Despite some mock drafts projecting her to go as high as the first pick in the second round of the 2025 WNBA Draft, TCU’s Sedona Prince did not earn an invite to the pro league on Monday night.
The move came after the 6-foot-7 center helped lead the Horned Frogs to the 2024/25 NCAA tournament's Elite Eight round.
Prince, who turns 25 years old next month, suited up for Texas, Oregon, and TCU during her seven-year NCAA career. Her run spanned multiple injury-induced redshirt seasons caused by a broken leg, torn elbow ligament, and a broken finger.
During Monday's ESPN broadcast, commentators noted that her age and injury record may have impacted Prince's WNBA prospects. They also directly brought up Prince's history of intimate partner violence and abuse allegations.
As reported both via social media and by The Washington Post, several women have accused Prince of abuse or sexual assault. Prince denies these claims and, to date, has never been charged with a crime.
Prince's complicated collegiate campaign also includes a viral 2021 social media post calling out gender inequities within the NCAA tournament. The post ultimately ignited top-line changes across college sports.
WNBA GMs weigh risk factors in drafting Prince
Like other undrafted athletes, Prince could still receive an invite to any of the 13 teams' training camps. Though the decision to offer her a preseason try-out remains complicated for WNBA front offices.
"You want to be fair about it and don't want to necessarily hold [the allegations] against her," one unnamed WNBA GM told ESPN’s Katie Barnes in a recent article detailing Prince’s draft prospects. "But from an organizational standpoint, you also have to be cautious and do your due diligence."
"We wouldn't touch it, but I think that everybody's at a different spot. Everybody has different information," another GM said. "But where we're at with this franchise, right, wrong, or indifferent, there's a risk associated and that's not a risk on someone's character that we'd take."
The Dallas Wings made arguably the easiest decision of the 2025 WNBA Draft on Monday night, selecting UConn guard Paige Bueckers as the overall No. 1 pick.
"I can't wait to play with that system, to play with that team, to embrace that new city," Bueckers told reporters. "To be in a place that you're loved and wanted, that's very important."
"Very early on it was Paige, and Paige only. She's such a special player," said newly hired Dallas GM Curt Miller.
Bueckers bolsters revamped Dallas team
Bueckers has been the consensus No. 1 draftee since the start of the 2024/25 NCAA season. Top pick-holder Dallas subsequently spent the offseason assembling existing WNBA talent to complement their expected collegiate recruit.
Returning starters include Arike Ogunbowale and Teaira McCowan. Additionally, Miller brought on experienced players NaLyssa Smith, DiJonai Carrington, and Ty Harris.
"There's a new GM, new coach, new assistant coach, a whole new team," Bueckers said. "We're excited for that fresh start."
The 11th-place Wings ended last season on a nine-game losing streak. And with a 9-31 record, Dallas missed the 2024 WNBA Playoffs. The team now aims to right the ship in 2025 behind their new-look lineup and freshly minted franchise player Bueckers.
"She can take over a game when she wants to, but she has a great feel for getting others involved and that’s really special," said incoming Wings head coach Chris Koclanes.
"You put that next to Arike, and I feel together they'll be able to play off each other."
With a fully revamped roster and an upgraded arena and practice facility in the works, the Dallas Wings appear to be bypassing the traditionally slow rebuild and will instead hit the ground running in 2025.
UConn’s big NCAA championship win over South Carolina on Sunday weighed in as ESPN’s third most-watched title match in women’s March Madness history, with an average viewership of 8.6 million fans and a peak of 9.9 million.
Also making a viewership mark last weekend were Friday's Final Four tilts. Both the 4.2 million fans who tuned into UConn's win over UCLA and the 3.7 million who saw South Carolina take down Texas helped those games claim spots in the sport's Top 10 most watched across ESPN platforms.
The 2025 grand finale fell short of the Caitlin Clark-fueled 2023 and 2024 championship games. However, Sunday’s matchup towered over the 2022 edition with an impressive 75% viewership increase.
