No. 3 South Florida (23-10) defeated No. 9 Rice (17-17), 69-62, in the 2025 American Women’s Basketball Championship final on Wednesday evening, March 12, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Behind a balanced, mostly efficient scoring attack and a stifling perimeter defense, the No. 3-seeded Bulls (23-10) led wire to wire Wednesday night in a 69-62 triumph against Rice in the American Athletic Conference Tournament final in Fort Worth, Texas. USF is headed to the NCAA tourney for the 10th time and fourth in the past five seasons.

South Florida beat Rice on Wednesday night to win the American Athletic Conference championship and will return to the NCAA tournament after a one-year absence.

Vittoria Blasigh scored 20 points, Carla Brito added 17 and No. 3-seed South Florida defeated Rice 69-62 on Wednesday night to win the American Athletic Conference championship. The Bulls will return to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence.

An outspoken opponent of March Madness selection criteria, USF coach Jose Fernandez has openly bemoaned the advanced metrics steeped in NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings that seem to marginalize his team’s daunting non-conference schedule.