ATLANTA (7-21-26) – Detroit Mercy earned Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division I Academic Top 25 Honorable Mention with a 3.479 cumulative team grade-point average (GPA), the association office announced on Tuesday. The Titans were one of five #HLWBB teams to receive Honorable Mention along with Northern Kentucky (3.650), Purdue Fort Wayne (3.590), Wright State (3.588) and NIU (3.526).
 
Green Bay, coached by Kayla Karius, finished first among NCAA Division I members for the second straight year with a 3.965 cumulative team GPA, which is also best overall across all membership divisions. Youngstown State (4th - 3.820), Milwaukee (18th - 3.699), and Cleveland State (20th - 3.693) were the other three HL schools that ranked in the top 25 behind the Phoenix.
 
The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes college women's basketball teams across the nation in their respective divisions that carry the highest combined GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. A team must have a combined GPA of 3.0 or better and be nominated by its head coach, who must be a member of the WBCA to be recognized. The 2025-26 season is the 31st in which the WBCA has compiled the honor rolls.
 
Mercy, coached by Scott Lagas, claimed top academic honors in NCAA Division II with a 3.853 GPA. Nebraska Wesleyan, coached by Sydney Golladay, took top honors in NCAA Division III with a 3.897 GPA. Bethel, coached by Chris Nelson, was No. 1 in the NAIA division with a 3.829 GPA. Trinity Valley, coached by Precious Ivy, finished atop the two-year college standings with a 3.777 GPA.
 
"The WBCA is pleased to recognize those women's basketball programs that have committed themselves to excellence on the court and in the classroom," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. "The 119 ranked teams we honor this year across all five collegiate membership divisions strive to achieve all-around success and we commend their efforts. Congratulations!"
 
Here are the 2025-26 WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Rolls. The head coach listed for each institution was its head coach during the 2025-26 season. Teams that qualified for consideration in their respective divisions are listed as special mentions.

NCAA Division I - Top-25
 

Rank	Institution	Head Coach	GPA
1	Green Bay	Kayla Karius	3.965
2	North Dakota St.	Jory Collins	3.926
3	UAlbany	Colleen Mullen	3.826
4	Youngstown St.	Melissa Jackson	3.820
5	Chattanooga	Deandra Schirmer	3.807
6	Western Ill.	JD Gravina	3.785
7	Maine	Amy Vachon	3.777
8	Texas Tech	Krista Gerlich	3.769
9	South Dakota St.	Aaron Johnston	3.762
10	Washington St.	Kamie Ethridge	3.759
11	Montana St.	Tricia Binford	3.757
12	South Dakota	Carrie Eighmey	3.754
13	Iowa State	Bill Fennelly	3.749
14	Saint Peter's	Jennifer Leedham	3.741
15	Eastern Wash.	Joddie Gleason	3.735
16	Cincinnati	Katrina Merriweather	3.714
17	Drake	Allison Pohlman	3.707
18	Milwaukee	Kyle Rechlicz	3.699
19	Fairfield	Carly Thibault-DuDonis	3.698
20	Cleveland St.	Chris Kielsmeier	3.693
21	Utah Valley	Dan Nielson	3.677
22	Middle Tenn.	Rick Insell	3.674
T23	Toledo	Ginny Boggess	3.664
T23	Lipscomb	Lauren Sumski	3.664
T25	Davidson	Gayle Fulks	3.651
T25	Kansas	Brandon Schneider	3.651