The 2025 championship more than doubled the 2021's 4.1 million viewers. This demonstrates a sharp continued uptick in the sport's widespread popularity.
With the 2024/25 NCAA women's basketball tournament scoring massive viewership numbers from tip-off through trophy-lifting, it's not entirely surprising that this season's edition registered as the second most-watched women's March Madness on record, boasting an impressive 8.5 billion minutes of content consumed.
Auriemma, Staley push for new March Madness media deal
Both 2025 NCAA championship-contending head coaches subsequently voiced support for securing a new media rights deal. They seek one that separates women's basketball from its current package alongside 39 other collegiate championships.
"For years and years and years we’ve been packaged with all the other Olympic sports, so to speak, in one big chunk. Can we completely separate ourselves and say, 'What are we worth to you?,'" UConn manager Geno Auriemma said on Sunday.
Although a separate deal is a tough ask given that the current contract runs through 2032, South Carolina boss Dawn Staley echoed Auriemma's sentiment. She advocated for a standalone deal similar to the one that's brought lucrative success to the men's tournament.
"I don't know if [new WBCA president Jose Fernandez] can get that, [but opening] up negotiations for a new television deal would be nice," said Staley.
"We need our own television deal so we can understand what our worth is."
The No. 2-seed UConn Huskies are atop college basketball once again, winning a record-extending 12th NCAA championship in a 82-59 blowout victory over No. 1-seed South Carolina on Sunday.
The title ends a nine-year drought for the dynasty program — the longest stretch without hoisting the trophy since the Huskies' first-ever national championship in 1995.
Trio of Huskies fuel UConn's championship grab
After dominating overall No. 1-seed UCLA 85-51 on Final Four Friday, UConn earned a season finale face-off against the defending champion Gamecocks, who punched their spot in Sunday's championship showdown by taking down No. 1-seed Texas 74-57 — South Carolina's third win over their SEC rival this season.
The big day, however, belonged to the Huskies, as UConn’s "Big Three" of star senior Paige Bueckers, standout guard Azzi Fudd, and freshman phenom Sarah Strong posted a combined 65 points to outscore South Carolina.
Fudd and Strong led the game's stat sheet by scoring 24 points each, helping Fudd snag the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honor — and earning Strong a new NCAA record.
After finishing March Madness with 114 total points across UConn's six-game run, the newly crowned 2024/25 Freshman of the Year broke the NCAA tournament's freshman scoring record, as Strong surpassed 2011 WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings, who posted 111 points in Tennessee's 1998 championship run.
As for graduating superstar Bueckers, her 17 points made her the Huskies' all-time NCAA tournament scoring leader, while Sunday's title cements her legacy, capping her college career by adding her name to the litany of UConn greats in the Storrs rafters.
"It's been a story of resilience, of gratitude, of overcoming adversity and just responding to life's challenges," said Bueckers after her last game as a Husky.
"This is one of the most emotional Final Fours and emotional national championships I've been a part of since that very first one," echoed head coach Geno Auriemma.
All in all, UConn overcame years of close calls, injury woes, and buzzer-beating heartbreak to restore their March Madness dynasty. With Fudd returning next season alongside Strong, the Huskies' future looks brighter than ever.
Final Four teams eye 2026 return
On the other side of the championship coin, the Gamecocks never quite hit their stride on Sunday, falling one game short of a back-to-back title after snagging a spot in their third championship game in four years.
"We lost to a very, very good basketball team," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after the defeat. "They beat our ass, but they didn't make us like it. There's a difference."
Though Sunday’s loss stings, South Carolina's youthful core means the Gamecocks — like the young squads from Final Four teams UCLA and Texas — will be back, packing both March Madness experience and a hefty dose of vengeance next year.
"I hope they're crying," Staley said of her returning players. "I hope they're boo-hoo-ing because from crying they have emotion about losing, makes you work hard in the offseason."
