The 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November 2018 and concluded 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 ...

title game at

Amalie Arena Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, United States, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tamp ...

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 ...

, in April 2019. Practices officially began in September 2018.

Season headlines

* June 18 –

Purdue University Fort Wayne Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW) is a public university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A campus of Purdue University, Purdue Fort Wayne was founded on July 1, 2018, when its predecessor university, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne fo ...

(PFW), which was set to begin operation on July 1 following the dissolution of

Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) was a public university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 1964, IPFW was a cooperatively managed regional campus of two state university systems: Indiana University and Purdue University ...

(IPFW), announced that the athletic program that it would inherit from IPFW, previously known as the Fort Wayne Mastodons, would become the

Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, formerly known as the IPFW Mastodons and Fort Wayne Mastodons, are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). The school's athletic program includes 16 varsity sports ...

. PFW also changed its colors from IPFW's former blue-and-silver scheme to the old gold and black used by its new parent institution. * September 10 – The

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

(NEC) announced that

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private university, private Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. It en ...

would start a transition from the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the 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 environment ...

Northeast-10 Conference The Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states o ...

and join the NEC effective July 1, 2019. The Warriors will not be eligible for the NCAA tournament until becoming a full D-I member in 2023–24. * October 3 –

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York, United States. The university enrolls over 16,000 students and offers over 500 academic programs at its main campuses, LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post on Long I ...

announced that it would merge its two current athletic programs—the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds, full members of the NEC, and the Division II

LIU Post Pioneers The LIU Post Pioneers (also Long Island–Post Pioneers and formerly the C.W. Post Pioneers) were the athletic teams that represented the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, located in Brookville, New York, in NCAA Division II intercolle ...

—effective with the 2019–20 school year. The new program will compete under the LIU name with a new nickname and retain LIU Brooklyn's Division I and NEC memberships. This change had minimal effect on the then-existing LIU Brooklyn women's basketball program, as LIU has announced that the unified basketball team will be based at the Brooklyn campus. * November 1 – 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 ...

preseason

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

team was released. The leading vote-getters were two guards, Louisville's Asia Durr and Oregon's

Sabrina Ionescu Sabrina Elaine Ionescu ( ; born December 6, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is widely considered one of the greatest three-point shooters in ...

, each with 29 of 31 votes. Joining them on the team were

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. ...

forward

Katie Lou Samuelson Katie Lou Samuelson (born June 13, 1997) is an American professional basketball player basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the UConn Huskies. Samuelson i ...

(28), Notre Dame guard Arike Ogunbowale (24), and Baylor center Kalani Brown (18). Ionescu was the only junior named; all others were seniors. * January 11 – The

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

announced that Dixie State University would start a transition from Division II to D I and join the conference in July 2020. * February 19 – Less than 12 hours after leading

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

to a 78–56 win over

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

, Lady Bulldogs head coach Joni Taylor gave birth to a daughter. Top assistant Karen Lange was named as interim head coach for what was intended to be a maternity leave, but Taylor returned to the bench for Georgia's next game on February 21. * February 24 –

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

announced that head coach C. Vivian Stringer, who had missed the Scarlet Knights' game at

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

on February 21, would take a leave for the rest of the regular season on medical advice. Stringer was initially expected to return after the Big Ten tournament, with assistant Tim Eatman serving as interim coach. However, Rutgers announced on March 15 that Stringer would not return for a likely NCAA tournament run, again on medical advice. She ultimately returned for the 2019–20 season. * February 27 –

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

placed head coach MaChelle Joseph on administrative leave, saying in a press release that it was a "pending personnel matter", named assistant Mark Simons as interim head coach, and made no further comment on the situation. The following day, Joseph's attorney charged that the Tech athletic department had taken the action as retaliation for raising

Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...

concerns within the department. Joseph would ultimately be fired (see "Coaching changes" section below). * March 26 – ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

'' reported allegations that

Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky is an urban area in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky consisting of the southern part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The three main counties of the area are Boone County, Kentucky, Boone, Kent ...

head coach Camryn Whitaker had engaged in systematic bullying and emotional abuse of players. The previous day, the team's only senior, Taryn Taugher, published an account of her experiences on the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' web platform, claiming that the university knew about Whitaker's behavior but did not address it. The ''Enquirer'' received confirmation of Taugher's account in interviews with the parents of another player, plus social media posts from multiple teammates. The university told the ''Enquirer'' that it was investigating the claims, but Taugher said that she had yet to be contacted by any administrator. On April 2, a former NKU player, Shar'Rae Davis, provided an ''Enquirer'' reporter with her own allegations, charging that Whitaker had used Davis' medical condition of

ulcerative colitis Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the two types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the other type being Crohn's disease. It is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary sympto ...

to punish both her and other team members. In the interim, eight current Norse players published an open letter in ''Odyssey'' backing Whitaker. * April 1 –

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

placed the entire women's coaching staff, including head coach

Sylvia Hatchell Sylvia Rhyne Hatchell (born February 28, 1952) is a former American women's basketball coach, who last coached for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and was the fifth with the most career wins in NCAA women's basketball histo ...

