The Sooners' hunt for a fifth straight NCAA softball title is officially over, as No. 12-seed Texas Tech ousted No. 2-seed Oklahoma 3-2 in Monday's 2025 semifinals to book a trip to their first-ever Women's College World Series (WCWS) finals.
With a total of eight national championships under their belt, this year's WCWS marks Oklahoma's earliest exit since 2018.
Calling it "a great privilege" to play the modern dynasty that is Oklahoma softball, Red Raiders head coach Gerry Glasco said "This was our chance at forever — to leave a legacy at Texas Tech that will be remembered forever. Our team has done that. They've left a legacy."
Seventh-inning heroics end in dramatic Texas Tech victory
Prior to this season, the Red Raiders had never advanced out of the Regional round in their six previous appearances in the NCAA tournament.
With the addition of Stanford transfer and 2025 National Pitcher of the Year NiJaree Canady — college softball's first $1 million player — Texas Tech has put together a magical run all the way to this week's best-of-three championship series.
Canady's seven-inning showing on Monday nearly clinched the Red Raiders win, as the ace protected Texas Tech's second-inning 2-0 lead until the game's final frame.
Down to their last strike, junior outfielder Abigale Dayton played hero for the Sooners, blasting a two-run homer to tie the score and keep Oklahoma's hopes alive in the top of the seventh.
The bottom of the inning, however, was all Texas Tech, as Raiders first baseman Lauren Allred popped up a deep-enough sacrifice fly to score junior centerfielder Mihyia Davis from third, walking off the 3-2 win.
"Honestly, it was a very cinematic way to go out," Oklahoma first baseman Cydney Sanders — one of just three seniors on the young 2025 Sooners' squad — said of Monday night's late-inning WCWS dramatics.
2025 WCWS will crown a first-ever national champion
This week's championship series, which kicks off on Wednesday night, will now be an all-Texas affair, after the No. 6-seed Texas Longhorns also advanced with a 2-0 Monday win over No. 7-seed Tennessee.
Not only will the 2025 NCAA trophy be heading to the Lone Star State, this year's tournament will also crown a first-time victor: Despite their seven previous WCWS appearances and a now-third trip to the championship series in the last four years, the Longhorns — like the Red Raiders — have yet to hoist softball's national hardware.
The 2025 Women's College World Series begins today, with the sport's most prestigious organizations taking advantage of this week's NCAA softball spotlight to bestow awards on the season's top athletes.
Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis earned USA Softball's 2025 Collegiate Player of the Year title on Tuesday, with the senior beating out a shortlist that included Nebraska pitcher Jordy Bahl and Texas Tech ace NiJaree Canady — who won the award in her 2024 sophomore season.
A menace at the plate, Ellis led the NCAA in on-base (.639) and slugging percentages (1.090). She finished the year with 26 home runs — the third-most in the nation — while racking up 72 RBIs, both setting single-season records for the Razorbacks.
Wednesday saw both Bahl and Canady take home hardware of their own, with the National Fastpitch Coaches Association naming the Nebraska redshirt junior their 2025 National Player of the Year while the Texas Tech transfer snagged Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season.
A two-time national champion with Oklahoma before transferring to the Cornhuskers, Bahl is the only player to rank in the Top 10 for both batting average and ERA, claiming multiple program records at the plate while tossing 26 wins from the circle. This season, she became just the fifth Division I athlete to ever record 20+ wins and 20+ home runs in a single campaign.
Another two-way titan, Canady leads the nation with a lights-out 0.89 ERA on the season, allowing a Division I-low of 3.65 hits per seven innings while leading the Red Raiders in long-ball production with 11 home runs.
How to watch the winners of the 2025 college softball awards
Despite their individual achievements, only Canady's Texas Tech survived last weekend's Super Regionals, meaning fans must wait until the 2026 NCAA season to catch rising Nebraska senior Bahl back in action.
It's a shorter wait to watch Ellis, however, as the Arkansas grad will begin her pro career with the Talons in the brand-new Athletes Unlimited Softball League, which starts its inaugural season on June 7th.
As for Canady, she'll look to take the Red Raiders on a deep run in Oklahoma City. No. 12-seed Texas Tech will face unseeded Ole Miss in both teams' first-ever WCWS game at 7 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on ESPN2.
SEC firepower will fuel the 2025 Women's College World Series (WCWS), as No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Tennessee, and unseeded Ole Miss all advanced out of this weekend's Super Regionals to book trips to Oklahoma City.
The SEC's five teams ties the record for most WCWS-bound squads from a single conference, with the additions of former Big 12 powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas notably boosting the league's WCWS roster this year.
