The 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November 2018 and concluded with the Final Four title game at

Amalie Arena Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tampa Bay Lightning ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

in April 2019. Practices officially began in September 2018.

Season headlines

* June 18 –

Purdue University Fort Wayne Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW) is a public university in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. A campus of Purdue University, Purdue Fort Wayne was founded on July 1, 2018, when its predecessor university, Indiana University–Purdue University ...

(PFW), which was set to begin operation on July 1 following the dissolution of

Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

(IPFW), announced that the athletic program that it would inherit from IPFW, previously known as the Fort Wayne Mastodons, would become the

Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, formerly known as the IPFW Mastodons and Fort Wayne Mastodons, are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). The school's athletic program includes 16 varsity sports t ...

. PFW also changed its colors from IPFW's former blue and silver scheme to the old gold and black used by its new parent institution. * September 10 – The

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

(NEC) announced that

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a private Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. Its campus has grown to a campus with nearly 40 bu ...

would start a transition from the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

Northeast-10 Conference The Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of ...

and join the NEC effective July 1, 2019. The Warriors will not be eligible for the NCAA tournament until becoming a full D-I member in 2023–24. * October 3 –

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

announced that it would merge its two current athletic programs—the

LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds were the athletic teams representing Long Island University's campus in Brooklyn, New York in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, and track; women's-only bowli ...

, full members of the NEC, and the Division II

LIU Post Pioneers The LIU Post Pioneers (also Long Island–Post Pioneers and formerly the C.W. Post Pioneers) were the athletic teams that represented the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, located in Brookville, New York, in NCAA Division II intercolleg ...

—effective with the 2019–20 school year. The new program will compete under the LIU name with a new nickname and retain LIU Brooklyn's Division I and NEC memberships. This change had minimal effect on the then-existing LIU Brooklyn women's basketball program, as LIU has announced that the unified basketball team will be based at the Brooklyn campus. * November 1 – The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

preseason

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

team was released. The leading vote-getters were two guards, Louisville's

Asia Durr Asia (AD) Durr (born April 5, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). They played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals. College career After the ...

and Oregon's

Sabrina Ionescu Sabrina Elaine Ionescu (born December 6, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. She is the NCAA all- ...

, each with 29 of 31 votes. Joining them on the team were

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 ...

forward

Katie Lou Samuelson Katie Lou Samuelson (born June 13, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the UConn Huskies. High school career Samu ...

(28), Notre Dame guard

Arike Ogunbowale Arike Ogunbowale (born March 2, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, before being drafted ...

(24), and Baylor center

Kalani Brown Kalani Brown (born March 21, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Hatayspor. She has received multiple honors during her playing career, and was nam ...

(18). Ionescu was the only junior named; all others were seniors. * January 11 – The

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

announced that

Dixie State University Utah Tech University (UT), formerly known as Dixie State University (DSU) and similar names, is a public university in St. George, Utah. The university offers about 240 programs (4 master's degrees, 53 bachelor's degrees, 18 associate degrees, 45 ...

would start a transition from Division II to D I and join the conference in July 2020. * February 19 – Less than 12 hours after leading

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

to a 78–56 win over Ole Miss, Lady Bulldogs head coach

Joni Taylor Joni Taylor (née Crenshaw; born March 7, 1979) is the head women's college basketball coach for Texas A&M. Prior to Texas A&M, she was head coach at Georgia from 2015 to 2022. Playing history Born Joni Crenshaw in Meridian, Mississippi, she was t ...

gave birth to a daughter. Top assistant Karen Lange was named as interim head coach for what was intended to be a maternity leave, but Taylor returned to the bench for Georgia's next game on February 21. * February 24 –

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

announced that head coach

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 ...

, who had missed the Scarlet Knights' game at

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

on February 21, would take a leave for the rest of the regular season on medical advice. Stringer was initially expected to return after the Big Ten tournament, with assistant Tim Eatman serving as interim coach. However, Rutgers announced on March 15 that Stringer would not return for a likely NCAA tournament run, again on medical advice. She ultimately returned for the 2019–20 season. * February 27 –

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

placed head coach

MaChelle Joseph MaChelle Kay Joseph (born January 13, 1970) is an American women's basketball coach, who served as the head coach for Georgia Tech from 2003 to 2019. Under Joseph, the Yellow Jackets compiled a record of 273–176.Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

concerns within the department. Joseph would ultimately be fired (see "Coaching changes" section below). * March 26 – ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, alth ...

