2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season


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.

Season headlines

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.
SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference
Appalachian State MountaineersSouthernSun Belt
Davidson WildcatsSouthernAtlantic 10
East Carolina PiratesC-USA
East Tennessee State BuccaneersAtlantic SunSouthern
Elon PhoenixSouthernCAA
Georgia Southern EaglesSouthernSun Belt
Idaho VandalsWACBig Sky
Louisville CardinalsACC
Maryland TerrapinsACCBig Ten
Mercer BearsAtlantic SunSouthern
Oral Roberts Golden EaglesSouthland
Rutgers Scarlet KnightsBig Ten
Tulane Green WaveC-USA
Tulsa Golden HurricaneC-USA
Western Kentucky Lady ToppersSun BeltC-USA

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

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

Regular season

Early season tournaments

*Although these tournaments include more teams, only the number listed play for the championship.

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty-one athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2015 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. The Ivy League does not have a conference tournament, instead giving their automatic invitation to their regular season champion.

Statistical leaders

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four – Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida

Tournament upsets

For this list, a "major upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent.
DateWinnerScoreLoserRegionRound
March 22#11 Gonzaga76–64#3 Oregon StateSpokaneSecond

Women's National Invitation tournament

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.

WNIT Semifinals and Final

Played at campus sites

Women's Invitational Tournament

The sixth Women's Basketball Invitational 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

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 Associated Press, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the Sporting News, and the United States Basketball Writers Association 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, selects a single 10-member 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:

Major player of the year awards

A number of teams changed coaches during and after the season.
TeamFormer
coach		Interim
coach		New
coach		Reason
Air ForceAndrea WilliamsChris GobrechtWilliams was fired after five seasons and a 22–128 overall record, including a 2–28 record this season. Yale's Gobrecht was hired as the next head coach.
DetroitAutumn RademacherBernard ScottRademacher 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.
FIUCindy RussoInge NissenMarlin ChinnRusso 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. FIU hired Maryland assistant Chinn after the season.
GeorgiaAndy LandersJoni TaylorOn 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. Georgia stayed in-house for its new coach, promoting top assistant Joni Taylor on April 12.
KansasBonnie HenricksonBrandon SchneiderHenrickson 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.
LafayetteDianne NolanTheresa GrentzOn 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. Lafayette hired Women's Hall of Fame coach Grentz, who returned to college head coaching after an eight-year absence.
North TexasMike PetersenJalie MitchellOn 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. The Mean Green hired Mitchell, their career leading scorer, after she served three seasons as an assistant at Texas.
PacificLynne RobertsBradley DavisRoberts left for the Utah job. The school promoted top assistant Davis to head coach.
RiceGreg WilliamsTina LangleyWilliams announced his retirement on March 17 after 10 seasons at his alma mater. Like fellow C-USA member FIU, Rice hired a Maryland assistant in Langley.
Stephen F. AustinBrandon SchneiderMark KelloggSchneider left for the Kansas job.
UtahAnthony LevretsLynne RobertsLevrets was fired after five seasons and a 78–87 overall record, with a 9–21 overall and 3–15 Pac-12 record in 2014–15.
YaleChris GobrechtAllison GuthGobrecht left for the Air Force job.