Women's college basketball | 2005-06 to 2025-26
20 points
apart.
In nonconference play, 31.3% of recorded games in the first three seasons were decided by at least 20 points. In the latest three seasons, 44.1% were.
Conference games moved from 20.5% to 22.9%. The analysis covers 101,730 games played from November through February.
See the season datagamesAcross leagues
gamesWithin the league
Each square represents about 1% of games in its group and time period.
An entry prepared for Purdue's Boiler Up, Hammer Data Challenge. Analysis and visualization by Elliot Drel, with AI assistance.
01 Season by season
The annual results
Each line shows the share of games in a season that reached the selected margin. Compare the pattern at 10, 20 and 30 points.
Games decided by 20+ points
November-February | season labeled by ending year
This view includes all qualifying November-February games in the file. The teams and schedules vary by season.
Show the season data table
| Season | Nonconference | Games | Conference | Games |
|---|
02 Opponent coverage
Opponent coverage changes the estimate
Some teams have few recorded conference games in a season. Requiring at least five for both teams removes those matchups from the comparison.
Nonconference games decided by 20+ points
First three seasons compared with latest threeBoth teams must have at least five recorded conference games in the same season.
03 Team results
Check a team's game results
Select a team to see its November-February 2025-26 games. Bars above zero are wins; bars below zero are losses. Select a bar for the score.
Select a bar or use the buttons to see each result.
Show all game scores
| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Game type |
|---|
04 Methods
Sample and definitions
These comparisons describe the games in the supplied file. They cannot establish why score margins changed.
Source and sample
The competition supplied NCAA Women's Basketball Data Files 2026. This analysis uses games.parquet. Its data dictionary names ESPN / SportsDataverse as the data pipeline.
Of 114,705 unique game IDs, 114,588 have final, unequal, positive scores. The source labels 111,965 of those games as regular season (season_type = 2). Some March conference tournament games carry that label. Limiting the analysis to November-February leaves 101,730 games across 21 seasons.
Measures
Margin is the absolute difference between final scores, including overtime. "20+" includes games decided by exactly 20. The source's conference_competition field identifies conference games.
The comparisons pool 2005-06 through 2007-08 and 2023-24 through 2025-26. Each percentage divides qualifying games by all included games in that period. Seasons are labeled by ending year. The 2020-21 season has fewer recorded games and appears in the annual chart.
Limits of the data
The file has not been audited for completeness. The November-February cutoff also excludes some regular-season games in March. Team coverage, schedules, conference membership and scoring can change across seasons. The charts do not isolate the effect of any one factor.
The optional filter keeps a game when both teams played at least five recorded conference games that season. It is a check on opponent coverage, not an NCAA division label. The team chart uses all qualifying 2025-26 games.