The Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball team (formerly the Lady Monarchs) represents

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. The team currently competes in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division 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 athlet ...

as a member of the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

. The ODU Monarchs women's basketball team contributed to the initial rise in popularity of women's intercollegiate basketball in the United States in the 1970s. Women's college basketball was organized under the auspices of the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

in the early 1970s, at a time when competitive power was distributed among small colleges that had established a niche (such as Immaculata,

Delta State Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...

, West Chester State, Wayland Baptist and Stephen F. Austin). ODU won two AIAW national championships in 1979 and 1980 in dominating fashion with star players,

Nancy Lieberman Nancy Ilizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958), nicknamed "Lady Magic", is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) who is currently a broadcaster for the Oklahoma City Thun ...

and

Anne Donovan Anne Theresa Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018) was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. In her playing career, Donovan won a national championship with Ol ...

. Led by

Medina Dixon Medina Dixon (November 2, 1962 – November 8, 2021) was an American basketball player born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was a member of the United States women's national basketball team during the late 1980s and the early 1990s, collecting th ...

and Tracy Claxton, ODU won the NCAA Division I championship in their 1984–85 season, defeating the University of Georgia 70–65. Old Dominion, along with UCLA and Tennessee, led the rise to prominence of large schools with national reputations to the top intercollegiate level, before the NCAA began sponsoring sports for women.

Rivalries

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

AIAW Division I

The Lady Monarchs made three appearances in the

AIAW women's basketball tournament The AIAW women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national ...

, with a combined record of 11–1.

Home venues

Old Dominion play their home games at Chartway Arena. In the past, the team played at the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse from 1970 to 2002.

Notable players

Lucienne Berthieu Lucienne Claudine Berthieu-Poiraud (born March 31, 1978, in Douala, Cameroon) is a French-Cameroonian women's basketball player. She played in the WNBA in the United States from 2002 to 2004 with the Cleveland Rockers and Houston Comets. She p ...

(November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018),coach and player at 6'8" *

Adrienne Goodson Adrienne Goodson (born October 19, 1966) is an American former basketball player, a 6-foot forward who played professionally for 14 years, in Brazil, the American Basketball League (1996-1998), ABL, and the WNBA. Amateur basketball career Bor ...

* T. J. Jordan *

(born 1958), WNBA Hall of Fame basketball player, general manager, and coach, Olympic silver medal * Clarisse Machanguana *

Hamchétou Maïga Hamchétou Maïga-Ba (born 25 April 1978 in Bamako) is a Malian professional women's basketball player most recently with the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. She is also a member of the Mali women's national basketball team. At Old Dominion Maïga w ...

Inge Nissen Inge Nissen is a Danish basketball player and coach. A 2012 inductee to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, Nissen was a star for the Danish national team and a college All-American at Old Dominion University. After her playing career, Nissen ...

Ticha Penicheiro Patrícia "Ticha" Nunes Penicheiro OIH (September 18, 1974) is a Portuguese sports agent and former basketball player. She played for the Sacramento Monarchs of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for most of her professional car ...

Mery Andrade Mery Elizabeth Fernandes Andrade (born December 31, 1975) is a Portuguese professional basketball coach and former player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Ca ...

* Nyree Roberts * Rhonda Rompola * Kim Aston * Jackie Kenney * TJ Jones * Kelly Lyons * Celeste Hill

Coaches

*Mary Jackson (1969–1973) *Debbie Wilson (1973–1974) *Pam Parsons (1974–1977) *

Marianne Stanley Marianne Crawford Stanley (born April 29, 1954) is an American basketball coach. She previously served as the head coach of the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Born in Yeadon, Pennsyl ...

(1977–1987) * Wendy Larry (1987–2011) * Karen Barefoot (2011–2017) * Nikki McCray-Penson (2017–2020) *

DeLisha Milton-Jones DeLisha Lachell Milton-Jones (born September 11, 1974) is an American retired professional basketball player and head coach of Old Dominion. Milton-Jones played college basketball for the University of Florida. She was a first-team All-American ...

(2020–present)

Seasons

{, class="wikitable" style="font-size: %; *Source: Old Dominion Athletics, Sun Belt Conference, Colonial Athletic Association

References

External links

* {{Sun Belt Conference women's basketball navbox