, Illinois Kylee Kitts, Ohio State Addi Mack, Maryland Addi Mack, Maryland Maya Makalusky, Indiana Maya Makalusky, Indiana Brynn McGaughy, Washington Brynn McGaughy, Washington Cearah Parchment, Illinois Cearah Parchment, Illinois All-Defensive Team* Amaya Battle, Minnesota Lauren Betts, UCLA Lauren Betts, UCLA Kennedy Cambridge, Ohio State Kennedy Cambridge, Ohio State Brooke Quarles Daniels, Michigan Brooke Quarles Daniels, Michigan Jazzy Davidson, USC Jazzy Davidson, USC Kylie Feuerbach, Iowa Kylie Feuerbach, Iowa Rashunda Jones, Michigan State Tori McKinney, Minnesota Elsa Lemmilä, Ohio State Oluchi Okananwa, Maryland Oluchi Okananwa, Maryland Kiki Rice, UCLA Not Selected Kennedy Smith, USC
Notes
Postseason Big Ten tournament
NCAA tournament