The Washington Huskies women's basketball team will start the 2026-27 season ranked among the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in Tina Langley's tenure in Seattle.

UW is ranked No. 16 in the country, one of nine schools in the Big Ten, the highest ranking the program has had at any point in the season since the team was ranked No. 15 early in the 2016-17 campaign under then-coach Mike Neighbors. The Huskies reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament that year and ranked as high as No. 7.

Langley has rebuilt her roster this offseason with several veteran transfer portal additions, including North Carolina State forward Tilda Trygger, Colorado State guard Brooke Carlson, and Oklahoma State guard Macey Huard, with the expectation of advancing further in the tournament than the program did last season when it lost 62-59 to TCU in overtime in the Round of 32.

The Huskies return a strong foundation from last season led by veteran guards Sayvia Sellers and Avery Howell, who led the team in scoring, averaging 18 and 14.2 points per game, respectively, in 2025-26. Sellers received All-Big Ten First Team selection honors coming into this season, the only UW women's basketball player to be named to either the first or second team.

“Continued growth is really important,” Langley said at Big Ten Media Day. “We’ve had consistency in our players and in our system, and when you get an opportunity to be on the floor and learn a system and learn each other, you know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s easier to play the game, and you kind of know where someone’s going to be.” 

Sophomore forward Brynn McGaughy and transfer addition Kaelyn Carroll, both listed at 6-foot-3, should also factor into significant roles with no true center listed on the Huskies' roster for the upcoming season.

Carroll, a former five-star who comes to Montlake from Kentucky, was ranked as the No. 15 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class by ESPNW, one spot below McGaughy, who became the highest-ranked recruit Langley has signed in her five years at Washington.

The Huskies open their 2026-27 schedule on November 2 against UC San Diego at 11:00 a.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena.