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The 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November and ended with the Final Four in Tampa, Florida, 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 and WNBA play.[1]
Season headlines
May 14 – The NCAA announces its Academic Progress Rate (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:[2]
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'sGeno Auriemma earns his 900th career win in the Huskies' 96–36 blowout of Cincinnati. Auriemma, coaching in his 1,034th game, breaks the previous record that was held by Pat Summitt for the fewest games to reach 900 wins.[3] 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.[4]
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 and the then-Pac-10 publicly announcing their intentions to expand. The fallout from these conferences' moves later affected a majority of D-I conferences.
After the NCAA Tournament field is announced, 64 teams were invited to participate in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. The tournament began on March 20, 2013, and ended with the final on April 6. Unlike the men's National Invitation Tournament, whose semifinals and finals are held at Madison Square Garden, the WNIT holds all of its games at campus sites.
The sixth Women's Basketball Invitational (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
Semifinals April 3
Championship game April 6
2
Louisiana–Lafayette
65
5
Oral Roberts
64
2
Louisiana–Lafayette
52
3
Siena
50
3
Siena
65
4
Mercer
54
Conference standings
2014–15 American Athletic Conference women's basketball standings
† 2015 Southland tournament winner As of March 21, 2015 *Ineligible for postseason play due to Div. I transition **Facing level 2 sanctions due to APR penalties ***Southland tournament #1 seed Rankings from AP poll
† 2015 SWAC tournament winner As of 14 March 2015 Rankings from AP poll *ineligible for postseason play for failure to supply usable academic data to the NCAA @-ineligible for postseason play due to low APR
2014–15 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball standings
† 2015 WAC tournament winner As of 21 March 2015 (UTC) * Grand Canyon ineligible for WAC Basketball Tournament as part of reclassification from Division II Rankings from AP poll
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 (AP), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the Sporting News, and the United States Basketball Writers Association (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 (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:
Williams was fired after five seasons and a 22–128 overall record, including a 2–28 record this season.[53] Yale's Gobrecht was hired as the next head coach.
Rademacher was fired after four seasons and a 101–120 overall record. She led the Titans to the 2013 WBI title and a WNIT berth in 2012, but never made the NCAA Tournament and went 12–18 this season.[54]
Russo announced her resignation during her 36th season at FIU on January 22, effective immediately. In her announcement, she alluded to burnout from balancing coaching with caring for her ailing mother, who died earlier this season. Russo finished with a 667–371 record at FIU and 707–391 overall.[55] FIU hired Maryland assistant Chinn after the season.[56]
On March 16, Women's Basketball Hall of Fame member Landers announced his retirement. Hired in 1979 as the program's first full-time coach, he led the Lady Bulldogs to 31 NCAA Tournament appearances, five Final Fours, seven SEC regular-season titles, and four SEC Tournament crowns.[57] Georgia stayed in-house for its new coach, promoting top assistant Joni Taylor on April 12.[58]
Henrickson was fired after 11 seasons. Although the Jayhawks made two NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances, those were the team's only NCAA tournament appearances under Henrickson, and the team never finished higher than sixth in the Big 12.[59]
On March 26, Nolan announced her retirement after five seasons at Lafayette and 38 seasons overall. She finishes with a 575–509 overall record, with 456 of those wins coming during her 28 seasons at Fairfield.[60] Lafayette hired Women's Hall of Fame coach Grentz, who returned to college head coaching after an eight-year absence.[61]
On March 10, Petersen was fired after three seasons with a 28–61 record, ending with a 5–24 season in which UNT failed to make the Conference USA tournament.[62] The Mean Green hired Mitchell, their career leading scorer, after she served three seasons as an assistant at Texas.[63]
Williams announced his retirement on March 17 after 10 seasons at his alma mater.[65] Like fellow C-USA member FIU, Rice hired a Maryland assistant in Langley.[66]
