2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season

The 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began on November 7, 2022. The regular season ended on March 12, 2023, with the 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament beginning on March 14 and ending with the championship game at American Airlines Center in Dallas on April 2.

Rule changes The following rule changes will be recommended by the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee to the Playing Rules Oversight Panel for 2022−23 season:

Season headlines June 21, 2022 – Hartford, which started a transition from Division I to Division III in the 2021–22 school year, was announced as a new member of the D-III Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) effective in 2023–24. The CCC press release also confirmed previous reports that Hartford would leave the America East Conference after the 2021–22 season; the Hawks would play the 2022–23 season as a D-I independent. June 24 – Incarnate Word, which had announced a move from the Southland Conference (SLC) to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), backed out of this move and elected to remain in the SLC. June 30 – The Big Ten Conference announced that UCLA and USC would join from the Pac-12 Conference in 2024, immediately after the current Pac-12 media contracts expire. July 11 – The SLC and Lamar jointly announced that Lamar, which had previously planned to leave the WAC in 2023 to return to the SLC, would expedite this move for the 2022–23 school year. July 15 – The WAC announced that starting with the 2023 editions, its men's and women's tournaments would be seeded via a set of advanced metrics that it calls the WAC Résumé Seeding System, developed by statistics guru Ken Pomeroy alongside WAC officials. Tournament entry will still be based on conference record. August 3 UConn announced that Paige Bueckers, who had been the consensus national player of the year as a freshman in 2020–21, tore her left ACL in a pickup game on August 1 and would miss the entire 2022–23 season. The Colonial Athletic Association announced that Campbell would join from the Big South Conference in 2023. August 12 – The Indiana University and Purdue University systems announced that Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis will be dissolved in 2024 and replaced by separate IU- and Purdue-affiliated institutions. The current athletic program, the IUPUI Jaguars, will transfer to the new IU Indianapolis. August 31 – The Division I Board of Directors adopted a series of changes to transfer rules. Transfer windows were adopted for all Division I sports. Student-athletes who wish to be immediately eligible at their next school must enter the NCAA transfer portal within the designated period(s) for their sport. For women's basketball, the window opens on the day after Selection Sunday and runs for 60 days. Student-athletes who experience head coaching changes, or those whose athletic aid is reduced, canceled, or not renewed, may transfer outside designated windows without penalty. Transferring student-athletes will be guaranteed their financial aid at their next school through graduation. September 21 – Houston Baptist University announced it had changed its name to Houston Christian University, effective immediately. The athletic nickname of Huskies was not affected. October 14 – Conference USA announced that ASUN Conference member Kennesaw State would join C-USA in 2024. October 18 – The Associated Press released its preseason poll. Defending national champion South Carolina was the unanimous #1, marking the Gamecocks' third straight season at the top spot. Other poll highlights: For the first time since 2006, UConn was ranked outside the top 5 in the preseason poll, landing at No. 6. Two programs equaled their highest-ever rankings in any AP poll: Iowa (#4) and Virginia Tech (#13). Three schools were ranked in the preseason for the first time ever: Creighton (#21), South Dakota State (#23), and Princeton (#24). October 25 – The AP released its preseason All-America team. South Carolina's Aliyah Boston and Iowa's Caitlin Clark were unanimous choices, joined on the team by Haley Jones of Stanford, Ashley Joens of Iowa State, Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech, and Aneesah Morrow of DePaul. November 2 reported that Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford and Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark had met the previous week in the Dallas area regarding a possible Gonzaga move to that conference as a full but non-football member. The report also indicated that Gonzaga had at least some level of talks with the Big East Conference and Pac-12 Conference in the preceding months. November 17 – During a meeting in San Francisco, the Regents of the University of California, the governing board of the University of California system, set a date of December 14 for a special meeting to make a final determination on UCLA's planned move to the Big Ten. December 14 – The UC Regents approved UCLA's move to the Big Ten. Additionally, conditions were made to mitigate athletes such as investing $12 million in beneficial services including nutritional support and charter flights to reduce travel time. UCLA must also pay the University of California, Berkeley an additional $2 to $10 million due to the move affecting the latter's athletic program, with the precise total being made once the Pac-12 completes its upcoming media rights deal. February 8 – UConn lost 59–52 to Marquette, following an 81–77 loss to top-ranked South Carolina in its previous game. This marked the first time since March 1993 that the Huskies had lost consecutive games. February 9 – The Big 12 Conference announced that it had reached an agreement with Oklahoma and Texas that will allow the two schools to leave for the Southeastern Conference in 2024 instead of the originally announced 2025 schedule. Approval by the two schools' governing boards was seen as a formality. February 24 – In the first sanctions issued by the NCAA regarding name, image, and likeness opportunities, Miami (FL) was placed on one year of probation and received other minor penalties for its involvement in arranging a meeting between alumnus and booster John Ruiz and twin players and social media stars Haley and Hanna Cavinder, who transferred together from Fresno State before the 2022–23 season. Neither Ruiz nor the Cavinder twins received any direct sanctions. March 20 – St. Francis Brooklyn announced that it would terminate its athletic program after the spring 2023 semester. May 10 – Le Moyne announced it would reclassify to Division I from Division II and join the Northeast Conference effective July 1, 2023. May 12 – Western Illinois announced it would leave the Summit League for the Ohio Valley Conference effective July 1, 2023.