'' reported allegations that

Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky is the third-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, and its cities and towns serve as the de facto "south side" communities of Cincinnati, Ohio. The three main counties ...

head coach Camryn Whitaker had engaged in systematic bullying and emotional abuse of players. The previous day, the team's only senior, Taryn Taugher, published an account of her experiences on the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'' web platform, claiming that the university knew about Whitaker's behavior but did not address it. The ''Enquirer'' received confirmation of Taugher's account in interviews with the parents of another player, plus social media posts from multiple teammates. The university told the ''Enquirer'' that it was investigating the claims, but Taugher said that she had yet to be contacted by any administrator. On April 2, a former NKU player, Shar'Rae Davis, provided an ''Enquirer'' reporter with her own allegations, charging that Whitaker had used Davis' medical condition of

ulcerative colitis Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain and diarrhea mixed with blood (hematochezia). Weight loss, fever, and a ...

to punish both her and other team members. In the interim, eight current Norse players published an open letter in ''Odyssey'' backing Whitaker. * April 1 –

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

placed the entire

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

coaching staff, including head coach

Sylvia Hatchell Sylvia Rhyne Hatchell (born February 28, 1952) is a former American women's basketball coach, who last coached for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was the fifth with the most career wins in NCAA women's basketball history, be ...

, on paid administrative leave while an outside firm hired by the university reviewed the state of the program, due to what the university called "issues raised by student-athletes and others." On April 4, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' reported that among the issues were allegations that Hatchell forced several players to play through serious injuries and made a number of racially offensive remarks. Hatchell would resign following the review (see "Coaching changes" section below). * April 6 – Sabrina Ionescu announced in ''

The Players' Tribune ''The Players' Tribune'' is a new media platform that produces daily sports conversation and publishes first-person stories from professional athletes. The platform was founded by former professional Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter in ...

'' that she would return for her senior season at

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in 2019–20. Because she turned 22 in December 2019, she had been eligible to declare for the

2019 WNBA draft The 2019 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2019 WNBA season. On March 19, the league announced the draft would be held on April 10 at Nike New York headquarters. The first round was televised on ESPN2, and the second and third rounds were ...

Milestones and records

* November 13 – Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer became the sixth college women's coach with 1,000 career wins following the Scarlet Knights' 73–44 pasting of Central Connecticut. She also became the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

college coach to reach the milestone. * November 18 – Sabrina Ionescu recorded her 12th career triple-double in Oregon's 102–82 win over Buffalo. Already the holder of the all-divisions NCAA women's record for career triple-doubles, Ionescu equaled the NCAA record for all players regardless of sex, previously held by former BYU men's player

Kyle Collinsworth Kyle Collinsworth (born October 3, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the San-en NeoPhoenix of the B.League. He played college basketball for Brigham Young University (BYU). During the 2014–15 season, Collinsworth broke th ...

. * December 17 and 20 – Chastadie Barrs of Lamar became the first Division I player of either sex ever to record triple-doubles in consecutive games twice in her career. First, Barrs recorded 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 steals in the Cardinals' 93–37 blowout of

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

Howard Payne. She followed this with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 steals in the Cardinals' 82–66 win over

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Barrs had recorded consecutive triple-doubles early in the 2017–18 season. * December 20 – Ionescu took sole possession of the aforementioned career triple-double record, recording her 13th with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists in Oregon's 82–36 win over

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

. * December 21 – In Oregon's next game, a 115–69 blowout of

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the ti ...

, Ionescu recorded her 14th triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists. This marked the second time in her career that she recorded triple-doubles in consecutive games, matching Barrs' accomplishment from the night before. Like Barrs, Ionescu had recorded consecutive triple-doubles early in the 2017–18 season—with the second game in that streak also coming the night after the second of Barrs' corresponding streak. * January 3 – Baylor defeated then top-ranked

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

68–57. This was the Huskies' first regular-season loss since November 2014, and ended their NCAA-record regular-season winning streak at 126 games. * January 9, 12, and 16 – Barrs accomplished three major triple-double milestones—becoming the first Division I player of either sex ever to record triple-doubles in consecutive games twice in a single season, the first to do so three times in a career, and the second player in any NCAA division to have recorded three consecutive triple-doubles. First, Barrs recorded 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 steals in the Cardinals' 79–59 win over

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

. She followed this with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in the Cardinals' 57–37 win over

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of ...