Big Ten newcomers No. 9 UCLA and No. 16 Oregon plus the Big 12's No. 12 Texas Tech round out the eight teams entering the double-elimination tournament later this week, all battling for one of two spots in next week's best-of-three championship series.
Despite coming into the postseason as the No. 2 seed, the Sooners are still the team to beat as they hunt their fifth straight NCAA softball title.
With their 18th program ticket to OKC, Oklahoma's consistency in advancing to the national championship's last stop is dwarfed only by UCLA: The Bruins have appeared in 34 editions of the WCWS, missing the final cut only nine times in NCAA history.
In contrast, both Ole Miss and Texas Tech will be making their WCWS debuts after upsetting top seeds last weekend.
The Rebels, who first eliminated No. 13 Arizona in Regionals, outlasted No. 4 Arkansas to book their first-ever WCWS trip on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders are flying high behind transfer pitcher and 2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady, emerging victorious in their first-ever Super Regional with two straight wins over No. 5 Florida State.
How to watch the 2025 Women's College World Series
Oklahoma City veterans and debutants alike will begin their WCWS campaigns on Thursday, when all teams will contend in the tournament's initial four games.
Kicking off the 2025 WCWS is an all-SEC afternoon session, with No. 6 Texas facing No. 3 Florida at 12 PM ET before No. 7 Tennessee takes on No. 2 Oklahoma at 2:30 PM ET.
Evening play pits the newcomers against each other as Ole Miss clashes with No. 12 Texas Tech at 7 PM ET, with a Big Ten battle between No. 16 Oregon and No. 9 UCLA closing out the night at 9:30 PM ET.
Live coverage of the afternoon games will air on ESPN, with ESPN2 broadcasting the two evening matchups.
USA Basketball is heading to France, with NCAA stars Sarah Strong (UConn), Mikaylah Williams (LSU), and Sahara Williams (Oklahoma) — plus 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Cierra Burdick — packing their bags for this weekend's 2025 FIBA 3×3 Women's Series.
Two-time FIBA 3×3 World Cup champ Burdick anchors the squad, with the 31-year-old returning to international competition just five months after undergoing hip surgery.
The college standouts also have key 3×3 experience, with all three earning gold for the U18 team at the 2022 and 2023 World Cups.
Reigning NCAA champion and Freshman of the Year Strong also took the 2024 World Cup title, while 2021 World Cup winner Mikaylah Williams owns two USA Basketball 3×3 Female Athlete of the Year awards.
This weekend's event will kick off Team USA's run in this year's 3×3 Series, a five-month, 16-stop global tour with more than $1 million in prize money on the line.
The 14-team Marseille competition begins with a three-team qualifying round followed by pool play on Friday, with Saturday's knockouts determining the champion.
How to watch Team USA in the 2025 FIBA 3×3 Women's Series
The US opens their 3×3 campaign against Ireland at 7:15 AM ET on Friday, with continuing live coverage on the All Women's Sports Network and YouTube.
Reigning NCAA basketball champions UConn powered up this week, signing former Wisconsin standout Serah Williams out of the transfer portal — and beating both LSU and North Carolina to the punch.
After several top programs — including the Tigers and the Tar Heels — tried to court the All-Big Ten first team forward, the 6-foot-4 rising senior officially opted to play out her final year of eligibility with the Huskies on Wednesday.
Averaging 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game last season, Williams joins a talented UConn frontcourt that includes starters Jana El Alfy and 2025 NCAA Freshman of the Year Sarah Strong.
The All-Big Ten first team forward joins the reigning champs after averaging 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds for the Badgers last season.
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) April 30, 2025
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2025/26 NCAA basketball rosters snap up top talent
With most big-name transfers now committed, next season's college basketball landscape is coming into view.
Despite missing out on Williams, LSU is likely this year's transfer portal winner, having signed Notre Dame freshman forward Kate Koval and highly touted South Carolina sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley to the Tigers' 2025/26 roster.
Ohio State also made headlines on Wednesday, inking Florida forward Kylee Kitts — the younger sister of South Carolina standout junior Chloe Kitts — following the Buckeyes' loss of star junior Cotie McMahon to Ole Miss.
While the transfer portal window closed last week, there's no deadline for signing with a new school, leaving the athletes still in limbo time to find their ideal fit.
Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun!
Every week on Sports Are Fun!, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.
This week, the Sports Are Fun! crew makes some room on the couch for JWS's own social media guru, Gab Basinski. Together, the hosts then tackle a range of women's sports subjects, including how NIL deals and the NCAA transfer portal are reshaping the college basketball landscape.