, on paid administrative leave while an outside firm hired by the university reviewed the state of the program, due to what the university called "issues raised by student-athletes and others." On April 4, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' reported that among the issues were allegations that Hatchell forced several players to play through serious injuries and made a number of racially offensive remarks. Hatchell would resign following the review (see "Coaching changes" section below). * April 6 – Sabrina Ionescu announced in ''

The Players' Tribune ''The Players' Tribune'' is a new media platform that produces daily sports conversation and publishes first-person stories from professional athletes. The platform was founded by former professional Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter in ...

'' that she would return for her senior season at

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in 2019–20. Because she turned 22 in December 2019, she had been eligible to declare for the 2019 WNBA draft.

Milestones and records

* November 13 – Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer became the sixth college women's coach with 1,000 career wins following the Scarlet Knights' 73–44 pasting of Central Connecticut. She also became the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

college coach to reach the milestone. * November 18 – Sabrina Ionescu recorded her 12th career triple-double in Oregon's 102–82 win over Buffalo. Already the holder of the all-divisions NCAA women's record for career triple-doubles, Ionescu equaled the NCAA record for all players regardless of sex, previously held by former BYU men's player Kyle Collinsworth. * December 17 and 20 – Chastadie Barrs of Lamar became the first Division I player of either sex ever to record triple-doubles in consecutive games twice in her career. First, Barrs recorded 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 steals in the Cardinals' 93–37 blowout of

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

Howard Payne. She followed this with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 steals in the Cardinals' 82–66 win over

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. Barrs had recorded consecutive triple-doubles early in the 2017–18 season. * December 20 – Ionescu took sole possession of the aforementioned career triple-double record, recording her 13th with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists in Oregon's 82–36 win over

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. * December 21 – In Oregon's next game, a 115–69 blowout of

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Education In the United States * University of California system * University of Charleston, West Virginia * University of Chicago, Illinois * University of Cincinnati, Ohio * Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey (''defunct ...

, Ionescu recorded her 14th triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists. This marked the second time in her career that she recorded triple-doubles in consecutive games, matching Barrs' accomplishment from the night before. Like Barrs, Ionescu had recorded consecutive triple-doubles early in the 2017–18 season—with the second game in that streak also coming the night after the second of Barrs' corresponding streak. * January 3 – Baylor defeated then top-ranked

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

68–57. This was the Huskies' first regular-season loss since November 2014, and ended their NCAA-record regular-season winning streak at 126 games. * January 9, 12, and 16 – Barrs accomplished three major triple-double milestones—becoming the first Division I player of either sex ever to record triple-doubles in consecutive games twice in a single season, the first to do so three times in a career, and the second player in any NCAA division to have recorded three consecutive triple-doubles. First, Barrs recorded 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 steals in the Cardinals' 79–59 win over

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 ...

. She followed this with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in the Cardinals' 57–37 win over

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state ...

. Finally, Barrs had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in Lamar's 94–54 pasting of Southeastern Louisiana. The only other player with three straight triple-doubles was Danielle Carson of Youngstown State, who accomplished this feat in the 1985–86 season. * January 20 – Ionescu recorded her sixth triple-double of the season with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists in Oregon's 93–60 win over

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. This tied the all-time NCAA record for triple-doubles in a season, originally set in women's basketball by the aforementioned Danielle Carson in 1985–86 and equaled by Ionescu herself in 2017–18. (In men's basketball, the aforementioned Kyle Collinsworth had the same total in both 2014–15 and 2015–16.) * February 2 – Shakyla Hill of Grambling State had 21 points, 16 rebounds, 13 assists, and 10 steals in the Tigers' 77–57 win over Arkansas–Pine Bluff, making her the first Division I player of either sex to record two quadruple-doubles in a career. Hill had previously recorded one in January 2018. * February 24 – Ionescu took sole possession of the all-time NCAA record for triple-doubles in a season, recording her seventh of the season with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists in Oregon's 96–78 win over

