Kentucky women’s basketball finished the 2024-25 season with a No. 16 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25, with a final record of 23-8 (11-5 SEC).
Kentucky ended the season going 3-7 against Top 25 teams; eight games came during conference play. Aside from Ole Miss, all the teams were also ranked at the time of the matchup.
Seven of Kentucky’s conference foes are all in the Top 20, led by No. 2 South Carolina, the national runner-up after falling 82-59 to No. 1 UConn.
Aside from UK and USC, the SEC found its other rankings in No. 4 Texas, No. 8 LSU, No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Ole Miss and No. 20 Alabama.
Kentucky’s highest-ranked win came in its final home matchup of the season against then No. 11 Tennessee, which marked Kentucky’s most significant margin of victory against its border rival in program history after blowing the Vols out 82-58.
Oklahoma and Kentucky split their series 1-1, with UK pulling off a win in the regular season and OU taking the win during the 2025 SEC Tournament.
Kentucky traveled to Norman to face then No. 13 Oklahoma in the regular season, where future WNBA first-round pick Georgia Amoore scored a career-high of 43 points, and tied the program’s single-game scoring record, the Wildcats securing a 95-86 win.
The two teams met again during the semifinals of the SEC Tournament after Kentucky finished fourth overall in the conference and secured a double-bye. UK became a ‘one-and-done’ after an underwhelming performance allowed the Sooners to pull off an upset against the Wildcats 69-65.
Kentucky went 1-4 against the other five SEC programs that now rank in the top 20, its one win coming against then No. 22 Alabama with a 65-56 victory.
Two of Kentucky’s losses came with an underwhelming and low-scoring performance, falling victim to an upset against an unranked Ole Miss team 66-57, and the other against then No. 3 Texas, which obliterated the Wildcats 67-49.
The Wildcats would also face then No. 7 LSU and, while it was a tough loss, it came off of a very hot first-half Kentucky performance. Unfortunately, a disastrous third quarter erased a 12-point halftime lead. Kentucky fought back in the final minutes but was ultimately out-executed by the Tigers and lost 65-58.
One of the most surprising games this season occurred in Columbia, South Carolina, which ended in a very different kind of loss. In its final conference matchup of the season, No. 15 Kentucky would face off against No. 6 South Carolina.
The gritty and aggressive performance had Kentucky within reach of the Gamecocks for most of the matchup and, for the first time since 2020, became the only SEC opponent to trail USC by one point or less in the fourth quarter of any game inside Colonial Life Arena.
However, Kentucky would be unable to take the lead and a late USC scoring drive led the Cocks to a 78-66 victory.
Outside of the SEC, Kentucky ended 0-2 against teams now ranked in the top 15, falling to both No. 14 North Carolina and No. 13 Kansas State.
The preseason game against the Tar Heels became Kentucky’s first loss of the season. The Cats fell 72-53 at then No. 16 North Carolina in the second annual ACC/SEC Challenge.
The Cats could not pull off a comeback performance against UNC in their first-ranked road matchup of the season.
In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky would face No. 5 seed Kansas State inside Historic Memorial Coliseum. Unfortunately, Kentucky women’s basketball saw its March Madness run end in heartbreak, falling 80-79 to Kansas State in an overtime thriller.
The game was a back-and-forth battle that tested Kentucky both physically and mentally, but the Cats fell just short of a Sweet Sixteen appearance after Kansas State had a near-perfect offensive overtime performance.
A full list of the final AP Top 25 Rankings for the 2024-25 women’s basketball season is available below:
- UConn Huskies (37-3)
- South Carolina Gamecocks (35-4)
- UCLA Bruins (34-3)
- Texas Longhorns (35-4)
- USC Trojans (31-4)
- TCU Horned Frogs (34-4)
- Duke Blue Devils (29-8)
- LSU Tigers (31-6)
- NC State Wolfpack (28-7)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (28-6)
- Oklahoma Sooners (27-8)
- Maryland Terrapins (25-8)
- Kansas State Wildcats (28-8)
- North Carolina Tar Heels (29-8)
- Tennessee Volunteers (24-10)
- Kentucky Wildcats (23-8)
- Ole Miss Rebels (22-11)
- Baylor Bears (28-8)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (26-7)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (24-9)
- West Virginia Mountaineers (25-8)
- Florida State Seminoles (24-9)
- South Dakota State Jackrabbits (30-4)
- Oklahoma State Cowboys (25-7)
- Michigan Wolverines (23-11)
Others receiving votes: Louisville 31, Richmond 29, Oregon 24, Indiana 21, Michigan State 16, Iowa 13, Creighton 9, Illinois 3, Vanderbilt 3, Harvard 2, Columbia 2, Norfolk State 1.
