The 40 biggest comebacks in NCAA women’s basketball history

NCAA Basketball

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Texas State set a Division I women’s basketball record in February 2006, overcoming a 32-point deficit to beat UTSA 73-71 in overtime. On Jan. 12, 2025, Pitt matched that number, overcoming a 46-14 second-quarter deficit to SMU, in a 72-59 win. A 31-0 run to start the second half — including a 28-0 third-quarter difference — sparked the Panthers’ historic comeback.

Back in 2006, Texas State trailed 40-8 in the closing minutes of the first half and never led in regulation, tying the game with 41 seconds left in regulation before pulling ahead in overtime. 

In 2018, Notre Dame produced one of the 10 largest comebacks in the history of women’s college basketball — and did it on a big stage. The Fighting Irish trailed by 23 in a top-10 battle with Tennessee before pulling off a 37-point swing to win by 14 points. Notre Dame went on to win the 2018 NCAA tournament a few months later.

Notre Dame’s 14-point win is the largest margin of victory on this comeback list. In another notable rally between top-10 teams, Oklahoma trailed California by 26 points in December 2008 before eventually closing the game on a 34-6 run to win by 11.

Here are the 40 biggest comebacks in NCAA women’s basketball history:

TEAM VS. OPPONENT POINT DEFICIT TRAILED TIME LEFT, HALF FINAL SCORE DATE
Pittsburgh vs. SMU 32 46-14 1:37, 2nd 72-59 Jan. 12, 2025
Texas State vs. UTSA 32 40-8 2:18, 1st 73-71 (OT) Feb. 18, 2006
Houston vs. Lamar 26 48-22 19:28. 2nd 82-75 (OT) Jan. 2, 2008
Oklahoma vs. California 26 52-26 19:01, 2nd 86-75 Dec. 13, 2008
UNLV vs. George Washington 25 42-17 18:20, 2nd 62-61 Nov. 30, 2007
TCU vs. Iowa State 24 51-27 16:21, 2nd 86-84 Jan. 7, 2015
Iowa vs. West Virginia 24 48-24 1:31, 1st 84-81 Nov. 23, 2018
Tennessee vs. Rutgers 23 31-8 3:09, 1st 55-51 Jan. 3, 2009
UMBC vs. Boston University 23 41-18 17:14, 2nd 58-57 Feb. 24, 2010
Long Beach State vs. Harvard 23 51-28 16:15, 2nd 72-67 Dec. 7, 2013
UTEP vs. Southern Mississippi 23 45-22 16:31 2nd 86-85 (OT) Jan. 22, 2014
Oregon vs. Navy 23 47-24 19:06, 2nd 72-64 Dec. 6, 2014
Notre Dame vs. Tennessee 23 37-14 7:03, 1st 84-70 Jan. 18, 2018
Oregon vs. Arizona 22 55-33 16:20, 2nd 75-71 Mar. 4, 2000
Tulane vs. UAB 22 44-22 4:25, 1st 86-84 Feb. 4, 2006
Harvard vs. Princeton 22 28-6 4:54, 1st 54-50 Feb. 20, 2009
UNLV vs. Air Force 22 56-34 9:51, 2nd 64-63 Mar. 9, 2009
Washington vs. Oregon 22 35-13 8:32, 1st 69-62 Mar. 7, 2013
UCLA vs. Oregon 22 40-18 4:19, 1st 74-69 Feb. 22, 2019
Louisiana Tech vs. Old Dominion 21   14:03, 2nd 72-71 Feb. 9, 1989
Siena vs. New Hampshire 21     78-65 Dec. 1, 2001
Texas A&M vs. Seton Hall 21 44-23 17:20, 2nd 54-52 Nov. 29, 2003
Air Force vs. Colgate 21 45-24 0:35, 1st 80-75 (OT) Jan. 2, 2011
Liberty vs. Savannah State 21 44-23 5:36, 1st 89-79 Nov. 30, 2013
Robert Morris vs. Central Conn. St. 21 38-17 19:09, 2nd 61-59 Jan. 4, 2014
Nebraska vs. Creighton 21 41-20 5:01, 1st 65-63 Dec. 6, 2015
Texas A&M vs. Penn 21 58-37 8:56, 2nd 63-61 Mar. 18, 2017
Florida vs. Alabama  20   11:52, 2nd 103-101 (OT) Jan. 4, 1992
So. Miss vs. Mississippi College 20 36-16   71-70 Feb. 6, 1999
Duke vs. UConn  20 35-15 1:11, 1st 68-67 Jan. 3, 2004
Duke vs. NC State 20 42-22 19:15, 2nd 65-64 Jan. 23, 2011
Oregon State vs. Oregon 20 36-16 1:16, 1st 61-59 Feb. 19, 2011
Bradley vs. Tennessee Tech 20 39-19 2:16, 1st 74-71 Mar. 14, 2012
Louisiana Tech vs. Idaho 20 50-30 16:17, 2nd 67-58 Jan. 17, 2013
Colorado vs. Arizona 20 36-16 4:14, 1st 61-56 (OT) Feb. 23, 2014
Troy vs. SE Louisiana 20 68-48 7:27, 2nd 80-78 Nov. 21, 2014
Siena vs. Canisius 20 43-23 19:12, 2nd 71-70 Jan. 11, 2015
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia 20 30-10 6:59, 1st 79-77 (OT) Feb. 17, 2018
Tennessee vs. Stetson 20 42-22 17:29, 2nd 65-55 Dec. 5, 2018
Binghamton vs. UMBC 20 30-10 2:38, 1st 58-46 Feb. 13, 2019

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