The LSU Tigers women's basketball team represents

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

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

women's

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

. The team’s head coach is

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, ...

, the former head coach at

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

, who was hired on April 25, 2021 to replace Nikki Fargas, who had been head coach since the 2011-2012 season. The team plays its home games in the

Pete Maravich Assembly Center The Pete Maravich Assembly Center is a 13,215-seat multi-purpose arena in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The arena opened in 1972. It is home to the Louisiana State University Tigers and Lady Tigers basketball teams, the LSU Tigers women's gymnastics ...

located on the LSU campus in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

History

Through the 2018–2019 season, LSU has made 27 AIAW/NCAA tournament appearances including 14 Sweet Sixteens, eight Elite Eights, and five Final Fours. The Lady Tigers have won the SEC regular season championship three times and the SEC Tournament championship twice.

Coleman-Swanner era

The LSU women's basketball team started play in 1975 as the "Ben-Gals," with coach

Jinks Coleman Jinks Coleman (died October 20, 2000) was the first head coach of the women's basketball team at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1975–1979. Coleman led the Lady Tigers (then the BenGals) to a 91–32 record before resigning 15 games into t ...

. In just their second season of play, the team made it to the AIAW national championship game before losing to top-ranked Delta State, 68–55. Coleman stepped down in the middle of the 1978–1979 season and was replaced by

Barbara Swanner Barbara Swanner was the head coach of the women's basketball team at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1979 to 1982. Swanner took over for head coach Jinks Coleman midway through the 1978–1979 season and led the Lady Tigers (then the BenG ...

, who in turn led the team for three and a half seasons. The 1981-1982 season saw the

NCAA 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 ...

become the governing body of collegiate women's basketball. LSU did not play in the first NCAA tournament.

Sue Gunter era

Future Hall of Fame coach Sue Gunter was hired to replace Swanner. Gunter would lead the Lady Tigers for the next 22 seasons. Gunter led the Lady Tigers to 14 NCAA tournament appearances. Although she only won three regular season titles, for most of her tenure the SEC was dominated by national powers

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Auburn and Ole Miss. Gunter took a medical leave of absence in the middle of the 2003–04 season. Her top assistant,

Pokey Chatman Dana "Pokey" Chatman (born June 18, 1969) is currently an assistant coach for the Seattle Storm in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Chatman is the former head coach of the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky of the WNBA. She is also ...

, who had played for Gunter in the late 1980s and early 1990s and served as an assistant coach since the end of her playing days, took over as interim coach and led the Tigers to their first Final Four. However, Gunter was still officially head coach, and LSU credits the entire season to her. Gunter retired after the season, and Chatman was named her permanent successor.

Pokey Chatman era

led the team to two more consecutive Final Four appearances and was highly regarded as coach. However, during the 2006–2007 season, just prior to the NCAA Tournament, Chatman resigned after allegations of improper conduct with a former player surfaced. She was replaced on an interim basis by longtime assistant Bob Starkey, who coached the team during the 2007 NCAA tournament, leading them to a fourth consecutive Final Four.

Van Chancellor era

Van Chancellor, the former head coach for Ole Miss and the Houston Comets, was hired at the end of the 2006–2007 season as a permanent replacement. In his first year as coach, Chancellor led the Lady Tigers to the SEC regular season championship. The Lady Tigers were runner-up in the 2008 SEC women's basketball tournament and made the NCAA Final Four for a fifth consecutive year. LSU joined

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 ...

as the only two schools ever to reach five consecutive Final Fours.

Nikki Fargas era

On April 2, 2011, LSU hired Nikki Caldwell, later Nikki Fargas, to replace Chancellor as head coach of the Lady Tigers. Fargas played as Nikki Caldwell at the University of Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt. During her tenure as head coach at LSU, Fargas has led the Lady Tigers to five

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 college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...

appearances in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017. Fargas resigned as head coach on April 24, 2021 to become president of the WNBA's

Las Vegas Aces The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team play ...

Kim Mulkey era

On April 25, 2021, LSU announced the signing of

to replace Fargas as head coach. Mulkey played at Louisiana Tech, where she also went on to be an assistant and associate head coach for 15 years. Prior to accepting the offer to coach LSU, she was the head coach for Baylor University, where she won three national championships in 21 seasons. On December 2, 2021, Mulkey led the team to their first win versus a ranked team by defeating #14 Iowa State 69-60 in the Maravich Center giving the team a 7-1 record for the year.