"The NCAA transfer portal closed last Wednesday, which had over 1,500 players enter," opens O'Hara. "So many moves here, but just to highlight a few: Olivia Miles to TCU, Ta'Niya Latson to South Carolina, UCLA lost their entire freshman class, and Londynn Jones to USC, and finally, MiLaysia Fulwiley to LSU."
"Of all DI players, almost 30% of players were in the portal," says Basinski. "That's insane."
"I have so many questions and thoughts," O'Hara says.
In addition to all those NCAA basketball thoughts, Sports Are Fun! also dives into NWSL rivalries, the crew's growing beef with the KC Current, PWHL expansion, Caitlin Clark jersey sales, and so much more!
'Sports Are Fun!' asks if NIL is taking the fun out of NCAA basketball
Then, the hosts took a hard look at NIL's impact on college rivalries.
"First of all, I think it's a cardinal sin — and that is pun intended — to transfer to a rival," O'Hara says. "Is that not a thing anymore? I could never, as a Stanford player, go to a UCLA or a USC. Absolutely not."
"When there's money involved, it's not it's not personal. It's business, baby," reasons Diaz. "We're seeing a Londynn Jones go from UCLA literally across the street to USC — that's insane to me. I feel like that's one of the craziest moves. So I guess it doesn't matter anymore?"
"To me, the thing that makes college sports so fun are the rivalries, your school pride," says O'Hara. "You are ride-or-die for your school, and it just doesn't seem like it exists anymore.
"I'd be ride or die for whatever school's paying me, to be honest," quips Basinski. "Get a bag. Because also, it's like, 'Oh they value me enough to pay this much for me to switch schools. So the school is kind of behind me, and if they're behind me this much, alright, I'll take your check and I'll go play.'"
About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara
'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.
Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.
From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"
Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.
Former South Carolina star MiLaysia Fulwiley officially joined the Gamecocks' SEC rival LSU on Friday, putting the cherry on top of the Tigers' winning NCAA basketball transfer period.
According to multiple reports, the Columbia, South Carolina, product actually committed to LSU weeks ago — the same day she announced she'd be leaving her hometown school.
The rising junior won a national championship with South Carolina in 2024, but started only three of her 77 games with the talent-loaded Gamecocks — despite averaging 11.7 points per game and shooting 42.6% from the field.
Fulwiley's move only deepens one of the hottest rivalries of both the powerhouse SEC and the NCAA at-large, with either South Carolina or LSU featuring in each of the last four national championship games.
The guard won the SEC tournament's Most Outstanding Player award in 2024, after the Gamecocks beat the Tigers to secure last year's conference title.
Transfers reshape NCAA landscape ahead of 2025/26 season
This year's transfer portal has profoundly impacted the women's college basketball field, with more than 1,500 athletes — almost 30% of all Division I players — looking to jump ship.
Even though the NCAA basketball portal closed last week, there are no deadlines for transfers to commit to a new program — or return to their original school, should an athlete's roster spot still be available.
While Fulwiley and other NCAA basketball stars have locked in their 2025/26 NCAA homes, talented transfers like former USC guard Kayleigh Heckel are reportedly still looking for the right fit.
As the dust finished settling on a highly competitive 2024/25 season, roster shakeups could transform some teams into bonafide championship contenders — though history proves that building a superteam doesn't always guarantee a national title.
The NCAA basketball transfer portal window officially closes on Wednesday, after an active period saw top players unafraid to jump ship — even if that means joining a rival team.
After the portal window shuts, athletes can no longer declare their intention to transfer, though there's no official deadline for accepting admission to a new school.
Former UCLA rising senior Londynn Jones is the latest to switch sides, taking her 35.1% three-point shooting to the Bruins’ fiercest Big Ten competition by committing to crosstown rival USC on Tuesday.
The SEC — arguably the sport's powerhouse conference — has also seen significant movement in recent weeks, with Ole Miss landing ex-Ohio State standout Cotie McMahon and ex-Mississippi State guard Denim DeShields — WNBA veteran Diamond DeShields’s little sister.
Maryland is also cleaning up, signing ex-Duke star guard Oluchi Okananwa and Indiana center Yarden Garzon to the Terps' 2025/26 roster.
Meanwhile, 2025 national championship runner-up South Carolina added former Mississippi State big Madina Okot on Monday, after securing ex-Florida State guard and Division I's 2024/25 scoring leader Ta’Niya Latson earlier this month.
Another transfer portal superstar considers a jump
As the stars begin to settle, all eyes are on South Carolina transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley as she weighs her options ahead of her junior year.
Like UCLA-to-USC transfer Jones, the Columbia, South Carolina, product could opt to go the rival route, with rumors of Fulwiley seriously eyeing SEC foe LSU currently making the rounds.
