Women’s basketball teams finally will be paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March just like the men have for years under a plan approved Wednesday at the NCAA convention.

NCAA members unanimously voted to introduce financial rewards — as it has for years with the men's tournament — starting this spring.

The organization approved “performance units” for women’s teams participating in March Madness after years of only paying men’s programs.

For the first time, women’s basketball teams will earn NCAA Tournament performance pay, mirroring a system long in place for men’s teams.

Vanderbilt women's basketball NCAA tournament history under Shea Ralph. Vanderbilt had not made the NCAA tournament since 2014, when Ralph was hired. After falling short in her fi

In a historic vote Wednesday at the NCAA convention in Nashville, the organization approved a plan to pay women's basketball teams for making the NCAA Tournament. Men's basketball teams have been reaping the benefits of the same revenue sharing plan for many years.

Beginning with the 2025 NCAA Tournament, women’s college basketball will finally receive financial “units,” just as the men’s teams have for years. Units are multi-million dollar payments the NCAA awards to conferences based on the number of games a given team plays in the March Madness tournament.