The 2012–13 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November and ended with the Final Four in New Orleans, April 7–9.

Season headlines

*October 30 – The AP preseason All-American team was named. Three players received all 40 possible votes from the media panel— Baylor

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

Brittney Griner Brittney Yevette Griner (; born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's natio ...

, Notre Dame

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

Skylar Diggins Skylar Kierra Diggins-Smith (born August 2, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Diggins was drafted third overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2013 WNB ...

, and Delaware's multi-positional

Elena Delle Donne Elena Delle Donne (born September 5, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Delle Donne played college basketball for the Delaware Blue Hens from 2009 ...

. They were joined by

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

Chiney Ogwumike Chinenye "Chiney" Ogwumike (born March 21, 1992) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2020, she became the first Black woman and the first WNBA ...

(23 votes), Baylor point guard

Odyssey Sims Odyssey Celeste Sims (born July 13, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). An AP and WBCA All-American, Sims was born in Irving, Texas and graduated from ...

(19), and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

power forward

Alyssa Thomas Alyssa Thomas (born April 12, 1992) is an American professional basketball forward for the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins. The New York Liberty draft ...

(19). Sims and Thomas tied in the voting, creating a sixth spot on the team. *December 15 – The seven

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

schools that do not sponsor FBS football ( DePaul, Georgetown, St. John's,

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

, Villanova,

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesa ...

and Marquette, collectively called the "

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

7") announced that they would break from the Big East and pursue other conference affiliation. The move leaves

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

as the only original Big East member set to remain in the conference. * February 28 –

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

reports that the "Catholic 7" will launch their new conference in July 2013, two years ahead of schedule, and will purchase the rights to the "Big East" name from the remaining conference schools. Two

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

members,

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

(which had only joined the A10 in July 2012) and Xavier, will reportedly join the new Big East, with

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

member Creighton also a possibility. * March 8 – The Big East split is officially announced. As previously reported, the "Catholic 7" will leave on June 30 with the Big East name. As of the announcement, the "Catholic 7" were the only members of the new Big East, but Butler, Xavier, and Creighton were added March 20.

Milestones and records

* January 6, 2014 - Missouri's Morgan Eye hit 11 three-pointers in a game against Auburn, tied for third most three-pointers in a single game (in NCAA history). * February 22, 2013 - Saint Peters' Bridget Whitfield hit eight of eight three-point attempts, tied for third most (in NCAA history) without a miss. * Baylor's

scored 3,283 points in her career, the third highest career total in NCAA history. * Baylor's Brittney Griner recorded more than 2,000 points and 500 rebounds, the only player in NCAA history to reach that milestone.

Coaching wins milestones

* 900 victories - Sylvia Hatchell -

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

. February 7 versus Boston College. * 900 victories -

Andy Landers Andrew Grady Landers (born October 8, 1952) is a retired American college basketball coach who was head women's basketball coach at the University of Georgia from 1979 to 2015. Landers graduated from Friendsville (Tenn.) High School in 1970, the ...

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. February 24 versus Mississippi. * 900 victories -

C. Vivian Stringer Charlaine Vivian Stringer (born March 16, 1948) is an American former basketball coach. She holds one of the best coaching records in the history of women's basketball. She was the head coach of the Rutgers University women's basketball team from ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. February 26 versus South Florida. * 700 victories -

Muffet McGraw Ann "Muffet" McGraw (born December 5, 1955) is an American former college basketball coach, who served as the head women's basketball coach at Notre Dame from 1987 to 2020, compiling a 848–252 (.771) record over 33 seasons. She led her team t ...

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. February 5 versus Villanova. * 600 victories -

Lisa Bluder Lisa Marie Bluder (, born April 16, 1961) is the head coach of the University of Iowa, Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball program. Formerly, she served as coach of St. Ambrose University and the Drake Bulldogs women's basketball, Drake Bulldogs. E ...

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. January 20 versus Purdue.

