List of NCAA Division I women's basketball career scoring leaders

In basketball, points are the sum of the score accumulated through free throws or field goals.^[1] In National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I basketball, where a player's career is at most four seasons under normal circumstances, it is considered a notable achievement to reach the 1,000-points scored threshold. In even rarer instances, players have reached the 2,000- and 3,000-point plateaus (no player, whether male or female, has ever scored 4,000 or more points at the Division I level). The top 25 highest scorers in NCAA Division I women's basketball history are listed below. While the NCAA's current three-division format has been in place since the 1973–74 season,^[2] it did not sponsor women's sports until the 1981–82 school year; before that time, women's college sports were governed by the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW).

To be listed in the NCAA record book, a player must have been active in at least three seasons during the era in which the NCAA governed women's sports—although for those players who qualify for inclusion in the record book, AIAW statistics are included. Most notably, Lynette Woodard of Kansas, whose career total of 3,649 points made her the career scoring leader in women's major-college basketball^[a] before Iowa's Caitlin Clark passed her on February 28, 2024,^[7] was not recognized as the NCAA career leader because her entire college career (1977–81) predated NCAA sponsorship of women's sports.^[8]

Some players among the top 25 scorers in Division I history played in the era before the three-point line was officially adopted in women's basketball on an experimental basis in 1986–87 and fully in 1987–88. All of the players with a dash through the three-point field goals column were affected by this rule. Valorie Whiteside of Appalachian State is the only three-point shot era player on this list who did not make a single three-point shot, and she only played in one season in which the use of the three-pointer was mandatory.

The three-point distance was first marked at 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) from the center of the basket, the same distance then used in NCAA men's basketball.^[9] From that point through the 2007–08 season, the three-point lines remained at 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m).^[9] On May 3, 2007, the NCAA men's basketball rules committee passed a measure to extend the distance of the men's three-point line back to 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m);^[10] the women's line remained at the original distance until it was moved to match the men's distance effective in 2011–12.^[9] The men's distance was changed to match the FIBA standard of 6.75 m (22 ft 1+1⁄2 in) in a two-phase implementation that took effect in 2019–20 in Division I and 2020–21 in Divisions II and III,^[11] but the women's distance was not changed until 2021–22, when it was moved to match the men's distance.^[12]

The only player on this list to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is Cheryl Miller;^[13] Maya Moore will officially enter the Hall on September 6, 2025.^[14]

Five players among the top 25 played basketball in more than four seasons. Rachel Banham of Minnesota tore her ACL 10 games into her senior season of 2014–15. She qualified for a medical hardship waiver, popularly known as a "medical redshirt", that allowed her to compete in a fifth season.^[15][b] Dyaisha Fair of Buffalo and Syracuse, Ashley Joens of Iowa State, Katelyn Young of Murray State, and Kyla McMakin of Longwood and Saint Louis benefited from a blanket NCAA waiver that did not count the 2020–21 season, which was impacted by COVID-19, against the athletic eligibility of any basketball player. Two players among the top 25 played at more than one school: Fair, who played the first three seasons of her career at Buffalo before transferring to Syracuse for her final two seasons of eligibility, and McMakin, who played three seasons at Longwood before transferring to Saint Louis.

Key

Pos. G F C Ref. Position Guard Forward Center References

† Elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame * Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Bold Denotes current NCAA D1 Women's Basketball Record

Top 25 career scoring leaders

Player	Pos.	Team	Career start	Career end	Games played	Field goals made	3-point field goals made	Free throws made	Points	PPG	Ref.[c]
Caitlin Clark	G	Iowa	2020	2024	139	1,293	548	817	3,951	28.42	[17]
Kelsey Plum	G	Washington	2013	2017	139	1,136	343	912	3,527	25.4	[18]
Dyaisha Fair	G	Buffalo / Syracuse	2019	2024	153	1,159	430	655	3,403	22.3	[19]
Kelsey Mitchell	G	Ohio State	2014	2018	139	1,120	497	665	3,402	24.5	[20]
Jackie Stiles†	G	Missouri State[d]	1997	2001	129	1,160	221	852	3,393	26.1	[21]
Brittney Griner	C	Baylor	2009	2013	148	1,247	2	787	3,283	22.2	[22]
Patricia Hoskins	F	Mississippi Valley State	1985	1989	110	1,196	24	708	3,122	28.38	[23][e]
Lorri Bauman	F	Drake	1980	1984	120	1,104	—	907	3,115	26.0	[23][e]
Jerica Coley	G	FIU	2010	2014	131	1,099	160	749	3,107	23.7	[24]
Rachel Banham	G	Minnesota	2011	2016	144	1,081	354	577	3,093	21.5	[25]
Ashley Joens	G/F	Iowa State	2018	2023	158	988	344	740	3,060	19.3	[26]
Elena Delle Donne	F	Delaware	2009	2013	114	1,030	206	773	3,039	26.7	[27]
Maya Moore*	F	UConn[f]	2007	2011	154	1,171	311	383	3,036	19.7	[28]
Katelyn Young	F	Murray State	2020	2025	155	1,122	141	644	3,029	19.5	[29]
Chamique Holdsclaw†	F	Tennessee	1995	1999	146	1,233	36	523	3,025	20.4	[30]
Cheryl Miller*	F	USC	1982	1986	126	1,159	—	700	3,018	23.6	[23][e]
Cindy Blodgett	G	Maine	1994	1998	118	1,055	219	676	3,005	25.5	[31]
LaToya Thomas	F	Mississippi State	1999	2003	125	1,119	34	709	2,981	23.8	[32]
Valorie Whiteside	F	Appalachian State	1984	1988	116	1,153	0	638	2,944	25.4	[23][e]
Kelly Mazzante	G	Penn State	2000	2004	133	1,051	357	460	2,919	21.9	[33]
Joyce Walker	C	LSU	1980	1984	117	1,259	—	388	2,906	24.8	[23][e]
Kyla McMakin	G	Longwood / Saint Louis	2019	2024	164	1,033	315	518	2,899	17.7	[34]
Maddy Siegrist	F	Villanova	2019	2023	119	1,094	210	498	2,896	24.3	[35]
Jess Kovatch	G	Saint Francis (PA)	2015	2019	130	965	472	473	2,874	22.1	[36]
Kevi Luper	G	Oral Roberts	2009	2013	126	1,052	195	568	2,867	22.8	[37]

Footnotes

1. The overall scoring leader in women's college basketball is Pearl Moore, who scored 4,061 points from 1975–1979, mostly at Francis Marion (now an NCAA Division II program) after briefly playing at a junior college.^[3] The NAIA leader is Grace Beyer, with 3,961 points at UHSP from 2019–2024; Beyer also has the most career points in competition between four-year institutions.^[4][5][6]
2. While Elena Delle Donne was a varsity athlete at Delaware in five school years, she did not play basketball in her first school year, instead playing volleyball.^[16]
3. Except as otherwise noted, references for each entry are cited in the "General references" section below. Specifically:

   • Games played and total points are available from the most recent edition of the NCAA Division I women's basketball record book.
   • More detailed statistics are available by searching for the named player in the NCAA women's basketball statistical database. Enter the player's name (last name required, first name optional), make sure that the "Player" option is specified, and click on the appropriate entry returned.
4. Known as Southwest Missouri State during Stiles' career.
5. This player is not listed in the NCAA statistical database. However, entering the 2019–20 season, she was among the top 25 players on the official D-I women's leaderboard for career scoring average. This leaderboard, included in the printed NCAA D-I record book for 2019–20, provides a complete breakdown of each player's scoring.
6. Officially known for athletic purposes as Connecticut during her college career.