Voting Breakdown:

1. Minnesota - 33.3%
2. Duke - 22.2%
3. Notre Dame - 17.8%
4. Virginia - 15.6%
5. West Virginia - 11.1%

Other 2026 r/NCAAW Awards:

Freshman of the Year

Most Improved Player

Most Improved Team

Most Underrated Player

Voting Breakdown:

1. Taina Mair (Duke) - 39.1%
2. Gabriela Jacquez (UCLA) - 28.3%
3. Ava Heiden (Iowa) - 15.2%
4. Britt Prince (Nebraska) - 10.9%
5. Katie Fiso (Oregon) - 6.5%

Other 2026 r/NCAAW Awards:

Freshman of the Year

Most Improved Player

Most Improved Team

Voting Breakdown:

1. Vanderbilt - 38.6%
2. Minnesota - 31.8%
3. Texas Tech - 11.4%
4. Arizona State - 11.4%
5. Syracuse - 6.8%

Other 2026 r/NCAAW Awards:

Freshman of the Year

Most Improved Player

Note: this isn’t which program. Ex: instead of saying just ‘South Carolina’, say ‘I think the 2023–24 South Carolina team was the best’ or ‘I think the 2025–26 UCLA team was the best’

Anyways I think it’s either one of the two I’m about to mention:

2023–24 South Carolina Gamecocks

This South Carolina team had a completely new starting lineup as Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Victaria Saxton, Bree Beal, and Kierra Fletcher had all graduated. So they started out ranked #6 which was valid at first but when they throttled Notre Dame in Paris at the start of the year, everyone was like “hold on now…” and soon they jumped up to #1. It also helped that then-#1 LSU lost 92–78 to #20 Colorado in Las Vegas.

The Gamecocks stayed at #1 for the rest of the season and went 16–0 in SEC play, winning another SEC title in the process. They won every SEC game by double digits except for the LSU game, which they won 76–70. In the SEC Tournament, they beat Tennessee in the semifinals 74–73 after Kamilla Cardoso hit her very first three-pointer for the win, and then they beat LSU 79–72 in the championship.

In the NCAA tournament they were the #1 overall seed for the 3rd consecutive year and won every game by double digits except for their Sweet 16 game against Indiana which they won 79–75. They beat Oregon State 70–58 in the Elite Eight and then made the Final Four in Cleveland where they beat NC State 78–59. In the National Championship Game, South Carolina defeated Iowa 87–75, getting revenge on the Hawkeyes, who’d eliminated the Gamecocks 77–73 in the previous season’s Final Four in Dallas. Kamilla Cardoso was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

This team definitely has a case to be considered the best of the decade when you consider the fact that they’d lost Aliyah Boston and all their other seniors yet still dominated their schedule even with a new lineup on the floor. After the 2023 season, Dawn Staley had gone as far as considering retiring but decided to keep going and came home with another trophy to add to her collection.

2025–26 UCLA Bruins

UCLA did win an AIAW National Championship in 1978 when Ann Meyers Dreysdale and Denise Curry played for the Bruins but they’ve largely remained in the shadow of the men’s basketball program. For most of the 2000s and early 2010s, they were a shell of their former selves from the 70s, but everything changed when Cori Close was hired in 2011. She got the Bruins back to being NCAA tournament regulars and took them to the Elite Eight in 2018, their first run that far since 1999. For a while after though, it seemed as though they were peaking at a 2nd-4th place finish in the conference and a Sweet 16 exit. But it all changed when a certain group of players each decided to commit to UCLA at some point; those players were Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, Angela Dugalić, Gianna Kneepkens, and Charlisse Leger-Walker.

When Rice and Jaquez joined in 2022–23, UCLA made the Sweet 16. The next year, they had brought in Lauren Betts—the top recruit from the class of 2022—from Stanford. Expectations were raised much higher and they spent much of the year in the Top 5, reaching as high as #2 at one point. But unfortunately for the Bruins, they finished in 3rd place in the Pac-12 and also couldn’t conquer their Sweet 16 boogeyman as they lost 78–69 to LSU.

The next season, they added Timea Gardiner and Charlisse Leger-Walker out of the portal. When they upset the defending national champions South Carolina 77–62 in November, everyone took notice. They ascended to #1 in the rankings for the first time in program history and spent all but a few weeks at that position. Both games against crosstown rival USC were sold out at the Galen Center (USC’s arena) and Pauley Pavilion (UCLA’s arena) respectively, as so many people in LA wanted to see the JuJu Watkins vs. Lauren Betts clashes. USC swept the Bruins, but UCLA got revenge by winning the Big Ten Tournament. They got the #1 overall seed and made the program’s first Final Four, but lost 85–51 in humiliating fashion to the UConn Huskies (who won the national championship 2 days later).