Championships

Final Fours

LSU has played in five Final Fours in the

NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship 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 college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...

tournament.

Conference championships

LSU has won three regular-season conference championships and two conference tournament championships in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC).

Year by year results

Conference tournament winners noted with #
Source:

Postseason

NCAA Tournament history & seeds

NCAA Division I

AIAW Division I

The Lady Tigers made one appearance in the AIAW National Division I basketball tournament, with a combined record of 3–1.

Player awards

National awards

* John R. Wooden Award : Seimone Augustus - 2005, 2006 * Naismith College Player of the Year : Seimone Augustus - 2005, 2006 *

Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year The Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year award was established in 1995 to recognize the best women's college basketball player of the year, as voted upon by the Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American ...

: Seimone Augustus - 2005, 2006 * Nancy Lieberman Award : Temeka Johnson - 2005 * Senior CLASS Award : Seimone Augustus - 2006 *

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 ...

: Seimone Augustus - 2003 * Wade Trophy : Seimone Augustus - 2005, 2006

SEC Awards

* Player of the Year Award : Seimone Augustus - 2005, 2006 : Sylvia Fowles - 2008

Prominent players

Retired numbers

LSU All-Americans

Arena

Pete Maravich Assembly Center

image:Pete Maravich Assembly Center (Baton Rouge, Louisiana).jpg, left, 200px,

The Pete Maravich Assembly Center is a 13,215-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

. The

opened in 1972 and is home of the LSU Lady Tigers basketball team. It was originally known as the LSU Assembly Center, but was renamed in honor of

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised i ...

, a

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

basketball legend, shortly after his death in 1988. The Maravich Center is known to locals as "The PMAC" or "The Palace that Pete Built," or by its more nationally known nickname, "The Deaf Dome," coined by

Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster f ...

. The slightly oval building is located directly to the north of Tiger Stadium, and its bright-white roof can be seen in many telecasts of that stadium. The

concourse A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space. The term is not limited to places where there are literally pathways or roadways or tr ...

is divided into four quadrants:

Pass, The Walk of Champions, Heroes Hall and Midway of Memories. The quadrants highlight former LSU Tiger athletes, individual and team

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

s and

memorabilia A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

pertaining to the history of

LSU Lady Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

and LSU Tigers

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

teams.

Practice and Training facilities

LSU Basketball Practice Facility

The LSU Basketball Practice Facility is the practice facility for the LSU Lady Tigers basketball and LSU Tigers basketball teams. The facility is connected to the

through the Northwest portal. The facility features separate, full-size duplicate

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...

nasiums for the women's and men's basketball teams. They include a regulation

court in length with two regulation high school courts in the opposition direction. The courts are exact replicas of the Maravich Center game court and have two portable goals and four retractable goals. The gymnasiums are equipped with a

scoreboard A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...

, video filming balcony and scorer's table with video and data connection. The facility also houses team

locker rooms A changing-room, locker-room, (usually in a sports, theater, or staff context) or changeroom (regional use) is a room or area designated for changing one's clothes. Changing-rooms are provided in a semi-public situation to enable people to ch ...

, a team lounge,

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

rooms, a coach's locker room and coach's offices. The building also includes a two-story

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...

and staircase that ascends to the second level where a club room is used for pre-game and post-game events and is connected to the

. The lobby includes team displays and graphics, trophy cases and memorabilia of LSU basketball. A 900-pound bronze statue of LSU legend Shaquille O'Neal is located in front of the facility.

LSU Strength and Conditioning facility

The LSU Tigers basketball strength training and conditioning facility is located in the

LSU Strength and Conditioning facility The LSU Strength and Conditioning facility or LSU North Stadium weight room, is a strength training and conditioning facility at Louisiana State University. Built in 1997, it is located adjacent to Tiger Stadium. Measuring with a flat surface, ...

. Built in 1997, it is located adjacent to Tiger Stadium. Measuring 10,000-square feet with a flat surface, it has 28 multi-purpose power stations, 36 assorted selectorized machines and 10 dumbbell stations along with a plyometric specific area, medicine balls, hurdles, plyometric boxes and assorted speed and agility equipment. It also features 2 treadmills, 4 stationary bikes, 2 elliptical cross trainers, a stepper and stepmill.

Head coaches

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:LSU Tigers women's basketball Basketball teams established in 1975 1975 establishments in Louisiana