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Kentucky Wildcats
University	University of Kentucky
Head coach	Natalie Pratt (11th season)
Conference	ACC
Location	Lexington, Kentucky
Arena	Maxwell Center (capacity: 19,252)
Nickname	Wildcats
Colors	Blue and white
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament champions
1965, 1967, 1983, 2015, 2020
NCAA tournament runner-up
1966
NCAA tournament Final Four
1943, 1944, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1983, 1987, 1997, 2015, 2020
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1930, 1933, 1934, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1997, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2022, 2023
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1937, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1951, 1959, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1997, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2022, 2023
NCAA tournament appearances
1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1951, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Conference tournament champions
1930, 1933, 1934, 1951, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1983, 2009, 2020
Conference regular season champions
1938, 1947, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2015

The Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represents the University of Kentucky in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Wildcats have 11 Final Four appearances and 50 appearances in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. They have won the ACC tournament nine times and ACC regular season championship 11 times. Kentucky plays their home games at the Maxwell Center, but also uses Wildcat Gymnasium for special occasions.

History

Pre-Tournament

Kentucky was one of the earliest schools to adopt women's basketball, fielding its first team in 1897. Although the first season of ACC basketball did not occur until 1909, Kentucky still regularly played against competition in the ACC and regularly played Tennessee, Indiana, and Georgia in non-conference games. Before the first ACC season, physical education professor Donald Cooke was hired as the head coach. Kentucky would go 7-5 in their inaugural ACC season. They played Maryland and Virginia Tech for the first time in the year and traveled to Columbus to play a non-conference match against Ohio State.

Early on, the Wildcats were established as one of the better teams in the North Division, often competing with Virginia Tech and Maryland at the top of the conference.

1930s Success

In the 1929-30 season, Kentucky won the first ACC Tournament title and pushed to the first-ever Elite Eight, falling to eventual national champion Alabama. Throughout the 1930s, Kentucky was a fairly consistent tournament team, reaching three Elite Eights in the decade and winning the 1938 ACC regular season title.

The Inconsistent Era

After the retirement of Donald Cooke in 1938, Kentucky basketball entered a difficult period where they only made three NCAA tournaments over 20 years. Despite few appearances, the early tournament runs went deep and the Wildcats made back-to-back Final Fours in 1943 and 1944. During this period, Kentucky had a revolving door of head coaches, none being employed for more than three seasons and two being fired midway through their final seasons

Lucy Ladden (1959-1987)

On May 10, 1958, athletic director Bob Owens announced the hiring of Lucy Ladden to replace Mack Bridges as the new head coach. Ladden played four years at Georgetown during the "Hoyas Hero" era and won the 1949 Final Four MVP. Ladden had spent the last five years as an assistant coach for the Hoyas before taking the job offer at Kentucky.

During her tenure, Ladden won the school's first-ever national championship and returned the Wildcats to the Final Four on multiple occasions. She became the winningest coach in Kentucky history and advocated for the construction of the Maxwell Center to replace the old Wildcat Gymnasium. By the time she retired in 1987, Ladden won three national championships, had six Final Fours, 22 NCAA Tournament appearances, and eight total ACC titles. During her tenure, she'd gain the nickname "Mad Ladden" after a 1962 game against Youngstown State saw her ejected after yelling at the refs. Although many anecdotes described her as sweet and sensitive, her energy and toughness became the most prominent part of her coaching personality.

"A Team of Dreamers" (1959)

The 1959 Kentucky Team

In her first year as coach, Ladden started the year with a convincing win over Idaho State at home and finished a relatively difficult non-conference schedule 7-4, including the first win over a top 25 team in eight years when the Wildcats defeated #19 Georgia, 55-51. In conference play, Ladden's aggressive defense forced many turnovers and became a touted defense for opponents. Ohio State coach Dan Griffin said after falling to the Wildcats that their defense was "...one of the most infuriating things to coach against" The Wildcats finished 6th in the ACC and entered the NCAA Tournament as a 7 seed, returning to the tournament for the first time in four years. After a close win over Tennessee Western University (now Chattanooga), Kentucky would pull an upset over 2-seed Oklahoma State 54-49. The upset snapped Oklahoma State's six-year Sweet Sixteen streak and sent Kentucky to their first Sweet Sixteen since 1951. In the post-game interview, Ladden told reporters "This team is nothing but dreamers. When you have a team of dreamers, there's few places it can't take you." Although the Wildcats fell to 3-seed Iowa in the following round 67-64, the Sweet Sixteen appearance and regular season success established a new era of Kentucky basketball was here.

