The Old Dominion Monarchs women’s basketball team (formerly the Lady Monarchs) represents

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. The team currently competes in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

as a member of the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

. The ODU Monarchs women's basketball team contributed to the initial rise in popularity of women's intercollegiate basketball in the United States in the 1970s. Women's college basketball was organized under the auspices of the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

in the early 1970s, at a time when competitive power was distributed among small colleges that had established a niche (such as

Immaculata The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth wh ...

, Delta State, West Chester State,

Wayland Baptist Wayland Baptist University (WBU) is a private Baptist university based in Plainview, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). Wayland Baptist has 11 campuses in five Texas cities, six s ...

and

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

). ODU won two AIAW national championships in 1979 and 1980 in dominating fashion with star players,

Nancy Lieberman Nancy Elizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958), nicknamed "Lady Magic", is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) who is currently a broadcaster for the Oklahoma City Thun ...

and

Anne Donovan Anne Theresa Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018) was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. In her playing career, Donovan won a national championship with Ol ...

. Led by Medina Dixon and

Tracy Claxton Tracy Claxton (born 1961 or 1962) is a former basketball player who amassed 2,420 career points in 1980 while at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, Connecticut. She continued to hold the girls basketball record for Connecticut until 1987. At ...

, ODU won the NCAA Division 1 championship in 1985, defeating the University of Georgia 70–65. ODU along with UCLA and Tennessee, among others, led the rise to prominence of large schools with national reputations to the top intercollegiate level, before the NCAA began sponsoring sports for women.

Rivalries

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

AIAW Division I

The Lady Monarchs made three appearances in the AIAW National Division I basketball tournament, with a combined record of 11–1.

Home venues

Old Dominion play their home venues at

Chartway Arena Chartway Arena at the Ted Constant Convocation Center is a , multi-purpose arena in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, on the campus of Old Dominion University. It is operated by Spectra Venue Management. Chartway Arena is part of the University Vi ...

. In the past, the team played at

Old Dominion University Fieldhouse Old Dominion University Fieldhouse was a 5,200-seat multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Opened in 1970, it was home to the Old Dominion Monarchs and Lady Monarchs college basketball teams un ...

during 1970–1977, and 1990–2002.

Notable players

* Lucienne Berthieu * Medina Dixon *

(November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018),coach and player at 6'8" *

Adrienne Goodson Adrienne Goodson (born October 19, 1966), also known as “Goodie” or “Goody”, is a former basketball player, a 6-foot forward noted for her exceptional rebounding ability, especially on the offensive glass. Her professional career in Brazi ...

T. J. Jordan Taurean Yves Jordan (born March 16, 1986 in Denver, Colorado, Denver, Colorado) is a women's basketball player who played collegiately for Old Dominion University. She holds several ODU scoring records, and was regarded as one of the best players ...

(born 1958), WNBA Hall of Fame basketball player, general manager, and coach, Olympic silver medal *

Clarisse Machanguana Clarisse Machanguana (born 4 October 1976) is a professional women's basketball player and philanthropist from Mozambique. She has played internationally in both the United States ( WNBA from 1999 to 2002) and in Spain (FC Barcelona since 2003). ...

Hamchétou Maïga Hamchétou Maïga-Ba (born 25 April 1978 in Bamako) is a Malian professional women's basketball player most recently with the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. She is also a member of the Mali women's national basketball team. At Old Dominion Maïga w ...

Inge Nissen Inge Nissen is a Danish basketball player and coach. A 2012 inductee to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, Nissen was a star for the Danish national team and a college All-American at Old Dominion University. After her playing career, Nissen ...

Ticha Penicheiro Patrícia Nunes "Ticha" Penicheiro, OIH (September 18, 1974) is a Portuguese sports agent and former basketball player. She played for the Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA for most of her professional career. She was a four-time WNBA All-Star an ...

Nyree Roberts Nyree Khadijah Roberts (born March 10, 1976) is an American professional women's basketball player. As a forward/center at Old Dominion University, Roberts was named to the Final Four All Tournament team in 1997. Roberts played in the WNBA from 1 ...

Rhonda Rompola Rhonda Lee Rompola (born March 9, 1960) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the head women's basketball coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1991 to 2016. Early life and education Rompola was born and raise ...

* Kim Aston * Jackie Kenney * TJ Jones * Kelly Lyons * Celeste Hill

Coaches

*Mary Jackson (1969–1973) *Debbie Wilson (1973–1974) *Pam Parsons (1974–1977) *

Marianne Stanley Marianne Crawford Stanley (born April 29, 1954) is an American basketball coach. She previously served as the head coach of the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Born in Yeadon, Pennsyl ...

(1977–1987) *

Wendy Larry Wendy Larry (born March 25, 1955) was the head coach of the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball team. She coached the team in the 1997 NCAA National Championship game against the Lady Vols of the University of Tennessee in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her ...

(1987–2011) *

Karen Barefoot Karen Barefoot is an American basketball coach. She recently was head coach for the UNC Wilmington women's basketball team. Barefoot is the first basketball player to record 2,000 points and 1,000 assists in a career for any NCAA division, male o ...

(2011–2017) * Nikki McCray (2017–2020) *

DeLisha Milton-Jones DeLisha Lachell Milton-Jones (born September 11, 1974) is an American retired professional basketball player and head coach of Old Dominion. Milton-Jones played college basketball for the University of Florida. She was a first-team All-American a ...

(2020-)

References

External links

* {{Sun Belt Conference women's basketball navbox