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. * February 27 – In Lamar's 97–49 blowout of Houston Baptist, Barrs collected 10 steals to give her the record for career steals in Division I women's basketball. She ended the game with 627, surpassing the previous record of 624 by Natalie White of Florida A&M (1991–95). * March 3 – In the final regular-season game of her college career,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

center

Kristine Anigwe Kristine Chioma Anigwe (born March 31, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for SERCO UNI Győr in the EuroLeague. Early life Kristine Anigwe was born in London to Nigerian parents. She and her siblings were raised in Phoenix, Ar ...

scored 32 points and claimed 30 rebounds in the Golden Bears' 80–58 win over

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. Anigwe's performance, which equaled the

Pac-12 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 ...

record for single-game rebounds, was the first Division I women's 30–30 game since Jennifer Butler accomplished the feat for UMass on December 28, 2002. Anigwe also joined former

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

center

Courtney Paris Courtney Paris (born September 21, 1987) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is best known for her accomplishment ...

as the only women in Division I history to record 30 consecutive double-doubles. * March 24 – In Oregon's 91–68 win over

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Ionescu became only the second player to record multiple triple-doubles in NCAA tournament play, collecting 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. Ionescu, who had a triple-double in the first round of the 2018 tournament, joined former

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

star

Nicole Powell Nicole Kristen Powell (born June 22, 1982) is an American basketball coach who was the head women's basketball coach at University of California, Riverside. As a player, she had a standout collegiate career at Stanford University, Powell had an 1 ...

, who had consecutive triple-doubles in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, as the only Division I women's players with two triple-doubles in tournament play. Ionescu extended her all-divisions NCAA records for triple-doubles to 8 in a season and 18 in a career. At the time, it was speculated that Ionescu could be playing her last

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

game, but she ultimately announced she would return to Oregon for her senior season. ;Notes

Conference membership changes

Six schools joined new conferences for the 2018–19 season. Four schools switched between Division I conferences for the 2018–19 season. In addition, two schools moved from Division II starting this season. The former Division II schools are ineligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play until completing their D-I transitions in 2022. In addition to the schools changing conferences, the 2018–19 season was the last for Savannah State in D-I with its decision to reclassify all of its sports to D-II. Finally, one D-I member adopted a new institutional and athletic identity. The 2017–18 school year was the last for

(IPFW) as a single institution. Following the school's split into separate institutions governed by

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

and

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, IPFW degree programs in health sciences are now overseen by

Indiana University Fort Wayne Indiana University Fort Wayne (IUFW) is a public university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is a regional campus of Indiana University founded on July 1, 2018, when its predecessor university, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, split ...

, while all other degree programs are governed by

(PFW). As noted in the "Season headlines" section, the IPFW athletic program, rebranded in 2016 as the Fort Wayne Mastodons, became the

, representing only PFW.

Arenas

New arenas

* Elon opened the

Schar Center The Schar Center is a multi-purpose arena in Elon, North Carolina on the campus of Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, the university is organized int ...

, which replaced their home of 37 seasons, Alumni Gym. * After 32 seasons at the off-campus

Burton Coliseum The Burton Coliseum, built in 1976, is located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The arena contains a domed roof and stands 105 feet from the floor to the top of the roof. It and other buildings in the Burton Complex serve many purposes. The coliseu ...

, McNeese State opened the new on-campus Health and Human Performance Education Complex (H&HP Complex). * The two new Division I entries for 2018 continued to play at existing on-campus facilities. California Baptist plays at the CBU Events Center, which opened in 2017, and

North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

plays at Flowers Hall, which opened in 1972 and has been home to the women's program since it began play in 1975.

Arenas reopening

Four teams returned to newly renovated arenas, all of which were closed for the 2017–18 season. *

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 ...

returned to Fifth Third Arena. *

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

initially planned to reopen the renamed

Fertitta Center The Fertitta Center, formerly known as Hofheinz Pavilion, is a 7,100-seat multi-purpose arena on the University of Houston campus in Houston. Located at 3875 Holman Street, it is home to the Houston Cougars men's and women's basketball teams and ...

(originally Hofheinz Pavilion) by the start of the 2018–19 season, but construction delays pushed the final reopening date to December 1, with Houston's men officially reopening the facility. The women's first game after the reopening was on December 6. * Northwestern returned to

Welsh–Ryan Arena Welsh–Ryan Arena is a 7,039-seat multi-purpose arena in Evanston, Illinois, United States, near the campus of Northwestern University. It is home to four Northwestern Wildcats athletic teams: Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball, men's basket ...