It's a sentiment echoed by the 2024/25 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, UCLA star Lauren Betts.
"We have the same team coming next year," Betts said of the Bruins' underclass core after Friday's Final Four loss. "I hope this fuels us, and I hope that we come out angry after this."
After faltering in their own Final Four matchup on Friday, Texas head coach Vic Schaefer offered a similar silver lining.
"It won't be easier tonight or tomorrow, but it will be easier knowing them three are around," Schaefer said of Longhorn underclassmen Madison Booker, Bree Hall, and Jordan Lee. "They are competitors. And again, they’re kids that invest in their craft."
The Final Four squads unable to seal the deal this season will rue an opportunity lost, but with another year of development, expect the same names to dominate the news cycle next March.
When Texas takes on South Carolina this Friday, they’ll be playing for more than a shot at the NCAA tournament championship title.
That's because this year's Final Four is a rematch, marking the fourth meeting between the Longhorns and the reigning national champion Gamecocks this season. Now, Texas is looking for a little revenge against their top-ranked SEC rivals.
Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer knows South Carolina well. It’s a competitive relationship that dates back to his time coaching Mississippi State, where he led the Bulldogs to the 2017 title game. And the story is strikingly similar.
“I think in '17, we played them three times also, before we played them in the Final Four,” Schaefer said after Monday’s Elite Eight win over TCU. “I think that was our fourth time when we played them in the national championship game.”
Staley got the best of Schaefer back then, with South Carolina defeating the Longhorns 67-55 on the way to their first-ever national championship. On Friday, Texas will attempt to flip the script against the 2024 champs, in hopes of securing the team’s first NCAA title in over 30 years.
“That's the thing about Dawn's teams, is that you know you're going to get the same from them that you try to impart on others, too,” Schaefer continued. “They're going to be tough.”
While this Texas squad has showcased their own toughness all season long, South Carolina has once again proven to be a formidable foe. The Gamecocks downed the Longhorns 67-50 in their first clash back in January. Subsequently, the loss served as a valuable lesson, lighting a fire under Texas that they’ve carried with them ever since.
“If you’re going to be a top team you have to beat a top team,” star sophomore Madison Booker told Just Women’s Sports ahead of the 2025 SEC tournament. “Reality hits you right there.”
“After that [game], we kind of figured we weren’t preparing right,” she continued. “We weren’t preparing like we want to win championships. We weren’t preparing like we want to beat top teams, or be a top team. So we had to change.”
That late January defeat launched Texas into a 16-game winning streak. They went on to finish out the regular season without dropping a single additional game.
Moving to the SEC puts Texas in a whole new league
Joining the SEC in 2024 after 28 years in the Big 12, the Longhorns have adapted smoothly. They’ve shown that they know what it takes to become a true title contender, building on two straight appearances in the Elite Eight to punch their ticket to the program’s first Final Four in two decades.
The conference move didn’t hurt, said Schaefer. The coach credited what he calls “a different league" for challenging his players to grow this season.
“I say it all the time, we jumped out of the frying pan and into the grease,” he said of the leap to the SEC. “It’s a different style, it’s certainly more physical. It’s a league that challenges you every night. You win on the road in this league, it’s like a win and a half.”
“This whole conference [season], I feel like people have been throwing some different stuff at me,” Booker emphasized on JWS podcast Sports are Fun! with Kelley O’Hara. “Box-and-one, face guarding, double- or triple-team. I think I’ve seen it all.”
Despite the competition, the Longhorns played to a 17-0 home record this year. Additionally, they gave up just one non-conference game to Notre Dame last December. Booker saw another excellent season, leading Texas in scoring on her way to winning SEC Player of the Year. And senior Rori Harmon’s return from injury gave Texas yet another boost, with the trusted point guard guiding Texas’s offense through difficult defensive sets with steady composure.
In early February, Texas settled the regular-season score with South Carolina, defeating the Gamecocks 66-62. And the win was bigger than the rivalry. It shot the Longhorns to the top of the AP Poll rankings. That boost saw Texas enter the SEC tournament as the country's No. 1 team.