. Finally, Barrs had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in Lamar's 94–54 pasting of Southeastern Louisiana. The only other player with three straight triple-doubles was Danielle Carson of

Youngstown State Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergraduate colleges an ...

, who accomplished this feat in the 1985–86 season. * January 20 – Ionescu recorded her sixth triple-double of the season with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists in Oregon's 93–60 win over

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. This tied the all-time NCAA record for triple-doubles in a season, originally set in women's basketball by the aforementioned Danielle Carson in 1985–86 and equaled by Ionescu herself in 2017–18. (In men's basketball, the aforementioned Kyle Collinsworth had the same total in both 2014–15 and 2015–16.) * February 2 – Shakyla Hill of Grambling State had 21 points, 16 rebounds, 13 assists, and 10 steals in the Tigers' 77–57 win over Arkansas–Pine Bluff, making her the first Division I player of either sex to record two quadruple-doubles in a career. Hill had previously recorded one in January 2018. * February 24 – Ionescu took sole possession of the all-time NCAA record for triple-doubles in a season, recording her seventh of the season with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists in Oregon's 96–78 win over

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. * February 27 – In Lamar's 97–49 blowout of Houston Baptist, Barrs collected 10 steals to give her the record for career steals in Division I women's basketball. She ended the game with 627, surpassing the previous record of 624 by Natalie White of

Florida A&M Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

(1991–95). * March 3 – In the final regular-season game of her college career,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

center

Kristine Anigwe Kristine Chioma Anigwe (born March 31, 1997) is an English-born Nigerian-American professional basketball player. She also plays for Turkish team Çukurova Basketbol in the Women's Basketball Super League. Early life Kristine Anigwe was born in ...

scored 32 points and claimed 30 rebounds in the Golden Bears' 80–58 win over

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. Anigwe's performance, which equaled the

Pac-12 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 ...

record for single-game rebounds, was the first Division I women's 30–30 game since Jennifer Butler accomplished the feat for

UMass The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

on December 28, 2002. Anigwe also joined former

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

center

Courtney Paris Courtney Paris (born September 21, 1987) is an American basketball coach and former player. She is currently an assistant coach for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA. She last played as a center for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketb ...

as the only women in Division I history to record 30 consecutive double-doubles. * March 24 – In Oregon's 91–68 win over

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Ionescu became only the second player to record multiple triple-doubles in NCAA tournament play, collecting 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Ionescu, who had a triple-double in the first round of the 2018 tournament, joined former

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 ...

star

Nicole Powell Nicole Kristen Powell (born June 22, 1982) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head women's basketball coach at UC Riverside Highlanders women's basketball, University of California, Riverside. As a player, she had a standout col ...

, who had consecutive triple-doubles in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, as the only Division I women's players with two triple-doubles in tournament play. Ionescu extended her all-divisions NCAA records for triple-doubles to 8 in a season and 18 in a career. At the time, it was speculated that Ionescu could be playing her last

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

game, but she ultimately announced she would return to Oregon for her senior season. ;Notes

Conference membership changes

Six schools joined new conferences for the 2018–19 season. Four schools switched between Division I conferences for the 2018–19 season. In addition, two schools moved from Division II starting this season. The former Division II schools are ineligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play until completing their D-I transitions in 2022. In addition to the schools changing conferences, the 2018–19 season was the last for

Savannah State ) , established = , closed = , type = Public university, Public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university , parent = University System of Georg ...

in D-I with its decision to reclassify all of its sports to D-II. Finally, one D-I member adopted a new institutional and athletic identity. The 2017–18 school year was the last for

(IPFW) as a single institution. Following the school's split into separate institutions governed by

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

and

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, IPFW degree programs in health sciences are now overseen by

Indiana University Fort Wayne Indiana University Fort Wayne is a public university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is a regional campus of Indiana University founded on July 1, 2018, when its predecessor university, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, split into t ...

, while all other degree programs are governed by

(PFW). As noted in the "Season headlines" section, the IPFW athletic program, rebranded in 2016 as the Fort Wayne Mastodons, became the

, representing only PFW.

