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If you’re applying to college and are interested in playing women’s basketball, read on to find the best women’s basketball colleges that’ll kickstart your sports career!
Sue Bird is argued to be the best WNBA player. She won five Olympic gold medals for Team USA, was on four World Cup-winning teams, and was on many title-winning leagues.
Her prosperous sports career kicked off in university when she attended the University of Connecticut, joined its basketball team, and won two NCAA championships.
If you have aspirations to become a great athlete like Sue, an excellent way to begin training like a pro and even get drafted is to join a top college for women’s basketball.
To give you a variety of options to choose from, here are 20 of the top women’s basketball colleges, according to NCSA - the largest college-recruiting platform.
NCSA ranks their colleges based on “NCSA Favorites” data from college search activity, the US News & World Report rankings for academic standing, and information from the US Department of Education College Scorecard.
Deciding which colleges to apply to, especially if you’re hoping to get recruited, can be a tricky process. Look into our downloadable college guides to help you learn more about different colleges and their application processes!
Here are the top 20 best colleges if you’re hoping to play women’s college basketball.
Stanford University is a prestigious institution that ranks as the number one college for student-athletes interested in playing women’s basketball.
Playing 36 NCAA tournaments and winning three NCAA championships, Stanford is known to produce excellent athletes. As a Division 1 school, they are also the highest-level college athletes by NCAA standards!
Speaking of standards, Stanford holds all prospective students to high ones! Their acceptance rate is under 4%, and applicants will need high GPAs and top ACT or SAT scores to get in.
In second place is Princeton University, beating out other top schools like Yale, Harvard, and MIT.
Princeton is a Division 1 school that has proven itself to be a major collegiate athletic power. In fact, WNBA star Blake Dietrick graduated from Princeton and won a 30-0 regular season, leading to her title as the unanimous Ivey League Player of the Year.
Basketball enthusiasts wishing to follow Dietrick’s footsteps can expect to pay over $60,000 in tuition fees.
As another college giant on this list, Harvard is the third-best college for women’s basketball. This Division 1 school consistently outperforms its opponents. In 2023-2024 alone, it outranked its opponents in its points per game, shooting, and assists.
Harvard is a prestigious school with a low acceptance rate of only 3.59%. To attend Harvard, you’ll need to pay over $55K in tuition fees.
The University of Florida is another Division 1 school that ranks fourth as the best women’s basketball college.
These athletes live up to their name as the Florida Gators by being intimidating opponents on the court! According to their 2023-2024 stats alone, the Gators consistently dominated their opponents in not only points per game but also shooting, assists, and steals.
Coming in at fifth, MIT is home to one of the best women’s college basketball teams! Their 2023-24 stats show them outplaying their opponents in points per game, shooting, rebounding, and steals!
If you hope to play for the MIT Engineers, you should be ready to score between 1520-1580 on the SAT and 34-36 on the ACT. MIT’s acceptance rate is less than 5%, so you’ll need to be a competitive applicant to get in.
In sixth place is Columbia University. As another impressive D1 team that lives up to its name as powerful players, the Columbia Lions have received numerous team and individual awards throughout its decades-long basketball journey.
Becoming a Lion isn’t cheap! In fact, Columbia has the most expensive tuition on this list, coming in at over $70K a year. However, the school makes up for its tuition cost with its prestigious reputation and world-renowned academic programs. Student-athletes can also take advantage of many outside athletic scholarships to afford tuition.
Yale University is another one of the best women’s basketball colleges and is home to the Bulldogs, who consistently make headlines for their wins and streaks! Recently, this D1 team celebrated a triumph in their three-seed claim in Ivy Madness!
With an acceptance rate of less than 4%, Yale is a competitive university. Aim for a high GPA and build a strong application to increase your admission chances.
The Penn Quakers are another top-notch women’s college basketball team! The team at UPenn has proven itself to be a strong contender, as the team’s 2023-24 stats show them outscoring their opponents in both total points and points per game.
To become a Quaker, you’ll need to build a stellar application to make it through Penn’s low acceptance rate. Aim for a 4.0 GPA and an SAT score above 1510.
UCLA ranks ninth as the best college for women’s basketball and is another Division 1 school with elaborate facilities for its athletes. Adhering to its motto, “champions made here,” the UCLA women’s basketball team consistently makes headlines for its athletic triumphs.
These UCLA players are not only athletically accomplished but also academically accomplished. The median GPA of accepted students is 3.95-4.0, and less than 10% of all applicants are able to meet this school’s expectations and gain admission to UCLA!
UC Berkeley is the tenth-best college for women’s basketball. This D1 school’s women’s basketball players are known as the Golden Bears and certainly live up to their title as golden athletes. In its history, this school has produced 11 WNBA players for various teams!