And after ousting Ole Miss and LSU in the conference tournament’s first two rounds, there was only one team left to beat.
Texas basketball's bumpy road to the NCAA tournament
Texas reveled in wins as they came, whether it was going undefeated at home, winning a regular-season conference title, or progressing through the SEC tournament. But after each game, the same common refrain would emanate from the huddle: “What did Kobe say? JOB’S NOT FINISHED.”
“I think everyone understands what’s at stake here,” said Harmon ahead of Texas’s SEC conference final against South Carolina. “There’s definitely a chip on our shoulder. We need to get stuff done.”
Playing on their biggest stage yet, however, the Longhorns once again couldn’t hold off South Carolina. Eventually, they fell to the Gamecocks 64-45 in March's SEC championship. Rings aside, South Carolina had become Texas’s Achilles heel, with the SEC’s gold standard responsible for two-thirds of their losses going into March Madness.
Despite their late stumble, Texas still entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed. The Longhorns then became more interested in defining their season from that point on, rather than wallowing in opportunities lost.
“You’re talking about a six-game winning streak. To win a national championship, you gotta win six in a row,” Schaefer said, sizing up the road ahead.
Taking March Madness by storm
So far, Texas has held up their side of the bargain. They’ve battled through four NCAA tournament rounds, downing March Madness debutant William & Mary, No. 8 seed Illinois, and tricky Tennessee side. Finally, they toppled a determined TCU team to set up a fourth date with their SEC rival.
And they know full well that they’ll have to tackle this next game as if it was their last.
“It probably means a little bit more [this year], there’s seniors on the team, including me,” Harmon noted. “But this is the team that can do it.”
After turning a solid regular season into a breakout year, everyone in the Texas locker room is firmly on the same page. Intensity and poise got them to the Final Four. Now they’ll have to trust that process to get over the same hurdle that has haunted them throughout the season.
“There is so much on the line, but you've gotta just go play,” Schaefer said on Saturday. “That game is very difficult, and you gotta have kids that can just kinda block out all the distractions, and everything around 'em, and just go play the game.”
The message in the huddle remains the same, because despite all their accomplishments, the job is far from finished. And no one’s lost sight of the bigger picture.
“We're here for a reason,” Harmon said earlier this week. “We worked hard for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. And we put our faith into that.”
Watch more: 'Can Texas Make a Tourney Run?' on Just Women's Sports
With just 16 teams remaining in this year's March Madness tournament, NCAA programs that have fallen from contention have athletes jumping into the transfer portal, which opened to all college basketball players on Monday.
Multiple players are now seeking to make an offseason move, including this season's Division I leading scorer, Florida State junior guard Ta'Niyah Latson.
After averaging 25.2 points per game throughout her 2024/25 campaign, the National Player of the Year semifinalist jumped into the portal on Thursday, three days after the No. 6-seed Seminoles fell 101-71 to No. 3-seed LSU in Monday's second round.
The All-ACC standout is exploring her transfer options — and the potential NIL windfall a move could bring her — though remaining at Florida State is reportedly still very much on the table.
Another top prospect eyeing an exit is Cotie McMahon, who joined the transfer race on Wednesday following her No. 4-seed Ohio State's 82-67 second-round March Madness loss to No. 5-seed Tennessee.
The 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and two-time All-Big Ten First Team selectee looks to carry her career-best 16.5 points per game average elsewhere for her final year of collegiate eligibility.
More top teams see players take to the transfer portal
Other freshly eliminated programs have also seen portal movement, with players from No. 4-seed Kentucky, No. 7-seed Louisville, and No. 8-seed Georgia Tech all testing the transfer waters.
Notably, the program with the most athletes fleeing is No. 9-seed Indiana, who has seen five of their nine non-graduating players enter the portal in the last three days — including every Hoosier who earned minutes off the bench in the team's two March Madness matchups.