Arenas

New arenas

* Elon opened the Schar Center, which replaced their home of 37 seasons, Alumni Gym. * After 32 seasons at the off-campus

Burton Coliseum The Burton Coliseum, built in 1976, is located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The arena contains a domed roof and stands 105 feet from the floor to the top of the roof. It and other buildings in the Burton Complex serve many purposes. The coliseum ...

McNeese State McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...

opened the new on-campus Health and Human Performance Education Complex (H&HP Complex). * The two new Division I entries for 2018 continued to play at existing on-campus facilities. California Baptist plays at the

CBU Events Center The CBU Events Center is a sports arena in Riverside, California. It opened in 2017 and has a capacity of 5,050. The 153,000-square-feet facility is home to the Cal Baptist Lancers California Baptist Lancers men's basketball, men's and California ...

, which opened in 2017, and

North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

plays at

Flowers Hall CB&S Bank Arena at Flowers Hall, built in 1972, is a 4,000-seat multipurpose arena located in Florence, Alabama. It is used primarily for basketball and volleyball, and is the home of the University of North Alabama Lions basketball and volleyball ...

, which opened in 1972 and has been home to the women's program since it began play in 1975.

Arenas reopening

Four teams returned to newly renovated arenas, all of which were closed for the 2017–18 season. *

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

returned to

Fifth Third Arena Fifth Third Arena is an indoor arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The arena opened in 1989 and is located on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. It primarily serves as the home venue for the Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball, wo ...

. *

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

initially planned to reopen the renamed

Fertitta Center The Fertitta Center, formerly known as Hofheinz Pavilion, is a 7,100-seat multi-purpose arena on the University of Houston campus in Houston. Located at 3875 Holman Street, it is home to the Houston Cougars men's and women's basketball teams and ...

(originally Hofheinz Pavilion) by the start of the 2018–19 season, but construction delays pushed the final reopening date to December 1, with Houston's men officially reopening the facility. The women's first game after the reopening was on December 6. * Northwestern returned to

Welsh–Ryan Arena Welsh–Ryan Arena is a 7,039-seat multi-purpose arena in Evanston, Illinois, United States, near the campus of Northwestern University. It is home to four Northwestern Wildcats athletic teams: men's basketball, women's basketball, women's volle ...

. * Villanova returned to the renamed

Finneran Pavilion The William B. Finneran Pavilion is a 6,501-seat multi-purpose arena in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States, about 10 miles northwest of downtown ( Center City) Philadelphia. Built in 1985, the arena is home to the Villanova University Wildca ...

(originally duPont Pavilion and later The Pavilion).

Arenas closing

Temporary arenas

Houston began the 2018–19 season at Texas Southern's

Health and Physical Education Arena Health and Physical Education Arena (H&PE Arena) is an 8,100-seat multi-purpose arena in Houston, Texas on the campus of Texas Southern University. It was designed by Houston architect Willie C. Jordan Jr. and built in 1989 and is home to the Tex ...

, where the Cougars played most of their 2017–18 home games. The women played three home games at Texas Southern before moving into Fertitta Center. Robert Morris planned to open the new

UPMC Events Center UPMC Events Center is an list of indoor arenas, indoor arena located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Moon Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Moon, Pennsylvania as a part of Robert Morris University, replacing the old Charles L. Sewall Center. ...

on the site of its former on-campus Sewall Center in January 2019, but the opening has now been delayed to that summer. Until the new arena opens, the Colonials will continue to use the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, a building in the school's

North Athletic Complex The North Athletic Complex is a softball and soccer venue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Robert Morris Colonials softball and soccer teams of the NCAA Division I Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (N ...

that opened in September 2017 as part of the UPMC Events Center project.

Season outlook

Preseason polls

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

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Upsets

An upset is a victory by an underdog team. In the context of NCAA Division I Women's Basketball, this generally constitutes an unranked team defeating a team currently ranked in the Top 25. This list will highlight those upsets of ranked teams by unranked teams as well as upsets of #1 teams. Rankings are from the AP poll. Bold type indicates winning teams in "true road games"—i.e., those played on an opponent's home court (including secondary homes).

Conference winners and tournament winners

Each of the 32 Division I

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 ends its

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 ...

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 team with the best regular-season record in each conference is given the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the

2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams to determine the national champion for the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 38th annual edition of the tournament began ...

