Does LSU’s high-scoring women’s basketball team stack up vs. all-time great offenses?

The 8-0 LSU Tigers are off to a historic start this season. In all eight games, they have scored at least 100 points, breaking an NCAA women’s basketball record of six straight games that was set back in 1982. LSU has yet to play a power-conference opponent, which will change Thursday when the Tigers face Duke in Durham, N.C. The Blue Devils’ scrappy defensive style should be LSU’s first real test.

Whether the success of Kim Mulkey’s group is a product of a soft schedule or a sign of a historically great offense, the Tigers’ offensive performance is part of a broader trend early in 2025-26. Only three teams have averaged 90 points per game in the last 25 seasons, but eight teams are doing so this season. In no particular order, here are some of the most productive women’s basketball teams.

1. 2001-02 UConn

Many consider this Huskies team to be the greatest collection of talent on a women’s college basketball team. They finished 39-0, winning the first of three straight championships for UConn. The team featured four All-Americans in Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Swin Cash and Asjha Jones. Bird and Taurasi are two of the greatest players in women’s basketball history, with a combined 25 WNBA All-Star appearances, seven WNBA titles and four NCAA championships (they were teammates on the 2001-02 team). Cash was a three-time WNBA champion and four-time All-Star, and Jones was a two-time All-Star and 2015 WNBA champion.

The team averaged 87.0 points in an era where that kind of scoring was unheard of. Only four teams averaged at least 80 points that season, and UConn scored 3.5 more points per contest than any other school.

2. 2023-24 Iowa

A recent example of an unstoppable offense, Caitlin Clark and Iowa were one of the three teams this century to average more than 90 points per game in a season (91.0). The Hawkeyes’ 3,548 points that season are a Division I record. Much of their success arose from Clark’s record-setting season. The Naismith College Player of the Year averaged 31.6 points and 8.9 assists. Clark led the Hawkeyes to a 34-5 mark and an appearance in the national championship game, where they lost to South Carolina.

One important feature that helped Iowa here? Basketball is much more centered around the 3-point shot these days. The Hawkeyes averaged 29.0 3-point attempts and 10.9 makes. (The 2001-02 UConn team, for perspective, attempted 15 3-pointers per game.)

3. 1986-87 Long Beach State

The 49ers deserve a spot in this conversation. Joan Bonvicini led her team to a 33-3 record and a Final Four appearance, where Long Beach State fell to Pat Summitt’s Tennessee team. Long Beach State still holds the NCAA D-I record for the most 100-point games in a season with 15, as well as the most field goals per game (39.2). They averaged 95.8 points per game, a remarkable achievement considering that 1986-87 was the final season before women’s basketball introduced the 3-point line.

Star Cindy Brown set a then-record with 974 points (27.8 per game), a mark now held by Clark. Brown scored 60 points in a February 1987 game against San Jose State, a single-game NCAA D-I record that stood until 2022 and is second all-time. She played in the WNBA in 1998 and 1999 with the Detroit Shock, earning All-WNBA honors in 1998. Penny Toler scored 21.9 per game for the 49ers and is famous for scoring the first field goal in WNBA history, with the Los Angeles Sparks.

With Toler, Bonvincini took the 49ers back to the Final Four in 1988 after Brown graduated. They remain the only Big West (then known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association) team to reach a Final Four.

4. 2016-17 Baylor

Although the Bears didn’t win the national championship, this Mulkey-coached team was statistically the best offense she has put together in her decorated coaching career. Going 33-4 and 17-1 in conference, Baylor averaged 89.5 points on a run to the Elite Eight, where the Bears lost to Mississippi State in overtime. The Bears had a tremendous offense despite limited perimeter shooting, making only 5.7 3s per game.

Their roster featured six future WNBA players, including All-American center Kalani Brown. She was one of four double-figure scorers for Mulkey, averaging 15.4 points per game on 68 percent shooting. Guard Alexis Jones put up 13.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game.