With athletes weighing everything from playing time to NIL paydays to postseason potential, the current NCAA landscape boasts multiple factors motivating decisions to either jump ship or weather the storm.
As the 2025 March Madness tournament rolls on, expect even bigger college basketball names to throw their hats into the transfer ring, as players seek out top programs ahead of the 2025/26 NCAA season.
Viewership stats from March Madness are in, with the first two rounds of the 2024/25 NCAA women’s basketball tournament ranking as ESPN’s second most-watched on record across all platforms.
Trailing only 2024’s Caitlin Clark-fueled historic postseason, 2025’s slate of 32 first-round games averaged a 43% increase over 2023's edition, with ABC enjoying its second-highest first-round viewership ever.
ABC's first-round average of 1 million fans came in part because 1.1 million tuned into No. 2-seed UConn's 103-34 thrashing of No. 15-seed Arkansas State last Saturday, securing the network it's third-highest single-game first-round viewership on record.
In a non-championship round that saw the highest average margin of victory in March Madness history — a differential well over 26 points — last weekend's first round also gave ESPN its second-best viewership stats since 2008.
March Madness second round scores even higher
As the competition's temperature rose in last weekend's second round, so too did viewership, with ESPN's platforms snagging a 60% overall boost over the same round in 2023, earning an average of nearly 1 million viewers across the 16 games.
Yet again, the Huskies led the charge, with UConn's 91-57 blowout win over No. 10-seed South Dakota State drawing an average of 1.7 million fans to ESPN on Monday night — an audience large enough to rank as the fifth most-viewed second-round game in history.
Joining UConn's victory in the NCAA tournament's Top 10 most-watched second-round games are No. 1-seed South Carolina's 64-53 Sunday win over No. 9-seed Indiana and No. 1-seed USC's 96-59 defeat of No. 9-seed Mississippi State on Monday.
The defending national champion Gamecocks' second March Madness matchup jumped into that elite echelon by averaging 1.4 million viewers on ABC, with the Trojans's heartbreaking yet heroic win garnering 1.3 million average fans on ESPN.
All in all, while last year’s historic peaks won’t be easy to replicate, this year’s numbers indicate consistent year-after-year growth across a wider variety of teams — signaling that this season’s strength lies in its breadth of star power, as both superstars and unique storylines compete in every bracket quadrant.
The Naismith Awards sliced their already elite 10-athlete National Player of the Year (POY) list down to four finalists on Tuesday, narrowing the race for the 2024/25 NCAA basketball season's top individual honor.
Earning spots in the final tally are two sophomore phenoms, USC's JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, as well as UCLA junior Lauren Betts and UConn senior Paige Bueckers.
"The brilliance of these athletes and their unrelenting passion for college basketball are evident in their outstanding accomplishments," noted Atlanta Tipoff Club president Eric Oberman, whose organization bestows the annual award.
Three of the finalists have already claimed some POY hardware for their 2024/25 performances, with Hidalgo, Bueckers, and Watkins all earning the honor for their respective conferences. Hidalgo and Betts also bagged Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) awards from the ACC and Big Ten, respectively.
Double-dipping on the national stage are Betts, Hidalgo, and Watkins, whose POY finalist status comes just four days after the Naismith Awards named the trio to its four-athlete DPOY final list.
Buoyed by their individual contributions, all four players have helped their programs become veritable contenders to claim the 2024/25 national championship trophy.
Betts's Bruins entered March Madness as the overall No. 1 seed, with Watkins's Trojans also claiming a top spot in the 2025 NCAA bracket. Behind team-leading contributions from Bueckers and Hidalgo, UConn and Notre Dame snagged No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively.
"Their efforts have been instrumental in their teams’ successes this season. Recognizing any of these extraordinary student-athletes with the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy would be a fitting tribute to their excellence."