Statistical leaders

Postseason

NCAA tournament

Tournament upsets

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

Final Four –
Amalie Arena Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tampa Bay Lightning ...
,
Tampa, FL Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

Women's NIT

Women's Basketball Invitational

Conference standings

Award winners

All-America teams

The NCAA has never recognized a consensus All-America team in women's basketball. This differs from the practice in men's basketball, in which the NCAA uses a combination of selections by the

(AP), the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University o ...

(NABC), the ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'', and the

United States Basketball Writers Association 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 awa ...

(USBWA) to determine a consensus All-America team. The selection of a consensus team is possible because all four organizations select at least a first and second team, with only the USBWA not selecting a third team. Before the 2017–18 season, it was impossible for a consensus women's All-America team to be determined because the AP had been the only body that divided its women's selections into separate teams. The USBWA first named separate teams in 2017–18. The women's counterpart to the NABC, the

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBCA ...

(WBCA), continues the USBWA's former practice of selecting a single 10-member (plus ties) team. The NCAA does not recognize ''Sporting News'' as an All-America selector in women's basketball.

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 the ...

Megan Gustafson Megan Gustafson (born December 13, 1996) is an American basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Gustafson was drafted in the second round (17th overall) by the Dallas Wings in the 2019 WNBA ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

* Associated Press Player of the Year: Megan Gustafson, Iowa *

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 ...

: Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon * Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's Player of the Year (

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 ...

): Megan Gustafson, Iowa *espnW National Player of the Year: Megan Gustafson, Iowa

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 ...

: Rhyne Howard,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

WBCA Freshman of the Year The WBCA Freshman of the Year is an annual college basketball award presented by Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs ...

: Rhyne Howard, Kentucky * espnW Freshman of the Year: Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year:

Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball player and coach. She is the head coach for Louisiana State University's women's basketball team. A Pan-American gold medalist in 1983 and Olympic gold medalist in 1984, ...

, Baylor *

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 ...

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 ...

, Iowa *

WBCA National Coach of the Year WBCA may refer to: * Washington's Birthday Celebration * Women's Basketball Coaches Association * West Bengal Chess Association * WBCA-LP, a low-power radio station (102.9 FM) licensed to serve Boston, Massachusetts, United States * WBCA (Schenecta ...

: Kim Mulkey, Baylor * espnW Coach of the Year:

Vic Schaefer Victor Ernest Schaefer (born March 2, 1961) is an American college basketball coach who is the head women's basketball coach of the University of Texas at Austin (Texas) Longhorns. He previously served as the head coach for Mississippi State, fr ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

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 ...

(top point guard): Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon *

Ann Meyers Drysdale Award The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball shooting guard in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Ann Meyers, ...

(top shooting guard):

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. ...

Cheryl Miller Award The Cheryl Miller Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball small forward in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller. While at Riverside ( ...

(top small forward):

Bridget Carleton Bridget Carleton (born May 22, 1997) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones and competed internationally ...

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Katrina McClain Award The Katrina McClain Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball power forward in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Katrina McClain-Pittman, a two-t ...

(top power forward):

Napheesa Collier Napheesa Collier (born September 23, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). After playing college basketball for the UConn Huskies women's basketball, Uni ...

Lisa Leslie Award The Lisa Leslie Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball center in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, an eight-time All Star and two- ...

(top center): Megan Gustafson, Iowa *

WBCA Defensive Player of the Year The WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year is awarded by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to the best defensive player in NCAA Division I women's basketball. The winner is selected from among the winners of the defensive player ...

Teaira McCowan Teaira McCowan (born September 28, 1996; first name pronounced ) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Galatasaray of the Women's Basketball Super League. ...

Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year The Naismith College Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given to the most outstanding defensive player in men's and women's college basketball. It has been awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club since 2018. It is named in ...

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 on and off the court): Megan Gustafson, Iowa *

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 rookie head coach): Carlos Funchess,

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

* Academic All-American of the Year (top scholar-athlete): Mikayla Ferenz,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Elite 90 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 wi ...

(top GPA among upperclass players at Final Four): Nicole Benz, Notre Dame and

Lauren Cox Lauren Elizabeth Cox (born April 20, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Valencia Basket. She played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears. She was named a preseason All-American by Lindy's Sports, Athlon Sports, and S ...

, Baylor * Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award: David Six,

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

head coach

Coaching changes

Several teams changed coaches during and after the season.

Footnotes

References

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