. * Villanova returned to the renamed Finneran Pavilion (originally duPont Pavilion and later The Pavilion).

Arenas closing

Temporary arenas

Houston began the 2018–19 season at Texas Southern's Health and Physical Education Arena, where the Cougars played most of their 2017–18 home games. The women played three home games at Texas Southern before moving into Fertitta Center. Robert Morris planned to open the new UPMC Events Center on the site of its former on-campus Sewall Center in January 2019, but the opening has now been delayed to that summer. Until the new arena opens, the Colonials will continue to use the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, a building in the school's North Athletic Complex that opened in September 2017 as part of the UPMC Events Center project.

Season outlook

Preseason polls

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

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Upsets

An upset is a victory by an underdog team. In the context of NCAA Division I women's basketball, this generally constitutes an unranked team defeating a team currently ranked in the Top 25. This list will highlight those upsets of ranked teams by unranked teams as well as upsets of #1 teams. Rankings are from the AP poll. Bold type indicates winning teams in "true road games"—i.e., those played on an opponent's home court (including secondary homes).

Conference winners and tournament winners

Each of the 32 Division I

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 ends its

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 ...

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 team with the best regular-season record in each conference is given the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the

2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams to determine the national champion for the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 38th annual edition of the tournament beg ...

Statistical leaders

Postseason

NCAA tournament

Tournament upsets

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

Final Four –
Amalie Arena Amalie Arena (officially stylized as AMALIE Arena) is a multipurpose arena in Tampa, Florida, United States, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, arena football, concerts, and other events. It is mainly used as the home for the Tamp ...
,
Tampa, FL Tampa ( ) is a city on the 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 the county seat of Hillsboroug ...

Women's NIT

Women's Basketball Invitational

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

(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. Before the 2017–18 season, it was impossible for a consensus women's All-America team to be determined because the AP had been the only body that divided its women's selections into separate teams. The USBWA first named separate teams in 2017–18. 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), continues the USBWA's former practice of selecting a single 10-member (plus ties) team. The NCAA does not recognize ''Sporting News'' as an All-America selector in women's basketball.

Major player of the year awards

* Wooden Award:

* Naismith Award: Megan Gustafson,

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 ...

* Associated Press Player of the Year: Megan Gustafson, Iowa *

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 ...

: Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon * Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's Player of the Year (

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 ...

): Megan Gustafson, Iowa *espnW National Player of the Year: Megan Gustafson, Iowa

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 ...

Rhyne Howard Rhyne Howard (born April 29, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Vinyl BC of Unrivaled (basketball). She played college basketball for the Kent ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

WBCA Freshman of the Year The WBCA Freshman of the Year is an annual college basketball award presented by Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Ge ...

: Rhyne Howard, Kentucky * espnW Freshman of the Year: Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year:

Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University's LSU Tigers women's basketball, women's basketball team. A Pan-American ...

, Baylor *

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 ...

Lisa Bluder Lisa Marie Bluder (, born April 16, 1961) is the former head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball, Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball program. Formerly, she served as coach of St. Ambrose University and the Drake Bulldogs women's basketba ...

, Iowa * WBCA National Coach of the Year: Kim Mulkey, Baylor * espnW Coach of the Year: Vic Schaefer,

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

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 ...

(top point guard): Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon * Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (top shooting guard): Asia Durr,

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

* Cheryl Miller Award (top small forward): Bridget Carleton,

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

* Katrina McClain Award (top power forward):

Napheesa Collier Napheesa Collier ( ; born September 23, 1996), nicknamed "Phee", is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Collier is also a founder of the Unrivaled (basketball le ...

Lisa Leslie Award The Lisa Leslie Award is an award presented annually to the best women's basketball center (basketball), center in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I competition. It is named after Hall of Famer Lisa Le ...

(top center): Megan Gustafson, Iowa * WBCA Defensive Player of the Year: Teaira McCowan,

Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year Awards established in 2018 College basketball trophies and awards in the United States 2018 establishments in the United States ...

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 on and off the court): Megan Gustafson, Iowa * Maggie Dixon Award (top rookie head coach): Carlos Funchess, Southern * Academic All-American of the Year (top scholar-athlete): Mikayla Ferenz,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

* Elite 90 Award (top GPA among upperclass players at Final Four): Nicole Benz, Notre Dame and Lauren Cox, Baylor * Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award: David Six,

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria ** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...

head coach

Coaching changes

Several teams changed coaches during and after the season.

Footnotes

References

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