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2024–25 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team

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2024–25 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record9–18 (2–16 Big Ten)
Head coach
Associate head coachTangela Smith
Assistant coaches
  • Maggie Lyon
  • Brittany Johnson
Home arenaWelsh–Ryan Arena
Seasons
2025–26 →
2024–25 Big Ten women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 5 USC 17 1   .944 31 4   .886
No. 3 UCLA 16 2   .889 34 3   .919
No. 19 Ohio State 13 5   .722 26 7   .788
No. 12 Maryland 13 5   .722 25 8   .758
No. 25 Michigan 11 7   .611 23 11   .676
Michigan State 11 7   .611 22 10   .688
Illinois 11 7   .611 22 10   .688
Oregon 10 8   .556 20 12   .625
Indiana 10 8   .556 20 13   .606
Nebraska 10 8   .556 21 12   .636
Iowa 10 8   .556 23 11   .676
Washington 9 9   .500 19 14   .576
Minnesota 8 10   .444 25 11   .694
Wisconsin 4 14   .222 13 17   .433
Rutgers 3 15   .167 13 20   .394
Purdue 3 15   .167 10 19   .345
Northwestern 2 16   .111 9 18   .333
Penn State 1 17   .056 10 19   .345
2025 Big Ten tournament winner
As of April 7, 2025
Rankings from AP poll

The 2024–25 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team represents Northwestern University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by 17th-year head coach Joe McKeown, played their home games at the Welsh–Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 9–18, 2–16 in Big Ten play to finish in 17th place. They failed to qualify for the Big Ten tournament.

Due to the wildfires in the Los Angeles and Ventura counties, Northwestern's road games at UCLA on January 12 and USC on January 15 were postponed.[1] Northwestern forfeited the games in February 2025. UCLA and USC each were credited with a win, and the Wildcats were assessed two losses.[1]

Previous season

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The Wildcats finished the 2023–24 season 9–21, 2–16 in Big Ten play, to finish in 13th place. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to Purdue.[2]

Offseason

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Departures

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Northwestern departures
Name Num Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for departure
Maggie Pina 3 G 5' 7" Graduate student West Chester, PA Graduated
Hailey Weaver 11 G 5' 11" Junior Solon, OH Left the team
Paige Mott 20 F 6' 1" Senior Philadelphia, PA Transferred to George Washington
Alana Goodchild 22 F 6' 2" Sophomore Sydney, Australia Transferred to Santa Clara
Jasmine McWilliams 23 G 5' 11" Senior Indianapolis, IN Graduated

Incoming transfers

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Northwestern incoming transfers
Name Num Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous school
Kyla Jones 2 G 5' 9" Graduate student Chicago, IL Brown
Taylor Williams 33 F 6' 2" Graduate student New Baltimore, MI Michigan

2024 recruiting class

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College recruiting information
Name Hometown School Height Weight Commit date
Xamiya Walton
PG
Chicago, IL Butler College Prep 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) N/A  
Recruit ratings: ESPN: 4/5 stars   (94)
Tayla Thomas
W
Montclair, NJ IMG Academy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) N/A  
Recruit ratings: ESPN: 4/5 stars   (91)
Overall recruit ranking:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2024 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 7, 2024.

Roster

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2024–25 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 Rachel Mutombo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Good Counsel Silver Spring, MD
G 1 Xamiya Walton 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr Butler College Prep Chicago, IL
G 2 Kyla Jones 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) GS Brown Chicago, IL
G 3 Claire Keswick (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Tabor Academy Wrentham, MA
G 7 Caroline Lau 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr St. Luke's School Westport, CT
G/F 8 Kat Righeimer (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Sage Hill School Costa Mesa, CA
F 10 Caileigh Walsh 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr Gill St. Bernard's Sparta, NJ
G 12 Casey Harter 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Souderton Harleysville, PA
F 13 Mercy Ademusayo 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Sr Linden Hall Ode-Irele, Nigeria
G 21 Melannie Daley 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Sr Hastings Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
F 23 Tayla Thomas 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr IMG Academy East Orange, NJ
F 25 Lauren Trumpy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Jr Trinity Camp Hill, PA
F 31 Crystal Fuqu Wang 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Sierra Canyon Beijing, China
F 33 Taylor Williams 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) GS Michigan New Baltimore, MI
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: June 15, 2025