If you want to become a Golden Bear, you’ll need top-notch grades, since the average incoming GPA ranges between 4.15-4.29!
Johns Hopkins University ranks eleventh on this list and boasts a stellar women’s basketball team. Their season stats show them dominating their opponents in scoring, shooting, rebounding, and assisting, and they’ve scored 3 championships in their 8 NCAA appearances.
To join the Blue Jays, you’ll need top grades to make it into the 6.2% of applicants who are accepted to Johns Hopkins.
The University of Michigan comes in twelfth place and has made 10 NCAA appearances in its school’s history. In the 2022 NCAA tournament, U-M’s team received the number three seed, the highest seed the team has received thus far.
The University of Michigan only accepts 18% of all its applicants. To maximize your chances of becoming one of them, you should aim for a median SAT score of 1470, ACT score of 33, and GPA of 3.9.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a D1 school that has appeared in 27 NCAA tournaments and won five NCAA championships. This school is also the only school in the history of college basketball to have four national titles.
UNC also boasts basketball legend Michael Jordan as one of its alumni, so if you want to walk the same halls that he did, start working on your application!
The University of Virginia’s Division 1 women’s basketball team has consistently bred excellent players. In the school’s history, 11 women have been taken into the WNBA drafts, 12 have played in the WNBA, and two have been WNBA champions.
If you’d like to join this WNBA player-producing school, you should be prepared to pay up to $31,286 in tuition fees if you’re a Virginia resident and up to over $70K if you’re coming from out-of-state.
Vanderbilt University ranks 15th on this list. This Division 1 team appeared in a whopping 27 NCAA tournaments, advanced to the Final Four in one game, and the Elite Eight in five.
As yet another high-ranking school, Vanderbilt is highly selective in its admissions. It has an acceptance rate of 5.09% and expects students to have ACT scores between 34-36 and SAT scores between 1530-1600.
Despite being known as a leading research university dedicated to advancing science and technology, Georgia Tech also has various Division 1 sports teams, including its women’s basketball team.
Georgia Tech is also selective in its application decisions, with a 33% acceptance rate for Georgia residents and only a 10% admit rate for out-of-state students. Applicants should maintain a GPA of at least 3.7 and score at least 1400 on the SAT to be considered ideal candidates.
Duke University ranks #17 for women’s basketball, and their stats prove they deserve to be in the top 20. They boast a whopping 27 alumni in the WNBA, and in the 2023-24 season, the Blue Devils have outplayed their opponents in nearly every category possible.
If you want to join this top-notch school, you’ll need a high GPA to be a competitive applicant, as their acceptance rate is below 4%!
Brown University is another top contender for women’s basketball! They’ve produced many top-notch players, with nine players taking a spot in the Brown Hall of Fame and five players named Ivy Legends. Their 2023-24 stats also show them outmatching their opponents in shooting, scoring, and steals.
A minimum GPA of 4.0 and top-notch test scores are a must to get into Brown since their acceptance rate is only 5.2%!
You may choose to take your basketball talents to Georgetown University, ranked at #19. The Hoyas are a force to be reckoned with, as their 2023-24 stats prove that they’ve outplayed their opponents in nearly every category.
If you join the team at Georgetown, you should expect to pay about $33K per semester, or close to $67K per year.
Taking the final spot on our list is Northwestern University. Over the years, Northwestern’s women’s basketball team has been full of incredible players, gathering tons of awards, including Kodak, Street & Smith, and Big Ten Honors.
With an acceptance rate lower than 10%, you should strive to put together a stellar application if you want to join the Wildcat!
Making a decision on which college to attend can be tricky. To help you decide where you’d like to make a name for yourself in women’s basketball, check out our college comparison tool!
If you have any remaining questions about women’s basketball colleges, read on to find your answers.
Stanford University ranks as the best school for women’s basketball. That said, many other schools have top rankings for different reasons. You should choose your school based on all aspects of your education.
There are currently over 350 D1 basketball colleges in the nation.
You can find the full list of D1 women’s basketball colleges on the NCAS Sports website.
Considering only 1.2% of all high school women’s athletes play on D1 women’s teams, getting a roster spot is challenging! It requires excellent athleticism, strong academic performance, and unwavering dedication to the sport.
Columbia University is the most expensive college on this list for women’s basketball. However, if students are recruited to join the team, they often receive full-ride sports scholarships.
The University of Florida is the cheapest college for women’s basketball on this list for both in-state and out-of-state students.
Whether you want to join a college basketball team for your simple love of the sport or to advance your basketball career, the 20 schools listed here can provide you with the right resources, exposure, and opportunities to fulfill all of your sports dreams!
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