Record-Breaking TV Ratings for South Carolina-LSU Women’s Basketball Showdown

The 2025-26 women’s college basketball season has been wild—packed with record-breaking TV ratings and dramatic games that have pulled in fans from all over. One of the biggest moments landed on Valentine’s Day: South Carolina’s win over LSU became the most-watched women’s basketball game of the season, drawing an average of 1.7 million viewers on ABC.

This game, and honestly quite a few others, have shown just how much women’s college basketball is blowing up right now. New benchmarks everywhere.

South Carolina vs. LSU: A Record-Breaking Showdown

The South Carolina vs. LSU matchup on Valentine’s Day was hyped for weeks, and it delivered. Averaging 1.7 million viewers on ABC, it didn’t just top the season—it peaked at 2.2 million viewers. That’s ESPN’s fourth-most watched women’s college basketball regular-season game ever.

For the first time, a regular-season women’s college basketball game aired in ABC’s Saturday primetime slot. That feels pretty huge, doesn’t it?

Game Highlights and Key Players

This one was a nail-biter. LSU jumped ahead after the first quarter, but South Carolina clawed back to lead 41-40 at halftime.

The Gamecocks kept rolling in the second half and walked away with a 79-72 win. Tessa Johnson dropped 21 points for South Carolina, with Raven Johnson right behind at 19. Madina Okot chipped in 12 points and grabbed a massive 17 rebounds.

On LSU’s side, Flau’jae Johnson put up 21 points and eight boards. Mikaylah Williams added 11 points. Both teams really showed up.

Surging TV Ratings for Women’s College Basketball

The South Carolina vs. LSU game wasn’t a fluke. TV ratings for women’s college basketball are way up—ESPN says their ratings jumped 33% year-over-year across all their networks. More games are landing on ABC, too.

It’s clear the sport is catching on with new fans, and the games are just getting more competitive.

Other Notable Games

It’s not just one or two games drawing big numbers this season. Several matchups have pulled in hefty audiences:

• South Carolina’s win over Tennessee on February 8 averaged 1.46 million viewers on ABC.
• On February 1, UConn’s win over Tennessee drew 1.21 million viewers, making it FOX’s most-watched game of the year.
• Texas took down Oklahoma the same day, with 1.10 million viewers tuning in on ABC.
• The Iowa vs. Iowa State CyHawk rivalry on December 10 brought in 1.03 million viewers during the Jimmy V Classic. That’s the most-watched game on ESPN this year.

Special Edition of College GameDay

ESPN aired a special primetime College GameDay before the South Carolina vs. LSU game, and it broke records too. About 1.2 million viewers watched, making it the most-watched women’s GameDay episode ever.

Just another sign that interest in women’s college basketball is exploding right now.

Conclusion

The 2025-26 women’s college basketball season really changed the game. Fans got to see some wild matchups and, honestly, the TV ratings blew past expectations.

South Carolina vs. LSU on Valentine’s Day? That one stole the show. About 1.7 million people tuned in on average, and at one point, it spiked to 2.2 million viewers.

This wasn’t just a one-off, either. Other games pulled big numbers too, showing just how much more people care about women’s college basketball now.

TV ratings have jumped a whopping 33% from last year. More games are popping up on major networks, which feels like a pretty big deal for the sport’s future.

For more on the record-breaking viewership, check out the full article on On3’s website.

*Note: This blog post uses data from On3. If you want the deep dive, head over to the original article on their site.