# 2024–25 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team

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, were led by 17th-year head coach Joe McKeown and played their home games at the Welsh–Ryan Arena 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.

## Previous season

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.

## Offseason
### Departures

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

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

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Xamiya Walton PG | Chicago, IL | Butler College Prep | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Tayla Thomas W | Montclair, NJ | IMG Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 91 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2024. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 Time. |||||||||
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