Special Mention: Northern Ky., Jeff Hans, 3.650; Portland, Michael Meek, 3.648; American, Kelly Killion, 3.647; Virginia Tech, Megan Duffy, 3.643; BYU, Lee Cummard, 3.639; Rice, Lindsay Edmonds, 3.634; Drexel, Amy Mallon, 3.628; Illinois, Shauna Green, 3.624; Boise St., Gordy Presnell, 3.623; Saint Joseph's, Cindy Griffin, 3.618; Louisiana Tech, Brooke Stoehr, 3.615; George Mason, Vanessa Blair-Lewis, 3.612; Wisconsin, Robin Pingeton, 3.611; UCLA, Cori Close, 3.610; ETSU, Brenda Mock Brown, 3.606; UNI, Tanya Warren, 3.606; Stonehill, Trisha Brown, 3.605; Kent St., Fran Recchia, 3.602; SIUE, Samantha Smith, 3.599; Abilene Christian, Julie Goodenough, 3.597; Marshall, Juli Fulks, 3.597; Purdue Fort Wayne, Maria Marchesano, 3.590; Wright St., Kari Hoffman, 3.588; Evansville, Robyn Scherr, 3.586; Eastern Mich., Sahar Nusseibeh, 3.585; Tennessee Tech, Kim Rosamond, 3.583; Wichita St., Terry Nooner, 3.581; Lafayette, Kia Damon-Olsen, 3.580; Villanova, Denise Dillon, 3.580; Minnesota, Dawn Plitzuweit, 3.577; Iona, Angelika Szumilo, 3.574; Marist, Erin Doughty, 3.572; Gardner-Webb, Terri Williams, 3.571; Northern Colo., Kristen Mattio, 3.568; Dayton, Tamika Jeter, 3.553; Missouri, Kellie Harper, 3.553; Rhode Island, Tammi Reiss, 3.549; Bowling Green, Fred Chmiel, 3.548; Santa Clara, Loree Payne, 3.548; DePaul, Paul Stromberg, 3.545; NJIT, Mike Lane, 3.537; Wyoming, Heather Ezell, 3.534; North Texas, Jason Burton, 3.528; Ga. Southern, Hana Haden, 3.527; NIU, Jacey Brooks, 3.526; East Texas A&M, Valerie King, 3.525; Michigan St., Robyn Fralick, 3.523; Wake Forest, Megan Gebbia, 3.522; Arizona St., Molly Miller, 3.518; St. Bonaventure, Jim Crowley, 3.516; Loyola Maryland, Danielle O'Banion, 3.514; UC Santa Barbara, Renee Jimenez, 3.508; Manhattan, Heather Vulin, 3.506; South Carolina, Dawn Staley, 3.506; West Georgia, Joanna Reitz, 3.502; Lehigh, Addie Micir, 3.500; Temple, Diane Richardson, 3.494; Longwood, Erika Lang-Montgomery, 3.493; Colorado St., Ryun Williams, 3.492; East Carolina, Kimberly McNeill, 3.484; Florida St., Brooke Wyckoff, 3.481; Texas, Vic Schaefer, 3.479; Detroit Mercy, Kiefer Haffey, 3.476; UAB, Randy Norton, 3.474; Fla. Atlantic, LeAnn Freeland, 3.469; UC Irvine, Tamara Inoue, 3.456; Creighton, Jim Flanery, 3.453; Oregon St., Scott Rueck, 3.450; Liberty, Alexis Sherard, 3.443; North Carolina, Courtney Banghart, 3.442; Kentucky, Kenny Brooks, 3.436; St. John's, Joe Tartamella, 3.430; Princeton, Carla Berube, 3.428; South Fla., Michele Woods-Baxter, 3.428; Nebraska, Amy Williams, 3.426; Utah, Gavin Petersen, 3.421; Sacred Heart, Jessica Mannetti, 3.421; Ohio St., Kevin McGuff, 3.406; Bradley, Kate Popovec-Goss, 3.402; Tulsa, Angie Nelp, 3.393; Louisville, Jeff Walz, 3.374; Notre Dame, Niele Ivey, 3.373; Penn, Mike McLaughlin, 3.371; Harvard, Carrie Moore, 3.370; South Alabama, Yolisha Jackson, 3.365; Duke, Kara Lawson, 3.354; Hofstra, Danielle Santos Atkinson, 3.350; Marquette, Cara Consuegra, 3.349; Stony Brook, Joy McCorvey, 3.339; Columbia, Megan Griffith, 3.334; Washington, Tina Langley, 3.331; UT Martin, Kevin McMillan, 3.330; Vanderbilt, Shea Ralph, 3.328; Akron, Ryan Gensler, 3.323; Southeastern La., Jeffrey Dow, 3.306; Belmont, Bart Brooks, 3.301; Xavier, Billi Chambers, 3.298; Seton Hall, Anthony Bozzella, 3.297; Tennessee, Kim Caldwell, 3.285; Yale, Dalila Eshe, 3.269; Rider, Jackie Hartzell, 3.259; Elon, Charlotte Smith, 3.257; Charlotte, Tomekia Reed, 3.247; California, Charmin Smith, 3.244; Rutgers, Coquese Washington, 3.243; Portland St., Karlie Burris, 3.234; UNC Asheville, Tynesha Lewis, 3.233; Southern California, Lindsay Gottlieb, 3.212; West Virginia, Mark Kellogg, 3.183; Baylor, Nicki Collen, 3.178; Mississippi, Yolett McPhee-McCuin, 3.176; Iowa, Jan Jensen, 3.171; Georgetown, Darnell Haney, 3.039.