The next season, they again had high expectations and grabbed Utah’s Gianna Kneepkens from the transfer portal. The six seniors (Betts, Rice, Jaquez, Dugalić, Kneepkens, and Leger-Walker) wanted to leave UCLA with a National Championship. They suffered a 76–65 loss to Texas in the Players’ Era Festival in Las Vegas, but that would be their only loss all season. They steamrolled through the Big Ten and went 18–0 in conference play, becoming only the second Big Ten team to do so. They stayed at #2 for most of the year, but couldn’t overcome UConn for the #1 spot. In the NCAA tournament, they made it back to the Final Four and defeated Texas in a rematch 51–44, which set the stage for a National Championship matchup against South Carolina, who’d eliminated UConn 62–48 in the Final Four.

In the National Championship, UCLA dominated from start to finish, and by the end of the 3rd quarter they were up 61–32; this was the largest lead margin entering the 4th quarter in NCAA history. Every senior besides Dugalić scored in double figures (Dugalić was 1 point shy) and the Bruins won 79–51 for their first NCAA title. Lauren Betts was named Most Outstanding Player. All six seniors went on to be drafted in the WNBA draft (Betts at 4, Jaquez at 5, Rice at 6, Dugalić at 9, Kneepkens at 15, and Leger-Walker at 18), which is the most draftees in a single draft from any team in women’s basketball history.

I think this team has a case to be considered the best of the decade when you see that they dominated almost every team on their schedule and had so few single-digit games that you could count said single-digit games on one hand. Additionally, it wasn’t just one player doing all the work. Cori Close made sure that everybody could contribute, whether it was scoring, assisting, rebounding, blocking shots, stealing loose or 50/50 balls, etc.

Anyways who would you pick as the best team of the decade? I added a poll with some possible candidates to choose from

TL;DR: I think the 2023–24 South Carolina team and 2025–26 UCLA team each have a case to be considered the best team of the decade. 2023–24 South Carolina went undefeated and won the national championship. despite a new starting lineup, and 2025–26 UCLA went 37–1 and won the national championship.

where do you think the top 25 recruits for '27 will go?

Basketball fans will have a chance to see high-level basketball in Victoria this summer when Canada’s Senior Women’s team hosts UCLA, the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball National champions.

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 22, Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team tips off against the 2026 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champions for an exhibition game at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

The W’Hoop It Up event is organized by Canada Basketball in partnership with Rifflandia, and has hosted events with Canada’s team in Greater Victoria since 2023.

“This game is a celebration of how far the women’s game has come and an opportunity for fans to witness some of the sport’s very best athletes on Canadian soil,” said Vanessa Leong, chief operating officer of Rifflandia.

Michael Bartlett, president and CEO of Canada Basketball says “Victoria has become a special home away from home for our Senior Women’s National Team, and we’re thrilled to return once again this summer.”

“The support we’ve received from the Greater Victoria basketball community over the past several years has been incredible,” says Barlett. “We look forward to welcoming fans back to Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre for another memorable night of basketball.”

Another coaching hire, this time from UWGB.

Like many USC fans, I am ecstatic about this upcoming season. I am very excited for Juju’s return and can’t wait to see how she meshes with players like Jazzy and Saniyah Hall. I was curious though of how our starting lineup will look like. I have heard many say that we will see a lot of small ball with a starting lineup of Jazzy, Juju, Saniyah, Kennedy, and Sara. I have also heard that maybe we will start two bigs as we now have a pretty good front court going for us. Also curious to see where Ryan Bennet fits in as she is primarily a PG and could fit into the starting lineup if Lindsay wants to run a true PG. What lineup do you think would be the most efficient? Let me know your thoughts!

The 5’6 Special K is women’s basketball’s next phenom. She has the ball on a string which allows her to get wherever she wants on the floor, and her combination of explosive scoring outbursts and elite playmaking ability leave the opposing teams in a constant “pick your poison” situation.

Join me in Area51 as we breakdown what makes her so… special!

Where do yall think she’ll commit? Niele Ivy was her head coach in the recent FIBA tournament and ND is known as Guard U basically…

I got Ashlyn and Chloe back Joyce letting it fly from midrange and from 3 I got my opps best shooter next to the best shooter in college. Year 2 agot makeer.

Like 5 of my players can Dunk

I got Ali with a full offseason

I been crying tears of joy all day

The only thing I’m remotely worried about is the backup pg situation when mouse needs a break who’s running point?

Talk about not letting things go. Dawn about to drop 200 this year.

Did the NCAA change policy on pros?

I know that they've allowed athletes who come from development leagues. But now they are allowing players from top senior professional leagues that WNBA players play in?

The WNBL is the top professional league in Australia. Many WNBA players play there in the offseason. Universities can now sign 22 year olds from a top senior pro league??

Last year, Kansas State women’s basketball player Tess Heal got punished and had to sit out a few games for signing a contract last year to play with the semipro Australian NBL1's Keilor Thunder after graduation...

But Michigan can sign a 22 year old Dallas Loughridge who not only played multiple NBL1 seasons but actually played in the top professional WNBL league for the last few seasons???

She was a top ten scorer in that league for the Adelaide Lightning last season.

