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The 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November and ended with the
Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...
in
Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa'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 t ...
, April 5–7. Practices officially began on October 3. This was the final season in which NCAA women's basketball games were played in 20-minute halves. Beginning with the 2015–16 season, the women's game switched to 10-minute quarters, the standard for
FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...
and WNBA play.


Season headlines

* May 14 – The NCAA announces its
Academic Progress Rate The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a measure introduced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the nonprofit association that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, to ...
(APR) sanctions for the 2014–15 school year. A total of 36 programs in 11 sports are declared ineligible for postseason play due to failure to meet the required APR benchmark. While no women's basketball teams will be forbidden from postseason play due to APR sanctions, three Division I women's basketball teams are facing level 1 or 2 sanctions: **
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
(Level 2) ** Savannah State (Level 1) **
Towson Towson () is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is t ...
(Level 1) * Southern is declared ineligible for postseason play in all sports for failing to supply usable academic data to the NCAA.


Milestones and records

* February 3 – Connecticut's
Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the NCAA basketball records for wins and winning percentage with a mi ...
earns his 900th career win in the Huskies' 96–36 blowout of
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. Auriemma, coaching in his 1,034th game, breaks the previous record that was held by
Pat Summitt Patricia Susan Summitt (; June 14, 1952 – June 28, 2016) was an American women's college basketball head coach and college basketball player. As a coach, she acquired 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time ...
for the fewest games to reach 900 wins. He also becomes the first man ever to reach the 900-win mark in NCAA women's basketball; the previous six coaches to do so are all women.


Conference membership changes

The 2014–15 season saw the final wave of membership changes resulting from a major realignment of NCAA Division I conferences. The cycle began in 2010 with the
Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
and the then-
Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...
publicly announcing their intentions to expand. The fallout from these conferences' moves later affected a majority of D-I conferences.


Season outlook


Pre-season polls

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


Regular season


Early season tournaments

*Although these tournaments include more teams, only the number listed play for the championship.


Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty-one
athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...
s each end their
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 S ...
s with a
single-elimination tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...
. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2015 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. The
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
does not have a conference tournament, instead giving their automatic invitation to their regular season champion.


Statistical leaders


Postseason tournaments


NCAA tournament


Final Four – Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida


Tournament upsets

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


Women's National Invitation tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field is announced, 64 teams were invited to participate in the
Women's National Invitation Tournament The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament. It used to feature both a preseason and postseason version played every year, but the preseason tournament was last held in 2023. It is operate ...
. The tournament began on March 20, 2013, and ended with the final on April 6. Unlike the men's
National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...
, whose semifinals and finals are held at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
, the WNIT holds all of its games at campus sites.


WNIT Semifinals and Final

Played at campus sites


Women's Invitational tournament

The sixth
Women's Basketball Invitational The Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) is a women's college basketball tournament created in 2009 by Sport Tours. The inaugural tournament occurred at the conclusion of the 2009–10 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. Selections for ...
(WBI) Tournament began in March 2015 and will end with a best-of-three final scheduled for March 31, April 2, and April 5; the final went the full three games. This tournament featured 16 teams who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT.


WBI Semifinals and Final

Played at campus sites


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
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
(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, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...
(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 ...
'', and the
United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...
(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. However, of the major selectors in women's basketball, only the AP divides its selections into separate teams. 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 WBC ...
(WBCA), selects a single 10-member (plus ties) team, as does the USBWA. The NCAA does not recognize ''Sporting News'' as an All-America selector in women's basketball. With that in mind, the following players were named to at least two of the three major teams:


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 Wooden Award program consists of the men's and women's player of the year awards, the Legends of Coaching Award, and rec ...
:
Breanna Stewart Breanna Mackenzie Stewart ( ; Born, August 27, 1994), nicknamed "Stewie", is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is one of the most accomplished women in ...
,
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
*
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 th ...
: Breanna Stewart, Connecticut * Associated Press Player of the Year: Breanna Stewart, Connecticut *
Wade Trophy The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best upperclass women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State ...
: Breanna Stewart, Connecticut *espnW National Player of the Year:
Jewell Loyd Jewell Loyd (born October 5, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Nicknamed the "Gold Mamba", she played college basketball at Notre Dame and was selec ...
, Notre Dame


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 ...
(
USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...
): Kelsey Mitchell,
Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...


Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year:
Sue Semrau Susan Paige Semrau (born March 9, 1962) is the former head women's basketball coach at Florida State University. From 1997 through 2022, Semrau compiled a 468-252 career record at FSU. She retired after her 24th season at FSU. During the 2020–2 ...
,
Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
*
Naismith College Coach of the Year The Naismith College Coach of the Year Award (officially known for sponsorship reasons as the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year) is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate c ...
:
Courtney Banghart Courtney Rosholt Banghart (born May 11, 1978) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head women's basketball coach at North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball, North Carolina. Prior to North Carolina, she served as head coach at ...
,
Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...
*
WBCA National Coach of the Year Award The United States Marine Corps/WBCA National Coach of the Year is an award given by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to best women's basketball Head Coaches in college and high schools since 1983. From 2014, the award is named "The Pat ...
: Sue Semrau, Florida State


Other major awards

*
Nancy Lieberman Award The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman is given to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball. Sue Bird won the inaugural award in 2000, making her the first of only thre ...
(best point guard):
Moriah Jefferson Moriah Jefferson (born March 8, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted second overall by the San Antonio Stars in the 2016 WNBA draft. Jeffe ...
,
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
*
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): Samantha Logic,
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
* Maggie Dixon Award (top first-year head coach): Lisa Fortier,
Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...
* Academic All-American of the Year (Top scholar-athlete):
Ashley Luke Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsċ'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...
,
Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of 90° Longitude West) t ...
* Elite 89 Award (Top GPA among upperclass players at Final Four):


Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during and after the season.


See also

* 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season


References

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