The Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. The school competes in the

Big Ten Conference 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 ...

in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA). The Wildcats play home basketball games at Welsh-Ryan Arena on the university campus in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, but played the 2017–18 season at Beardsley Gym on the nearby campus of

Evanston Township High School Evanston Township High School (ETHS) District 202, is a four-year public high school occupying a campus in Evanston, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS was established in 1883 and serves the city of Evanston ...

during renovations to Welsh–Ryan Arena.

History

Early years (1975–1984)

The Wildcats began play in women's basketball in 1975, with Mary DiStanislao as the first head coach, who coached for five seasons, with the final two resulting in appearances in the AIAW Tournament. In 1980, Annette Lynch took over as head coach, leading the team to postseason appearances (AIAW and NCAA) in her first two seasons, with the latter (1981) being the first season in the

Don Perrelli era (1985–1999)

In 1984, Don Perrelli became head coach of the Wildcats. In his 15-year tenure, he led the team to 5 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, a Big Ten title in 1990 (with a 24–5 record, 15–3 conference record), and a NWIT appearance. Perrelli retired after the 1998–99 season.

Decline (1999–2008)

June Olkowski took over, coaching Northwestern for five seasons, but she was fired after finishing 10th or worse each time, never winning more than three conference games. Beth Combs was hired to coach the Wildcats in 2004, but she was fired after four seasons, highlighted with winning only 7 conference games in 4 years and never finishing higher than 10th place.

Joe McKeown era (2008–present)

Joe McKeown Joseph L. McKeown pronounced Mick-Q-ann (born May 12, 1956), is the head women's basketball coach at Northwestern University. Career He has 600 wins as of November 21, 2014. He won the Atlantic 10 Conference's coach of the year award a record 5 ...

was hired for the 2008 season. After a 10th-place finish in his first season, they finished tied for 8th in the conference (good enough to qualify for the WNIT) the following season, their highest finish since the 1998 season. After appearing in the WNIT twice in the following four seasons, the Wildcats returned to the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament in 2015, their first appearance since 1997, in a season where they had their highest finish in the conference (1994) since 1996.http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/2015-16/misc_non_event/NUWBBGuide.pdf

All-Time Statistical Leaders

Career leaders

*Points scored: 2,307 (Anucha Browne – 1982–85) *Assists: 892 (Nancy Kennelly – 1989–93) *Rebounds: 951 (Anucha Browne – 1982–85) *Steals: 236 (Moira Kennelly – 1991–94) *Blocks: 357 (Amy Jaeschke – 2007–2011)

Single season leaders

*Points scored: 855 (Anucha Browne – 1985) *Assists: 252 (Nancy Kennelly – 1991 and 1993) *Rebounds: 305 (Patricia Babcock – 1993) *Steals: 95 (Ashley Deary – 2014–15) *Blocks: 106 (Amy Jaeschke – 2009–10)

Single game leaders

*Points scored: 45 (Anucha Browne vs. St. John’s – 1984) *Assists: 16 (Nancy Kennelly vs. Eastern Illinois – 1993) *Rebounds: 26 (Julie Calahan vs. Indiana – 1981) *Steals: 11 (Moira Kennelly vs. UW-Milwaukee – 1993) *Blocks: 10 (Amy Jaeschke vs. Chicago State – 2010)

Big Ten Medal of Honor

*1982 – Patience Vanderbush *1985 – Anucha Browne *1992 – Michele Savage *1993 – Nancy Kennelly *1997 – Michele Ratay *1999 – Megan Chawansky

Coaching history

Postseason

NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament

The Wildcats have appeared in the

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 Women's sports, women's college basketball teams from the NCAA Division I, Division I level of t ...

eight times. They have a record of 4–7.

NIT results

The Wildcats have appeared 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 ...

(WNIT) five times, having a combined record of 10–5. They also appeared in the

National Women's Invitational Tournament The National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT) was a post-season tournament for women's intercollegiate basketball programs that was contested from 1969 to 1996. The original sponsorship information appears to have been lost over the ensuin ...

(the precursor to the WNIT, with 8 teams instead of the traditional 64 the WNIT has) once, having a record of 2–1.

AIAW Women's Basketball tournament

The Wildcats appeared in the

AIAW women's basketball tournament The AIAW women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national c ...

(the precursor to the modern NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship) three times (the first being in a 16 team tournament and the latter two being in a 24 team tournament) before it was discontinued in 1982. They compiled a record of 1–3. They received a bye in 1980.

References

External links

* {{Big Ten Conference women's basketball navbox