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 3, 2024*
6:00 p.m., B1G+
UW–Parkside W 88–64 
 18  Jones   16  Williams   9  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (312)
Evanston, IL
Regular season
November 6, 2024*
7:00 p.m., B1G+
Illinois State L 77–81  0–1
 28  Jones   8  Sullivan   5  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,119)
Evanston, IL
November 10, 2024*
2:00 p.m., B1G+
Lehigh L 68–85  0–2
 22  Williams   11  Williams   12  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,166)
Evanston, IL
November 14, 2024*
6:00 p.m., BTN
Utah W 71–69  1–2
 23  Daley   10  Williams   10  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,114)
Evanston, IL
November 23, 2024*
12:00 p.m., B1G+
Harvard L 50–75  1–3
 13  Walsh   6  Lau   4  Daley  Welsh–Ryan Arena (926)
Evanston, IL
November 26, 2024*
6:00 p.m., ESPN+
at Loyola Chicago W 73–64  2–3
 22  Williams   14  Williams   5  Williams  Joseph J. Gentile Arena (567)
Chicago, IL
December 1, 2024*
1:00 p.m., B1G+
Cornell W 67–54  3–3
 22  Sullivan   13  Williams   12  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (2,163)
Evanston, IL
December 4, 2024*
7:00 p.m., B1G+
DePaul W 64–56  4–3
 14  Walsh   12  Lau   7  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,045)
Evanston, IL
December 8, 2024
1:00 p.m., B1G+
at No. 23 Michigan L 54–60  4–4
(0–1)
 14  Jones   11  Williams   7  Lau  Crisler Center (3,636)
Ann Arbor, MI
December 15, 2024*
2:00 p.m., B1G+
Bradley W 67–57  5–4
 13  Williams   11  Williams   5  2 tied  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,130)
Evanston, IL
December 18, 2024*
11:00 a.m., B1G+
UNLV W 79–76 OT 6–4
 21  Daley   12  Walsh   8  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,092)
Evanston, IL
December 20, 2024*
12:00 p.m., ESPN+
vs. Charleston
Hawk Classic semifinals
L 62–68  6–5
 20  Walsh   11  Williams   7  Lau  Hagan Arena (220)
Philadelphia, PA
December 21, 2024*
10:00 a.m., ESPN+
vs. Howard
Hawk Classic 3rd-place game
W 68–66  7–5
 17  Sullivan   11  Williams   5  Lau  Hagan Arena 
Philadelphia, PA
December 28, 2024
2:00 p.m., B1G+
Washington L 71–90  7–6
(0–2)
 15  Lau   7  Williams   5  Daley  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,439)
Evanston, IL
December 31, 2024
2:00 p.m., BTN
Oregon L 65–85  7–7
(0–3)
 15  Walsh   4  3 tied   5  Harter  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,377)
Evanston, IL
January 5, 2025
12:00 p.m., B1G+
at No. 10 Ohio State L 62–92  7–8
(0–4)
 15  Jones   7  Walsh   7  Lau  Value City Arena (7,190)
Columbus, OH
January 8, 2025
7:00 p.m., B1G+
Indiana L 64–68  7–9
(0–5)
 15  Williams   13  Williams   6  Daley  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,452)
Evanston, IL
January 12, 2025
4:00 p.m., B1G+
at No. 1 UCLA L   7–9
(0–6)
                  Pauley Pavilion 
Los Angeles, CA
January 15, 2025
9:00 p.m., Peacock
at No. 4 USC L   7–9
(0–7)
                  Galen Center 
Los Angeles, CA
January 19, 2025
2:00 p.m., B1G+
No. 24т Minnesota L 82–87  7–10
(0–8)
 18  Sullivan   10  Williams   7  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,854)
Evanston, IL
January 23, 2025
7:00 p.m., BTN
Illinois L 60–85  7–11
(0–9)
 14  Jones   9  Williams   5  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,735)
Evanston, IL
January 28, 2025
7:00 p.m., BTN
at Iowa L 80–85  7–12
(0–10)
 15  2 tied   8  Williams   7  Lau  Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,998)
Iowa City, IA
February 2, 2025
2:00 p.m., B1G+
No. 16 Michigan State L 75–89  7–13
(0–11)
 18  Williams   12  Williams   4  2 tied  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,861)
Evanston, IL
February 6, 2025
6:00 p.m., B1G+
at Illinois L 60–73  7–14
(0–12)
 17  Walsh   7  Daley   3  Daley  State Farm Center (4,591)
Champaign, IL
February 9, 2025
1:00 p.m., B1G+
Penn State W 69–63  8–14
(1–12)
 20  Daley   11  Williams   8  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,902)
Evanston, IL
February 12, 2025
6:00 p.m., B1G+
at Purdue L 60–75  8–15
(1–13)
 17  Williams   16  Williams   5  Harter  Mackey Arena (4,002)
West Lafayette, IN
February 17, 2025
7:00 p.m., BTN
at Rutgers W 69–59  9–15
(2–13)
 13  Walsh   7  Daley   9  Lau  Jersey Mike's Arena (2,327)
Piscataway, NJ
February 20, 2025
6:30 p.m., BTN
No. 21 Maryland L 79–85  9–16
(2–14)
 22  Daley   11  Lau   10  Lau  Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,726)
Evanston, IL
February 23, 2025
2:00 p.m., B1G+
at Wisconsin L 68–73  9–17
(2–15)
 18  Walsh   11  Williams   7  Lau  Kohl Center (4,390)
Madison, WI
March 2, 2025
2:00 p.m., B1G+
Nebraska L 77–98  9–18
(2–16)
 22  Walsh   7  Williams   6  Daley  Welsh–Ryan Arena (2,408)
Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Source:[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Northwestern women take forfeits for not playing January games at UCLA, USC over wildfire concerns". AP News. February 26, 2025. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  2. ^ "Northwestern Falls to Purdue in First Round of Big Ten Tournament". Northwestern Athletics. March 6, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  3. ^ "2024-25 Women's Basketball Schedule". Nusports.com. Retrieved November 7, 2024.