Final exams: Grading how each Big 5 women’s basketball team fared in the transfer portal

The part of the calendar when the transfer portal dominates the college basketball news cycle is behind us, and it’s likely no one is happier to be here than college hoops coaches, whose jobs have become just as busy in April and May as they are in February and March.

It’s the new normal, and every coach is learning how to navigate what essentially is free agency with salary-cap limits that differ from school to school.

Previously, we dove into how the Big 5 men’s basketball teams fared in the transfer portal. More than 2,100 men’s basketball players entered the portal. On the women’s side, there were fewer, but 1,400 players still is an average of about four players per Division I school.

Here are our transfer portal grades for the six Big 5 women’s basketball programs:

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St. Joseph’s: The Hawks had one of the best teams in the Atlantic 10 and were one of the best mid-majors in the country this past season. In this world, that means the big schools usually come calling. But the portal window opened and closed, and Cindy Griffin didn’t lose a single player. St. Joe’s has a lot of talent coming back, and the Hawks will try to make another run at an A-10 title with more continuity than most teams in the country. Grade: A

Drexel: The Dragons were the only Big 5 team to reach the NCAA Tournament, and their surprise run to the Coastal Athletic Association title was followed by a successful transfer portal season for Amy Mallon. The Dragons did lose three players to the portal, all reserves, but they also added two talented 6-foot-2 forwards with multiple years of eligibility remaining: Albany freshman Deja Evans (8.1 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game), an Archbishop Wood grad, and American sophomore Molly Lavin (7.4 ppg, 5 rpg). Leading scorer Amaris Baker (11.7 ppg) is back, too, and Baker, a Cardinal O’Hara grad, not entering the portal and remaining on campus is a big win for Drexel. Grade: A

Temple: One of the stories of the college basketball season, especially here in Philly, was Diane Richardson’s Temple Owls, who defied preseason rankings and finished the season near the top of the American Athletic Conference standings. Their AAC tournament run fell short of a title and an NCAA Tournament berth, but it certainly opened some eyes. Richardson did lose two starters to conference foes, though. Ines Piper is off to South Florida, and Rayne Tucker transferred to Alabama-Birmingham — taking a combined 14.7 points and 13.1 rebounds per game with them. But Temple brought in Towson graduate transfer Anissa Rivera, Alabama A&M freshman Kaylah Turner (11.2 ppg), and Loyola Marymount senior Amaya Oliver. Top scorer Tiarra East is still around, too, and that’s a good thing. Grade: B+

Penn: Unlike his men’s coach counterpart Steve Donahue, who was rewarded for getting talented freshman Tyler Perkins on campus by having Perkins leave the Ivy League for Villanova, Penn women’s coach Mike McLaughlin retained just about every player he was allowed to keep. The Quakers lost two graduate students, second-leading scorer Jordan Obi (Kentucky) and Michaela Stanfield, because of Ivy rules, but the only underclassmen they lost in the portal was a freshman who didn’t play in 2023-24. Top scorer Stina Almqvist is back, and so is top freshman Mataya Gayle. Grade: B

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Villanova: The Wildcats lost one of the best players in the portal in star guard Lucy Olsen, who was third in the nation in scoring at 23.3 ppg. Olsen is off to Iowa to help fill the big shoes left by Caitlin Clark’s departure to the WNBA. Olsen was one of three starters to leave Denise Dillon’s program, as point guard Zanai Jones transferred to SMU and center Christina Dalce left for Maryland. Villanova also lost three role players. But Dillon brought in a point guard to replace Jones, Holy Cross graduate transfer Bronagh Power-Cassidy (16.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 40% from three-point range) and Santa Clara grad transfer Lara Edmanson (7.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg). The Wildcats also got a commitment from Southeast Missouri State grad transfer Jaliyah Green (12.9 ppg) and brought in Ryanne Allen, a sophomore Vanderbilt transfer from Archbishop Wood. Losing Olsen and Dalce was a big blow, but did Villanova bring in enough to remain a contender in the Big East? We’ll see. Grade: B-

La Salle: No team in the Big 5 — men’s or women’s — was impacted more by the transfer portal than the La Salle women, who lost nine players to the portal. Like other small schools with limited NIL funding, Mountain MacGillivray’s reward for getting an under-the-radar commitment in freshman Nicole Melious was watching her head to the Big East and Seton Hall after scoring nearly 11 points per game as a freshman. The Explorers also lost Oregon native Tiara Bolden to Oregon State and a handful of role players to other schools. Among the new faces on campus will be St. Louis transfer Ashleigh Connor and Fairfield transfer MacKenzie Daleba. Grade: C

» READ MORE: Men's grades: How each Big 5 team fared in the transfer portal