Arizona Wildcats Women's Basketball

The Arizona Wildcats women's basketball program is the official women's basketball program at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Basketball is one of eleven women's sports at the University of Arizona. The team is a Division I member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Big 12 athletic conference. The team's home venue is the McKale Center, which seats 14,545 fans. The official team colors are cardinal red and navy blue. The Wildcats have qualified for eight NCAA Tournaments. On August 4, 2023, Arizona announced it would join the Big 12 Conference along with Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.

For most of its history, the women’s basketball program has been playing in the shadow of its men’s counterpart, leading to many losing seasons. However, in recent years, the women’s team has been improving their success in winning, mostly due to coaching regime and talent, and captured the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) championship in 2019. They made the Final Four for the first time in 2021 and defeated UConn to qualify for the National Championship game. They would lose to Stanford in the National Championship.

Program history

Female students at the University of Arizona first requested a women's basketball team in 1912, but were denied. Women played "inter-class" games for the first time in 1921. The juniors won. The following year, the school organized games with players from sororities and dormitories. Intercollegiate competition began in 1923, and a "Varsity" team played Arizona State University. This system persisted until 1971, when the UA joined the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) as a charter member.

The team was a member of the Intermountain Conference. The University of Arizona Athletic Department cites the first official season of women's basketball at the University of Arizona as the 1972–73 season, following the Title IX federal legislation that requires state-supported institutions to offer equal opportunity to men's and women's programs. The team finished their first season with a winning 8–4 record. In 1979, the University of Arizona, along with Arizona State University and five schools in southern California joined to form the Western Collegiate Athletic Association.

The team became a member of the NCAA in 1981, when the NCAA absorbed the AIAW. In 1985, the school joined the Pacific-West Conference, which became the Pac-10 the following season and the Pac-12 in 2011. As of the outset of the 2015–16 season, the all-time team record was 537–642. The Wildcats were runners-up at the Pac-10 Conference championship tournament in 2003 and 2004, marking their most successful conference finishes. The team made appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2021 and in the Women's National Invitational Tournament in 1996, 2001, 2011, and 2019, while winning it all in 1996 and 2019.

In 2021, the team beat UConn in the Final Four of the NCAA Women’s Basketball championship. They lost the championship game against Stanford 53–54.

Season-by-season results

Sources:

Playing abroad

The Wildcats have played in Australia, France, Puerto Rico, and Italy.

Head coaches

Current roster

2025-26 Coaching Staff

Rivalries

Arizona State

Postseason appearances

Conference Championships

Conference Tournament Championships

NCAA tournament results

The Wildcats have appeared in the NCAA Tournament eleven times. Their combined record is 13–10.

WNIT results

Source

The Wildcats have appeared In the Women's National Invitation Tournament three times. The combined record is 7 – 2.

WBIT results

The Wildcats have appeared In the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament first time. The combined record is 0 – 1.

All-time statistical leaders

Notable players and coaches

Wildcats drafted to the WNBA

Current WNBA players

Wildcats in the Olympics

Wildcats in international competition

The following Arizona Wildcats women's basketball players and coaches have represented their country in basketball in international competition (excluding Olympics):

Current WNBA coaches

Current WNBA executives

Current NCAA coaches

Retired jerseys

National honors and accomplishments

The individual honors, awards, and accomplishments listed in the succeeding subsections are aggregated by player in the following table. Players with only all-conference honors (other than conference player of the year), lower than first-team All-America honors, or later than second-round draft positions are not included.

Attendances

See also

* Arizona Wildcats men's basketball

References

External links

*

{{Big 12 Conference women's basketball navbox