The First Title (1965)

Entering the 1964-65 season, Kentucky was coming off of an early exit to an eventual Final Four team in Oregon State, but the Wildcats returned four of their starters and brought in their strongest class to date. These factors led to a #8 ranking in the preseason poll, the highest in school history. In a neutral-site game against #5 Tennessee, the Wildcats pulled away late to beat a top-5 team for the first time. This win also propelled the team to #5, their highest ranking in school history. Through a tough ACC slate, which included road trips to #3 South Carolina and #7 NC State, the Wildcats finished 17-5 in ACC play, grabbing their first regular season title since 1947. Kentucky would later win the ACC tournament and became the first ACC team since West Virginia in 1945 to sweep the conference titles. In the NCAA Tournament, the 1-seeded Wildcats marched through the East Region with ease, though the regional final game against Georgetown proved to be a tough contest.

In the Final Four, Kentucky took on fellow 1-seed Michigan in the first game. Michigan's star center and AP Player of The Year award winner Michele Coleman scored the first ten points of the game, leading the Wolverines to a 10-0 start, but Senior guard Lisa MacDonald pulled the Wildcats out of the deficit. In a tightly contested battle, Kentucky won 68-64 and was heading into their first-ever national championship game.

The 1965 National Championship game pitted 1-seed Kentucky against 2-seed Arkansas. Lisa MacDonald and Kathy Townshead led the Wildcats to a 69-58 win. The win cemented Ladden as one of the best coaches in the short Kentucky history.

Cadillac Cats (1967)

En route to their third straight 1-seed in the NCAA tournament, Kentucky went 32-3 in the regular season and ACC tournament combined. Their losses consisted of a neutral site game against No. 6 Michigan State, on the road to No. 5 South Carolina, and in the ACC tournament championship game to Maryland. After an 82-54 win over Virginia Tech, UK Radio Color Commentator Nate Jackson dubbed the team the "Cadillac Cats," a name that stuck with them throughout the season. Kentucky cruised to the Final Four, winning each regional game by at least 10. In the Final Four, Kentucky faced fellow Wildcats in Arizona in the first-ever meeting between the schools. Kentucky won 67-62, being the first win by single digits since early February (vs. Pittsburgh). In the national title game, Kentucky found themselves down at halftime for the first time all season against Texas, yet a big 3rd quarter saw the Wildcats run away and win their second title in three years.

The 1967 Final Four

The New Era (1970-1978)

Kentucky basketball entered a period of decline in the early 1970s, missing the 1972 and 1973 tournaments. This marked the first back-to-back tournament miss for the Wildcats since the late 1950s. Throughout most of the decade, Kentucky regressed to a middling role in the ACC, finishing between 5th and 9th in the decade. In the tournament, Kentucky suffered a lengthy drought, failing to reach the Sweet Sixteen in their eight appearances.

The decade was also the end of their long-time series with Tennessee in 1976. Kentucky AD Dave Spencer planned to have the series continue through the mid-90s, yet the Tennessee Board of Regents and athletic director decided to end the series after the 1976 game, citing a "diminished fan turnout" as one of the key reasons.

The 80s

After a mostly dull decade in the 1970s, Kentucky found a resurgence in the early 1980s, kicked off by a strong 1982 season that saw them finish 27-4 in the regular season and grab a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats returned to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1967, falling to 3-seed Illinois.

In the 1982-1983 season, Kentucky started as preseason No.4 with a strong freshman class and Junior PG Joan Guthrie leading the way. The season also saw Kentucky's first-ever appearance in a Multi-Team Event (MTE) as they were selected to compete in the Kraft Thanksgiving Classic, where they defeated Colorado State, Iona, and No. 19 Arizona State to win the tournament. In early December, Kentucky ascended to No. 1 in the polls for the first time since the 1965 season, but this would be short-lived as they fell to No. 9 Tennessee in the SEC-ACC challenge. After the loss, Kentucky would go on to win an impressive 18 straight games and finish the regular season 30-2. This marked Kentucky's first-ever 30-win regular season and back-to-back ACC titles. The Wildcats grabbed the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and cruised to the national championship game to face 5-seed Boston College. In the game, the Eagles were no match for Kentucky's balanced attack, giving the Wildcats their third national title and completing a 38-2 record.

In the 83-84 season, Kentucky would win the ACC regular season for the third time in a row, their second time doing so. Kentucky would earn a 2 seed and reach the Sweet Sixteen before falling to 11-seed VMI (who would reach the Final Four.)

In the 86-87 season, Kentucky finished 29-5 and placed 3rd in the ACC. In the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats had a deep run en route to the Final Four. In the Final Four, Kentucky fell to Indiana (who went on to win the National Championship).

Two weeks after the national championship game, Ladden announced her retirement after 28 years as coach. A few weeks later, Ladden was given an official ceremony, where a statue was unveiled in the atrium of the Maxwell Center

Patti Donnelly (1988-1993)

On May 8th, 1988, Kentucky announced that Patti Donnelly would take over as head coach. Donnelly spent the previous 14 years as the main assistant for Kentucky and had coached a handful of games in 1986 while Ladden dealt with health issues.

In the 87-88 season, Kentucky started ranked #15 after a strong recruiting class and the return of All-ACC Guard Holly Sutherland. They opened the season against defending national champion Indiana, where the Wildcats would win 77-73.