POY race reflects parity-filled NCAA season
Unlike past seasons with arguably clear-cut frontrunners, the 2024/25 NCAA season is stacked with both parity and standout performers, giving each member of the exclusive POY finalist quartet a strong case to snag the prestigious award.
With her third time as a POY finalist, Bueckers — a playmaking guard who shoots over 54% from the field — could add a second Naismith trophy to her shelf, bookending her UConn career after becoming the only freshman winner in the award's now 42-year history in 2021.
That said, she'll have stiff competition from fellow 2023/24 finalist Watkins, whose prolific scoring surpassed the two-season tally notched by the all-time Division I points leader, back-to-back POY winner-turned-WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.
Star center Betts has anchored the Bruins in the paint all season, setting a UCLA record for blocks while shooting over 64% from the floor and averaging a near double-double with 9.7 rebounds per game.
As for Hidalgo, who currently sits third in the league with over 24 points per game, the Irish guard has yet to register a single collegiate appearances with less than 10 points.
The four finalists will have one final weekend of March Madness competition to impress voters before the POY winner is announced on April 2nd — two days before the NCAA tournament's Final Four tips off.
Unfortunately, after suffering a season-ending ACL tear on Monday, Watkins's POY bid rests on her already complete 2024/25 campaign.
How to vote for the 2024/25 National Player of the Year
While the majority of the Naismith Awards' final counts rest with coaches, conference commissioners, journalists, and former winners, fans account for 5% of the total vote.
With POY candidates, DPOY finalists, and Coach of the Year nominees on the ballot, fans can vote once per day online for the NCAA's top basketball personnel. Voting closes at 12 PM ET on April 1st.
USC star sophomore JuJu Watkins suffered a serious injury in the No. 1-seed Trojans’ second-round March Madness win over No. 9-seed Mississippi State on Monday, putting a dismal stamp on the final day of the 2024/25 NCAA tournament's first weekend.
After taking contact from two defenders midway through the first quarter, a visibly distraught Watkins crumbled to the court with a season-ending ACL tear in her right knee. The season's second-leading Division I scorer will soon undergo surgery before beginning rehabilitation.
"I'd be lying if I told you I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu lying on the floor and crying," said USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb afterwards. "This is a human game, so I obviously tried my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it’s a lot."
The arena mirrored Gottlieb's reaction, a testament to Watkins's impact on the USC community.
"You cannot tell me the energy of that crowd, and how sort of angry they were with the other team, and how much fire they showed for our team, is so much about what JuJu has given to this arena, to this program, to the city," added Gottlieb. "And you just want to give it all back."
A National Player of the Year frontrunner, Watkins’s injury will reverberate throughout USC’s tournament run, as the Trojans stare down a potential Elite Eight rematch with surging No. 2-seed UConn.
Trojans step up after Watkins injury
After seeing their teammate carried off the court, USC regrouped in a big way, converting their early 13-2 lead into a 96-59 blowout victory over the Bulldogs to clinch a spot in the Sweet 16.
In light of the Watkins injury, star transfer forward Kiki Iriafen took charge, putting up a season-high 36 points and nearly notching a double-double by adding nine rebounds to her stat sheet.
Also taking up Watkins' mantle were a pair of freshmen guards, Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel, who came off the bench to add 18 and 13 points, respectively.
The added emotional tenacity the Trojans displayed was not lost on Gottlieb, who thanked her team in a post-game locker room address.
"I will never forget this game for as long as I live," the USC coach told her players. "You guys did something really special today."
"I have to say it with a calm face and tell you how incredibly proud I am of the way you stepped up for one another...it was a tidal wave of a team."
Top NCAA tournament seeds dominate Sweet 16 berths
Ultimately, losing Watkins is a devastating blow not just to USC, but to college basketball at large, radically reshaping the competitive landscape as March Madness gears up for next weekend's Sweet 16 round.
Monday's final buzzer officially set that field, locking in every team seeded No. 3 and above, plus one No. 4 seed and a trio of No. 5 seeds.