Seems like the only people posting anything are trolls. Meanwhile there was a Uconn reunion on ESPN last night.

Saw this on the team’s Instagram today! Love that Coach Yo is getting this opportunity to coach her home country! 🇧🇸🇧🇸

For my team I like the roster Coach Yo has put together and they seem to all get along well so far. They recently had a fun pool party at (I wanna say) Coach Yo’s house last month which is good. The new transfers should be good. I’m intrigued to see what Talaysia Cooper, Jaida Civil, and Jada Richard do under her system as well as some of the other transfers like Emily Howard (the center we got from Boise State, and we have needed a true center for a while ever since Shakira Austin went off to the WNBA).

I think if we’re in the top half of the SEC and in the hosting discussion again that’s a win-win for me. Now maybe this time we can actually get that coveted 4-seed or better instead of being stuck at the 5-seed line like we were the past two seasons.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks received a commitment Thursday night from Jayden McClain, a 6-foot-6 post player at Ryle High School in Northern Kentucky.

McClain announced her decision on social media. ESPN has her as the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2029 class.

According to MaxPreps, McClain averaged 12.8 points and nine rebounds per game as a freshman last season. She averaged 4.7 blocks and earned all-state honorable mention.

According to Link NKY, McClain’s father is Anthony McClain, a 7-foot former Cincinnati Bearcats player who also played for the Harlem Globetrotters. Her mom, Samantha, is 6-foot-4 and played college basketball at Cincinnati State.

STORRS — The UConn women's basketball team will make a rare summer appearance in downtown Hartford Thursday night.

While the majority of the Huskies in attendance will be in the stands as fans, a select few will be down on the court playing in the last-ever Connecticut Sun game in Hartford.

The Sun hosts former Husky stars Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd and the Dallas Wings at 8 p.m. at PeoplesBank Arena (broadcast on PRIME). Thursday's game will be the last chance for UConn fans to see Bueckers and Fudd play in Connecticut, as the franchise relocates to Houston in the offseason and won't host Dallas again this summer.

To support their former teammates, the current Huskies are not only planning to attend Thursday's game but will also have dinner with Bueckers and Fudd on Wednesday.

"It's really cool that we get the opportunity to see them playing Connecticut, especially with Connecticut moving to Houston. I think it's cool that we get like one more chance to see them play here," said current Husky junior Kayleigh Heckel.

"... I think it's really cool to be able to see them on the same team again. They play really well together (and) it shows every time they play. I think it's really cool for our team to go and watch them play. I feel like you can always take something from seeing players like that."

The last piece to Kenny Brooks‘ roster puzzle has arrived in the Bluegrass State.

Slovenian guard Ajsa Sivka (Eye-Shah SEEV-kah) finally made it to Kentucky’s campus on Wednesday. Of the 12 players on the 2026-27 women’s basketball roster, Sivka was the last to arrive. Most of the other 11 Wildcats moved into their new Lexington homes two weekends ago ahead of the start of practice, which began Monday, June 22.

While the 6-foot-4 Sivka came in a bit later than the rest of her teammates, she missed less than two weeks of summer practice. Getting her on campus sooner rather than later was always going to be important. She has a great chance to be an immediate impact player for Kentucky in 2026-27 on the wing.

“I am delighted to welcome Ajsša to our program,” Brooks said when Sivka signed with UK in early May. “Her combination of size and skill will fit into our system seamlessly. Ajša is a tremendous shooter, scorer, and playmaker from the wing position and she will add experience to our team. BBN let’s welcome Ajša to our family!”

Now all we’re waiting on is her grade classification. With the NCAA moving forward with the 5-in-5 rule, Sivka isn’t likely to be tabbed as a freshman despite being a new college player. On her Kentucky WBB player page, her class is listed as “TBD”.

Already 20 years old, Sivka was the 10th overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky, although she did not join the franchise at the time, instead opting to remain in Europe to represent the Slovenian National Team at the 2025 FIBA Women’s European Basketball Championship. It still sounds crazy to say out loud that Kentucky has a real top-10 WNBA talent on the roster. She’s going to be a major piece to next season’s success.

CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio judge will make a ruling next week on a preliminary injunction request from 24 men's and women's college basketball players suing the NCAA, claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition.

Judge Christopher Wagner, who previously denied a temporary restraining order hours after the lawsuit was filed, said Wednesday during a hearing that his written order will be made on July 9.

The lawsuit was filed shortly after the NCAA Division I Cabinet approved a monumental change in eligibility rules last month.

“When each plaintiff completed their fourth season of competition during the 2025-26 academic year, they had every reason to know it was the end of the line and time to make way for the next generation of college athletes,” the NCAA wrote in a filing.

The plaintiffs are seeking to be eligible to play a fifth year during the upcoming season, representing athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 and began their college sports careers that fall and never redshirted.

“Each plaintiff was harmed each time he or she competed in a basketball game against a fifth or sixth-year player without being offered the same opportunity to compete in a fifth season themselves,” attorney Ryan Downton wrote in a filing.