Conference membership changes

The 2012–13 season saw the second wave of membership changes resulting from a major realignment of NCAA Division I conferences. The cycle began in 2010 with the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and the then-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

publicly announcing their intentions to expand. The fallout from these conferences' moves later affected a majority of D-I conferences. In addition, two schools are moving from Division II starting this season. These schools will be ineligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play until completing their D-I transitions in 2016. Finally, one school that had announced a transition to Division II,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, announced that it would halt its transition and remain in Division I.

New arenas

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

left behind one of the smallest venues in Division I basketball,

Kimbel Arena Kimbel Arena is a 1,039-seat multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina, United States. It was home to the Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a pu ...

(seating little over 1,000). The Chanticleers remained on campus at the new

HTC Center HTC Center, originally known as the Student Recreation and Convocation Center, is a 3,370-seat multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. It is home to the Coastal Carolina University men's ...

. *

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

left its on-campus home, the original Trojan Arena, for a new on-campus venue also named Trojan Arena.

Major rule changes

*There is now unlimited contact, including text messaging, allowed between college coaches and a prospective player in high school and junior college recruiting.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls.

Regular season

A number of early-season tournaments marked the beginning of the college basketball season.

Early-season tournaments

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Confe ...

s each end their

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

s with a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

does not have a conference tournament, instead giving their automatic invitation to their regular season champion. As of 2013, the Great West Conference does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Men or Women's College Tournament.

Statistical leaders

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four – New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana

Tournament upsets

For this list, a "major upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent.

Women's National Invitation tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field is announced, 64 teams were invited to participate in the

Women's National Invitation Tournament The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year. It is operated in a similar fashion to the men's college National Invitation Tournam ...

. The tournament began on March 20, 2013, and ended with the final on April 6. Unlike the men's

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

, whose semifinals and finals are held at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, the WNIT holds all of its games at campus sites.

WNIT Semifinals and Final

Played at campus sites

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

The following players are recognized as the 2013 Consensus All-Americans:

Major player of the year awards

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

Naismith Award Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of t ...

: Brittney Griner * Associated Press Player of the Year: Brittney Griner, Baylor *

Wade Trophy The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best upperclass women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State University coac ...

: Brittney Griner

Major freshman of the year awards

USBWA National Freshman of the Year The USBWA National Freshman of the Year, with the men's and women's versions respectively named the Wayman Tisdale Award and Tamika Catchings Award, is an annual basketball award given to college basketball's most outstanding freshman male player ...

(

USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

Jewell Loyd Jewell Loyd (born October 5, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Perfumerias Avenida of Spain's Liga Femenina de Baloncesto and the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first o ...

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year:

, Notre Dame *

Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divis ...

: Muffet McGraw * WBCA National Coach of the Year: Muffet McGraw

Other major awards

Nancy Lieberman Award The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman, was given annually by the Rotary Club of Detroit in the Award's first 14 years to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball. Sue Bi ...

(best point guard):

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter-than-average players who excelled on the court despite their size. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-la ...

(best senior 5'8"/1.78 m or shorter):

Alex Bentley Alexandria Marie Bentley (born October 27, 1990) is an American professional basketball player. She played college basketball at Pennsylvania State University. She represents the Belarus national team internationally. Early life She was born a ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

Senior CLASS Award The Senior CLASS Award is awarded to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in 10 NCAA Division I sports. An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete ...

(top senior):

Maggie Dixon Award The Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year Award is an award given annually since 2007 to the head coach in women's college basketball in the NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I competition who achieves great success in their first year as ...

(top first-year head coach):

Holly Warlick Frances Hollingsworth "Holly" Warlick (born June 11, 1958) is an American college basketball coach who was head coach for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. She replaced head coach Pat Summitt prior to the 2012–13 season and held the position unt ...

* Academic All-American of the Year (Top scholar-athlete):

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Elite 89 Award The Elite 90 Award or more formally The Elite 90 Academic Recognition Award Program, originally the Elite 88 Award and later the Elite 89 Award, is an award by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizing the student athlete w ...

(Top GPA among upperclass players at Final Four): Jude Schimmel,

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during and after the season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ncaa