Plus Columbia’s incoming class might not be as flashy as Harvard, but it is going to be an immediate impact group. Cholopoulou already has a year of pro experience in Europe and Shippen is an all time high school Idaho player that looks like a perfect fit for Griffith’s play-style.
It looks like Princeton is the favourite with Columbia looking at them from close distance, and everyone else should be at a considerable distance. I guess it should be Harvard, Brown, Penn in that order, but they should be close.
If Harvard makes the ILT next year without an impact freshman, it will be because the bottom 5/8 of the league is so weak rather than the strength or thier returning roster.
The relative weakness of IL WBB teams is something I want to raise. I know you may think I’m crazy as we have a 3 bid league, but the bottom part of the league cant remotely stay in games with the top teams. The bottom 5 teams were 0-30 against the top 3 (is my math correct) and there was hardly a close game.
Compare that to Men’s IL BB where even 1-13 Columbia was competitive in the nearly every game and took 13-1 Yale to the final seconds in their first meeting (and beat them the previous year). Even the top IL mens teams are not blowing the bottom feeders out of the gym regularly.
This is not an IL problem, womens college BB is thinner in all leagues. After the top couple of Big East teams the rest of the conference is mediocre. The same is true across all conferences.
Here’s What Each Team Has Coming Back in 2025–26**
Freshmen, transfers, and offseason development will shift the landscape—but a solid starting point is: who’s returning? Here is what Chat GPT thinks about the stats below:
Returning experience (players w/ 400+ career minutes)
Experience Leaders:
Princeton, Cornell, Harvard – 7 players w/ 400+ mins
Brown & Dartmouth – 6
Columbia & Penn – 5
Yale – 4
Princeton: Loaded. 80%+ back in almost every category. Columbia: Surprising depth returning—big totals, but only ~65% of last year’s team. Cornell: Quietly solid—90% of assists and nearly all 3s back. Dartmouth: Sneaky stable. Top-4 in returning rebounding & defense—could punch above their weight. Penn/Brown: Right in the middle—plenty back, but some key gaps. Harvard/Yale: Major reloads needed. Both lost 50%+ of production.
Key Insights for the NCAA teams
Princeton is the clear frontrunner, returning the highest raw totals and percentages across most categories. With 82%+ coming back across minutes, points, assists, and rebounds, they’re poised to remain elite.
Columbia is intriguing—they return a high volume of production (second only to Princeton in many raw stats), but that still only represents ~65–70% of their total from last year. Depth might be a concern.
Harvard is facing a serious rebuild. With just 49% of scoring and field goals returning, they’ll be replacing nearly half their output—most notably in the backcourt.
Ivy League Women’s Basketball: Returning Production Analysis for 2025–26
The charts below breaks down which Ivy teams bring back the most production across key statistical categories.
Top Grid (Raw Totals): Represents aggregate stats returning in 2025–26 (i.e., combined totals from players not graduating or transferring).
Bottom Grid (Percentages): Shows the percentage of 2024–25 team production being retained, based on total team output from that season.
It’s funny because I think Columbia’s problem is exactly the opposite. Next year’s team it’s probably going to be a 15 roster super stacked but with lack of leadership. Weiss will for sure be the leading scorer but she doesn’t seem to be comfortable with a leadership role. Plus there is a need for people to step up.
Harvard will have to rebuild themselves, but they have definitely enough talent to be very good. Saniyah Glenn-Bello, Hana Belibi & Aubrey Shaw are all 4 recruits than haven’t had a lot of space to grow yet.
Since “coming back in 2024-25” already occurred last fall - the 2024-25 season ended two weeks ago, are the headings referring to 2024-25 and 2023-24 simply typos by ChatGPT, or are these stats out of date?
The only way these stats make sense is if they are talking about the next season. This past season Princeton lost their main players so it doesn’t check out
Just to clarify—this analysis is based on 2024–25 data, evaluating what teams are bringing back heading into the 2025–26 Ivy League women’s basketball season.
While plenty can and will change with incoming recruits, the transfer portal, and summer development, this early snapshot suggests a few clear trends:
Princeton emerges as the early favorite—they return the highest percentage of production and have the least to replace. Continuity gives them a strong head start.
Columbia looks solid on paper, with a strong recruiting class on the way, but they face key losses due to graduation. They’ll need to reestablish leadership and identity.
Harvard is in a similar position—plenty of talent, but also substantial talent turnover. Both Harvard and Columbia will need to reshape their personality, style, and on-court leadership.
The bigger takeaway? There’s real depth and discussion in Ivy League women’s basketball right now. That’s the clearest win—proof of the league’s rising quality and relevance.
Thanks for your analysis. It shows that Cornell may peak. I agree Princeton is the clear favorite and Columbia as the clear #2. I think we will revert to just 1 or 2 teams vying for the top spot. I know its way premature, but based on current information I wouldn’t be surprised if Princeton went 14-0 next year and Columbia 12-2.
Cornell has a shot to get into the ILT and even a 3 seed next year. The 4th spot is up for grabs…unless Harvard’s recruiting class lives up to its billing.
Kaitlyn Chen has a nice game for UCONN yesterday, with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals in 27 minutes. Although I really wish the Ivies allowed grad players, its great to see Kaitlyn doing so well.
Chen had an even better game last night in the Elite 8 game - 15 points, 6-9 shooting, and many of them at big moments in the game when USC was making runs. Never rooted for her but always admired her game at Princeton.
Here’s What Each Team Has Coming Back in 2025–26**
Returning experience (players w/ 400+ career minutes)
Experience Leaders:
Princeton: Loaded. 80%+ back in almost every category.
Columbia: Surprising depth returning—big totals, but only ~65% of last year’s team.
recruits than haven’t had a lot of space to grow yet.
Princeton emerges as the early favorite—they return the highest percentage of production and have the least to replace. Continuity gives them a strong head start.
Columbia looks solid on paper, with a strong recruiting class on the way, but they face key losses due to graduation. They’ll need to reestablish leadership and identity.
Harvard is in a similar position—plenty of talent, but also substantial talent turnover. Both Harvard and Columbia will need to reshape their personality, style, and on-court leadership.
The bigger takeaway? There’s real depth and discussion in Ivy League women’s basketball right now. That’s the clearest win—proof of the league’s rising quality and relevance.