NCAAW: The biggest moments from the tournament

Every NCAA Tournament is magical.

It’s a time unlike any other, where we get the madness of a single-elimination contest and see if dreams come true or nightmares come to life. 2025 was no exception. So, before we pivot to the transfer portal and what next year will look like, let’s take a look at the biggest moments from the tourney.

Paige Bueckers, UConn win it all

After all the ups and downs, Bueckers finally got the job done and won a national title for UConn, beating South Carolina 82-59. It was a moment of poetic justice where she could leave it all on the floor and share the unfiltered joy of winning in front of the world.

Now, Bueckers moves to the WNBA, but this game and moment were historic and will be the first thing we remember from this tournament decades from now.

JuJu Watkins tears ACL

Not all memories are good ones. In USC’s second-round game against Mississippi State, Watkins went down in the first quarter, tearing her ACL. This not only ended her tournament, but will likely rule her out for all, or almost all, of next year.

The Trojans rallied around her absence. They beat Mississippi State and Kansas State to reach the Elite Eight. During the games Watkins was out, they had a Funko Pop Watkins on the bench as a sign of support—a reminder that she may be out, but not forgotten.

USC lost to eventual champions UConn, but Watkins won almost every National Player of the Year Award.

The success was bittersweet, and there are now big question marks regarding her return. Hopefully, she sees the success Bueckers has had since tearing her ACL in 2022 and uses it as fuel to come back even stronger.

Hailey Van Lith is Elite (Eight)

HVL did her thing with TCU and made history. She not only led the Horned Frogs to their first Elite Eight appearance, but also became the only player to lead three different schools that far.

There was a lot of chatter about who Van Lith was as a player, but the critics have been silenced. She gambled by transferring to TCU, and it paid off. Now we’ll see what’s next for her in basketball. She already has an Olympic bronze medal in 3×3 basketball and has found success collegiately, so let’s see what she does professionally.

Parity or disparity?

Women’s basketball is in a place where there aren’t just one or two teams that can win it all. In many ways, teams are deeper, and with NIL and the transfer portal growing in importance every year, we’ll see more programs rise to the top, right?

We had three No. 1-seed teams make the Final Four, and no team worse than a No. 5 seed reached the Sweet 16. So while who will win might be up in the air, the teams that will be in the running are not.

As time goes on, these things will shift, and new programs, such as TCU, can emerge as powerhouses. But right now, the prospect of a Cinderella making a long NCAA Tournament run is as fictional as a fairy tale.