5. 2014-15 UConn

You might be sensing a trend, and you are right. Geno Auriemma’s teams at UConn have produced many historic offensive seasons. This 38-1 Huskies team with eight future WNBA players won the third of the program’s four straight national championships. Averaging 89.3 points per game, this team still holds the record for the highest average scoring margin in NCAA Division I history (40.6).

Breanna Stewart, one of the greatest players of all time, won her second of three National Player of the Year awards. The New York Liberty star won championships in each of her four collegiate seasons, has three WNBA titles and two WNBA MVPs. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson were also All-Americans and part of multiple national championship teams.

6. 1990-91 Providence

Bob Foley’s Friars hold the record for the highest scoring average in NCAA Division I history with 96.7 points per game. They did so with just 5.5 3s made per game on 15.8 attempts. Providence earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament and reached the second round before falling to No. 4 Clemson. Defensively, the Friars (26-6) ranked 270th in the country with 83.0 points per game allowed.

The Friars were led by Tracy Lis, a 23.7 points-per-game scorer on 52 percent shooting. She averaged 25.6 points per game the following season in 1992. Providence was No. 15 in the final AP Top 25 poll of the 1990-91 season. In Foley’s 11 years with the Friars, the furthest they got was the Sweet Sixteen in the 1990 NCAA Tournament.

7. 2013-14 Oregon

This Ducks team might be the most intriguing team on this list, largely because it was by far the least successful. Oregon averaged 93.2 points per game but finished 16-16 and didn’t make the NCAA Tournament.

It marked the final season of the 44-year career of coach Paul Westhead, famous for his run-and-gun offense called “The System.” Nicknamed “The Professor” because of his prior position as an English teacher, Westhead’s coaching run featured jobs with six NBA organizations and four Division I schools. He was the head coach of Magic Johnson’s Lakers in 1980 when they won the NBA championship, and later led Taurasi’s Phoenix Mercury to a title in 2007.

He was also the head coach, however, of the Denver Nuggets in 1990-91, when they led the league in points scored (119.9) and points allowed (130.8). This was the flip side of Westhead’s system. The relentless pursuit of baskets in transition led to scoring opportunities for the opponent.

Oregon allowed 89.1 points per game, too much for its offense to overcome. The Ducks were led by two 20-point scorers in Chrishae Rowe and Jillian Alleyne, the latter of whom went on to be a two-time All-American. Their season came to an end in the second round of the WNIT. Oregon did not renew Westhead’s contract after the season, and he left Eugene with a five-year record of 66-92.

8. 2020-21 Maryland

The Terrapins are one of three teams to average 90-plus points this century. Brenda Frese’s group finished 26-3 and averaged 90.8 points, reaching the Sweet Sixteen before being eliminated by Texas. All-American Ashley Owusu did it all, averaging 17.9 points, 5.9 assists and 5.6 rebounds. Diamond Miller, who averaged 17.3 points, is now with the Dallas Wings. Frese has made the Terrapins a perennial tournament team, taking them to the Elite Eight in 2023.

9. 2017-18 UConn

The Huskies make their third and final appearance on this list. A near-perfect season ended in heartbreak, as UConn lost to Notre Dame in overtime on a buzzer-beater by Arike Ogunbowale in the Final Four. A 36-1 campaign in which Auriemma’s team averaged 89.4 points per game remains one of the better seasons of all time, regardless.

UConn had four All-Americans in Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson, Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse. Collier averaged 16.1 points and is now a star with the Minnesota Lynx. Samuelson was the team’s leading scorer at over 17.4 per game and was the fourth pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft. Williams is a teammate of Samuelson’s with the Seattle Storm, and Nurse scored 7.2 points per game with the Chicago Sky last season.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

LSU Tigers, Providence Friars, Maryland Terrapins, Baylor Bears, Oregon Ducks, Iowa Hawkeyes, Long Beach State Beach, Connecticut Huskies, Women’s College Basketball

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