All in all, while the player pool will be finalized on Wednesday, it could take days, weeks, or months to round out NCAA basketball rosters, as teams continue courting athletes in the portal before the 2025/26 season tips off.
No. 2-seed Oklahoma won their third NCAA gymnastics championship in four years on Saturday, topping fellow finalists No. 4 Utah, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 7 Missouri with an overall score of 198.0125.
With seven titles since 2014, Oklahoma regains its reputation as the sport's current dynasty, finishing atop the podium after falling short of a three-peat last year.
"Our theme wasn't redemption this year at all," Oklahoma head coach K.J. Kindler told reporters after Saturday's victory.
"Does it make it sweet? Yes, but this team was capable of this last year. We just failed. And people fail all the time. They fail every day. And we talk about [it] all the time that the glory is in getting back up again."
Freedom allowed Oklahoma to reclaim NCAA gymnastics crown
Last year, the then-defending champion Sooners stumbled in a shocking loss in the national semifinals, a fate the 2024 champion LSU squad similarly suffered last Thursday, when the top-seeded Tigers failed to advance to the final meet of 2025.
Between overcoming the semifinals hurdles themselves and seeing LSU ousted — arguably Oklahoma's biggest competition entering the weekend — the Sooners were able to breathe easier and enjoy their last competition of the season.
"After advancing, and we got to today, we were free," said senior Audrey Davis. "We had no weight on our shoulders. We were free to do our best gymnastics."
That freedom had the Sooners leading the charge, finishing their first rotation on beam tied with eventual runners-up UCLA before taking full control of the meet — Oklahoma grabbed a second-rotation lead on the floor and never relinquished it.
As for the rest of the field, Missouri earned a program-record third-place finish in their first-ever NCAA final, while nine-time champions Utah closed their season in fourth.
For Oklahoma senior Jordan Bowers, the final weekend of her collegiate career was one for the books.
In addition to the team title, Bowers won the individual all-around competition during Thursday's semifinals — a day that also crowned LSU’s Kailin Chio (vault), Missouri’s Helen Hu (beam), and UCLA's Jordan Chiles (uneven bars) and Brooklyn Moors (floor) as national apparatus champions.
"Just truly a fairytale ending," Bowers said on the ABC broadcast. "I'm so freaking proud of this team, and I'm so proud to be a Sooner."
Stanford shattered the NCAA softball attendance record this weekend, welcoming 13,207 fans inside the university’s football stadium for Saturday's "Big Swing" game against Cal.
In the most-attended non-football contest in Stanford Athletics' history, the Cardinal softball crowd surpassed the sport's previous attendance record of 12,566, set on the first day of the 2024 Women's College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City.
The history-making game also blew past the NCAA softball regular-season record of 9,259 fans, a feat reached less than two weeks ago when reigning champions Oklahoma defeated local rivals Oklahoma State on April 9th.
"It was kind of like a mini College World Series experience," Stanford junior outfielder Kyra Chan said after the game.
Despite dropping the record-breaking matchup 10-8 to their new ACC rivals, No. 16 Stanford ultimately secured the three-game series against the Golden Bears with wins on Thursday and Friday.
Friday's 9-3 victory was particularly impactful, clinching the Cardinal a spot in their first-ever ACC championship tournament next month — the first postseason stop as Stanford hunts a third-straight appearance in the WCWS semifinals.
Stanford softball fuels argument for larger women's sports venues
Softball isn't the only sport leading the recent surge in record-breaking NCAA women's sports crowds.
After shifting a volleyball match into its football stadium in August 2023, Nebraska welcomed not just the sport's biggest crowd, but the largest to ever attend any women's sporting event in the US.
Shortly thereafter, Iowa's "Crossover at Kinnick" blasted through the NCAA women's basketball attendance mark by moving an exhibition game featuring the Caitlin Clark-led Hawkeyes into the university's football venue.
Though the move to massive football stadiums was intentional to snag both Nebraska's and Iowa's respective records, Stanford's venue shift was not initially an attendance-hunting move.
The Cardinal's entire 2025 softball season is being played on the gridiron as the team's new $50 million stadium and state-of-the-art training facility is under construction.
Taking advantage of that added capacity was a no-brainer, with Stanford specifically branding and marketing their rivalry "Big Swing" game to capitalize on their temporary digs — and to continue making the overall case for expanding women's sports' venues.
"I think that you see a consistent theme that there aren't big enough venues for women's sports to be able to draw the fans that they can draw," Stanford softball head coach Jessica Allister pointed out.
"Hopefully, a lot of people who showed up to Stanford for the first time to watch a softball game will come back and see us in our beautiful stadium."