Milestones and records December 21 – Caitlin Clark of Iowa reached 2,000 career points in the 75th game of her college career, a 92–54 win over Dartmouth. This equaled Delaware's Elena Delle Donne for the fastest to 2,000 points by a D-I women's player in the current century. January 25 – Taylor Robertson of Oklahoma tied Kelsey Mitchell, who played at Ohio State from 2014 to 2018, for the most career three-pointers in D-I women's basketball, at 497. While Robertson was playing in her fifth season due to benefiting from the NCAA's COVID-19 eligibility waiver for the 2020–21 season, she reached the mark in two fewer games than Mitchell (137 to 139). January 28 – Robertson took sole possession of the record for career three-pointers in Oklahoma's 86–78 loss to Iowa State. March 11 – Iowa State's Ashley Joens became the 14th Division I women's player with 3,000 career points, reaching the mark in the Cyclones' 82–72 win over Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament semifinals. March 18 – Villanova's Maddy Siegrist became the fifth Division I women's player with 1,000 points in a season, reaching the mark in the Wildcats' 76–59 win over Cleveland State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. March 31 – Clark reached the following milestones with her 41-point performance in Iowa's 77–73 upset of South Carolina in the NCAA tournament semifinals: The sixth D-I women's player, and second this season, to record 1,000 points in a season The first D-I women's player to score 1,000 points and record 300 assists in the same season (having previously reached the assists mark) The Big Ten Conference record for most points in a season Following her 41-point triple-double against Louisville in the Seattle 4 regional final, Clark also became the first player ever with consecutive 40-point games in either the D-I women's or men's tournament.

Conference membership changes Twenty-six schools joined new conferences or became independents, including five schools from Division II that started transitions to Division I this season and one in the transition process from Division I to Division III.

As noted previously, Incarnate Word backed out of a planned move from the Southland Conference to the Western Athletic Conference, and Lamar, which had planned to make the opposite move in 2023, pushed this move forward to 2022.

School Former conference New conferenceAustin Peay Ohio Valley ConferenceASUN ConferenceBelmontOhio Valley ConferenceMissouri Valley ConferenceBryantNortheast ConferenceAmerica East ConferenceChicago StateWestern Athletic Conference IndependentHamptonBig South ConferenceColonial Athletic Association Hartford America East Conference IndependentJames MadisonColonial Athletic AssociationSun Belt Conference Lamar Western Athletic Conference Southland ConferenceLindenwood Great Lakes Valley Conference (D-II)Ohio Valley ConferenceLittle RockSun Belt ConferenceOhio Valley ConferenceLoyola ChicagoMissouri Valley ConferenceAtlantic 10 ConferenceMarshallConference USASun Belt ConferenceMonmouthMetro Atlantic Athletic ConferenceColonial Athletic AssociationMount St. Mary'sNortheast ConferenceMetro Atlantic Athletic ConferenceMurray StateOhio Valley ConferenceMissouri Valley ConferenceNorth Carolina A&TBig South ConferenceColonial Athletic AssociationOld DominionConference USASun Belt ConferenceQueensSouth Atlantic Conference (D-II)ASUN ConferenceSouthern IndianaGreat Lakes Valley Conference (D-II)Ohio Valley ConferenceSouthern MissConference USASun Belt ConferenceSouthern UtahBig Sky ConferenceWestern Athletic ConferenceStonehillNortheast-10 Conference (D-II)Northeast ConferenceStony BrookAmerica East ConferenceColonial Athletic AssociationTexas A&M–CommerceLone Star Conference (D-II)Southland ConferenceUICHorizon LeagueMissouri Valley ConferenceUT ArlingtonSun Belt ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference

The 2022−23 season was the last for at least 16 Division I schools in their then-current conferences, and for one Division II school before reclassification to Division I. It was also Hartford's only season as a D-I independent and the last season of athletics for St. Francis Brooklyn.

School Former conference New conference BYU WCC Big 12 Campbell Big South CAA Charlotte C-USA American Cincinnati American Big 12 Florida Atlantic C-USA American Hartford Independent CCC (D-III) Houston American Big 12 Jacksonville State ASUN C-USA Le Moyne NE-10 (D-II) NEC Liberty ASUN C-USA New Mexico State WAC C-USA North Texas C-USA American Rice C-USA American St. Francis Brooklyn NEC None (dropped athletics) Sam Houston WAC C-USA UAB C-USA American UCF American Big 12 UTSA C-USA American Western Illinois Summit OVC

Arenas

New arenas Alabama A&M opened the new Alabama A&M Events Center on November 18, losing its first game in the new facility 57–36 to Murray State on November 26. Fairfield's former home of Alumni Hall was replaced on-site by the new Leo D. Mahoney Arena. The Stags' first game in the new facility was a 77–53 win over Stonehill on November 18.