The Texas Woman's Pioneers (also TWU Pioneers) are the athletics teams that represent

Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a public coeducational university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, it is the largest state-supported u ...

, located in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

, in

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 ...

intercollegiate sports. Even though TWU accepts male students, only female sports are sponsored. The Pioneers compete as members of the

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...

in basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball, and as an independent in gymnastics. The gymnastics team competes in the Midwest Independent Conference which comprises NCAA Division I, II and III institutions.

Sports sponsored

Softball

As an

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 ...

Division I team in the 1979

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

, the Pioneer softball team won the national championship by defeating UCLA, 1–0, in the deciding game, led by pitcher

Kathy Arendsen Kathy Arendsen (born October 10, 1958) is an American softball head coach and former professional player. Arendsen pitched for Holland Christian High School, where she won the state championship, before embarking on a successful collegiate and ...

Gymnastics

The TWU Gymnastics squad has won the

USA Gymnastics United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Established in 1963 as the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (USGF), USA Gymnastics is responsible for selecting and traini ...

Collegiate National Championships (non-NCAA) with a record 11 team championships since 1993. The most recent championship in 2018. TWU is the only varsity-level intercollegiate gymnastics program in the state of Texas.

Track and field

TWU won three women's collegiate outdoor track-and-field national championships: in 1969, 1971, and 1973. These included the first (and three of the first five) DGWS/AIAW track-and-field championships ever held.

Volleyball

In 1973, TWU reached the national championship match of the AIAW women's volleyball tournament, only to fall to Long Beach State.

Gallery

Teams

Athletics-WBSK vs TWU-6668 (16623155746).jpg, The Pioneers basketball team in action against the

Texas A&M–Commerce Lions The Texas A&M–Commerce Lions (also TAMUC Lions and formerly East Texas State Lions and ETSU Lions) are the athletic teams that represent Texas A&M University–Commerce, located in Commerce, Texas, in NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports. ...

in 2015 Texas A&M–Commerce vs. Texas Woman's softball 2018 02.jpg, The Pioneers softball team in action against the

in 2018 Athletics-Soccer vs TWU-4689 (15309093428).jpg, The Pioneers soccer team in action against the

in 2014 Athletics-Volleyball vs TWU-2398 (15336986685).jpg, The Pioneers volleyball team in action against the

in 2014

Venues

Texas Woman's University September 2015 67 (Pioneer Hall).jpg, Pioneer Hall (basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics) Texas Woman's University September 2015 39 (Pioneer Field).jpg, Pioneer Field (softball) Texas Woman's University September 2015 36 (TWU Soccer Field).jpg, TWU Soccer Field

References

External links

* {{Lone Star Conference navbox