In a day void of upsets, seven of Monday's games averaged a wide 28-point margin of victory. The lone outlier was Maryland's bombshell victory, as the Terps booked their Sweet 16 spot in an instant classic game against No. 5-seed Alabama.
After the Terrapins rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit to push the game into overtime, Tide fifth-year guard Sarah Ashlee Barker forced double-overtime with a trio of free throws.
Though the Terps ultimately emerged with the 111-108 victory, Barker set records, notching a career-high 45 points — the most by any SEC athlete and the fourth-most by any Division I player in March Madness history.
"It didn't go our way but, at the end of the day, I'm gonna walk out and hold [my] head high," said Barker about the game that capped her NCAA career. "If you're a women's basketball fan, or anybody that loves basketball, I think that every single person could say that that was one of the best games they've ever watched."
With games between the NCAA's best stacking next weekend's Sweet 16 slate, this year's March Madness tournament is could see even more blockbuster clashes.
If change has been the driving force behind the 2024/25 women’s college basketball season, the Iowa Hawkeyes never took their foot off the gas pedal.
After four seasons spent watching 2024 graduate Caitlin Clark become one of the most impactful players of all time, Iowa has leaned hard into reinvention this year. It's a plan the No. 6 seed will hope pays off as they continue their NCAA tournament run on Monday after a dominant first-round 92-57 victory over Murray State.
Iowa’s rise to college basketball greatness is known. Clark, a home state hero, decides to build something unique with the Hawkeyes rather than heading to a blue-chip school. She then rewrites the very concept of a successful college career, breaking every scoring record that crosses her path while leading her team to two straight Final Four appearances.
With Clark, the team built a reputation for tough defense, logo threes, raucous crowds, and an elite competitive edge that electrified fans around the country. Clark may have been the headline, but Iowa created the platform.
“I think that for our team in particular, people do fall in love with the personalities of the women, and they want to support them, and they want to get behind them,” recently retired Hawkeyes head coach Lisa Bluder told Just Women’s Sports last month.
According to Bluder, Iowa’s winning roots run deep. Before Clark, the Hawkeyes rallied around another homegrown talent: 2019 National Player of the Year Megan Gustafson.
“We don't have any pro sports, so the Hawks are a big deal here. Our players are treated like professional players.” Bluder attested. “We've had women's basketball in the state for over 100 years. And not everybody can say that.”
Iowa basketball roots run deep
Basketball heritage is woven into Iowa’s culture as it carries through much of the Midwest. But what the Hawkeyes felt entering 2024/25 wasn’t a just tide shift. It was the kind of shakeup that could cause even the most beloved program to buckle under the pressure.
Last summer, Clark transitioned from Iowa superstar to the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year. And her teammate Kate Martin surprised the world by deploying her college strengths at the professional level.
And it wasn’t just the players that left — the Hawkeyes also lost their longtime leader.
Bluder now sits on the sidelines, after amassing more Iowa wins than any other head coach in university history. She guided the Hawkeyes to 18 NCAA tournament appearances, only tallying one losing season over her 24 years. Beyond the X’s and O’s, Bluder was known for investing deeply in her players, exemplified by recruiting Clark and guiding her through her transformative college career.
Bluder shifts focus to the sidelines
The legendary coach has taken a step back from the day-to-day elements of women’s basketball, but she remains engaged with the sport. She currently serves as an advocate for technologically informed advances in basketball scouting and performance with companies like GameChanger. And she's always available to speak to reporters and communities alike on the subject of college basketball.
Even with distance, Bluder’s take on this season’s squad are as sharp as they ever were. “This is a team that lost four starters and the world's best players,” she said. “Let's not forget that when we're trying to compare.”
Bouncing back from the loss of a luminary head coach is never easy. And the Hawkeyes subsequently hit some bumps in the road this season, their first under longtime assistant and now head coach Jan Jansen. The reconstructed group began the season 8-0 before a skid that saw them lose seven of their next 11 games. Suddenly, a team not accustomed to losing had to find their patience.
“People can be a little bit unforgiving, and they're naive,” added Bluder. “Because this is a young team.”
Finding their way in the post-Clark era
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Hawkeyes finally finding their spark coincided with a visit from their most celebrated alum. It was early February when Iowa retired Caitlin Clark’s jersey, at an event planned around the unranked side’s high-profile matchup with JuJu Watkins and the top-ranked USC Trojans.
Rather than looking like also-rans up against the new wave of basketball wunderkinds, Iowa came to play. The Hawkeyes downed USC 76-69, officially becoming a bracket buster in the making. At once, wading through all that mid-season turmoil began to feel like working towards something, not against it.
“I’m just trying to stay steady,” Jensen said after that February victory. “Obviously a top four win is huge. I’m incredibly proud of them and I intend to build on it.”
Bluder agreed.
“I told her after the game, ‘Jan, this is your first top five win,’” she said, surrounded by fellow spectators like David Letterman and other celebrity fans. They watched from the stands as Iowa chipped away at a new team identity, one centered on transfer senior Lucy Olsen’s explosive shooting and the stabilizing interior presence of former Clark and Martin compatriot Hannah Stuelke.
“It just clicked that game, like, ‘This is what we brought you here to do,’” Olsen told The Athletic late last week, reflecting back on her team’s game-changing win.
Iowa paves a path to March Madness
Going into this weekend’s NCAA tournament, Iowa’s results have been there. They’ve won 10 of their last 13 games, with all three of those losses decided by single-digit margins against ranked opponents. That includes a near-upset of No.1 overall seed UCLA in late February, with Olsen averaging over 21 points since the victory over USC. And while the Hawkeyes’ corner of the bracket might be tough, they’ve managed to make some noise.
And momentum appears to be on Iowa’s side as they gear up for this afternoon’s second-round clash with No. 3 seed Oklahoma. The team recorded a tournament program-record 28 assists against Murray State — no small feat considering the Clark era's free-flowing basketball. All 12 Iowa players to feature last game scored at least two points, with five players registering double-digits.
The Hawkeyes will be eager to keep the good vibes going. But perhaps more importantly, they’re having fun playing the patented style that made so many fans fall in love with Iowa basketball.
"It's fun to score obviously, but being able to make the extra pass... that just shows how special this team is,” said Iowa freshman Taylor Stremlow after Saturday’s win. “How much we love to share the ball, and support each other."
Now aligned, the future is bright for Iowa
Resisting the temptation to let their season tank in favor of a lengthy rebuild, Iowa is achieving something far more difficult and by many degrees more interesting. They’re holding their own in an increasingly difficult Big Ten, leveraging their talent and potentially rewriting their legacy should they make it to the Sweet 16 — or beyond.
Of course, Bluder is keeping her eye on Iowa’s future. She’s already excited about next year’s recruiting class, saying she’s looking forward to five-star prospect Addy Deal joining the team. And the Hawkeyes announced they’ll be holding onto senior floor general Kylie Feuerbach for one more season.
“If recruits feel how great the atmosphere is in Iowa, in Carver [Hawkeye Arena], they're going to want to come back,” Bluder noted. True to her word, fan engagement hasn’t waned in the post-Clark era. The team averaging at-capacity attendance throughout the 2024/25 season.
A Cinderella March Madness run hangs in the balance
Iowa women’s basketball has been nothing short of a dream for a state so deeply entrenched in the sport. But things change, and the Hawkeyes are shifting their focus to a new dream: creating a level of success that extends far beyond a single figure.
Regardless of whether they’re able to extend their Cinderella run or if their March Madness campaign comes to an end this afternoon, Iowa’s 2024/25 season was a hard-fought step in the right direction.
“Everybody asks me if I knew this was going to happen,” Bluder said of the legacy that lives on in this new team. “Of course, I didn't know it was going to happen. I hoped it was going to happen, but you never know for sure. We just had a belief.”