Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Northwestern Wildcats
women's basketball
Basketball current event.svg 2024–25 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team
Northwestern Wildcats logo.svg
UniversityNorthwestern University
Head coach Joe McKeown (17th season)
Conference Big Ten
Location Evanston, Illinois
Arena Welsh-Ryan Arena
(capacity: 7,039)
Nickname Wildcats
Student sectionWildside
ColorsPurple and white [1]
   
Uniforms
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Home
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Away


NCAA tournament second round
1980, 1987, 1991, 1993, 2021
NCAA tournament appearances
1982, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2015, 2021
AIAW tournament appearances
1979, 1980, 1981
Conference tournament champions
1990
Conference regular season champions
2020

The Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing Northwestern University. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Wildcats play home basketball games at Welsh-Ryan Arena on the university campus in Evanston, Illinois, [2] but played the 2017–18 season at Beardsley Gym on the nearby campus of Evanston Township High School during renovations to Welsh–Ryan Arena. [3]

Contents

History

Early years (1975–1984)

The Wildcats began play in women's basketball in 1975, with Mary DiStanislao as the first head coach, who coached for five seasons, with the final two resulting in appearances in the AIAW Tournament. In 1980, Annette Lynch took over as head coach, leading the team to postseason appearances (AIAW and NCAA) in her first two seasons, with the latter (1981) being the first season in the Big Ten Conference.

Don Perrelli era (1985–1999)

In 1984, Don Perrelli became head coach of the Wildcats. In his 15-year tenure, he led the team to 5 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, a Big Ten title in 1990 (with a 24–5 record, 15–3 conference record), and a NWIT appearance. Perrelli retired after the 1998–99 season.

Decline (1999–2008)

June Olkowski took over, coaching Northwestern for five seasons, but she was fired after finishing 10th or worse each time, never winning more than three conference games. Beth Combs was hired to coach the Wildcats in 2004, but she was fired after four seasons, highlighted with winning only 7 conference games in 4 years and never finishing higher than 10th place.

Joe McKeown era (2008–present)

Joe McKeown was hired for the 2008 season. After a 10th-place finish in his first season, they finished tied for 8th in the conference (good enough to qualify for the WNIT) the following season, their highest finish since the 1998 season. After appearing in the WNIT twice in the following four seasons, the Wildcats returned to the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament in 2015, their first appearance since 1997, in a season where they had their highest finish in the conference (1994) since 1996. [4]

All-Time Statistical Leaders

Career leaders

Single season leaders

Single game leaders

Big Ten Medal of Honor

Coaching history

CoachYearsRecordConference
Record
Conference
Titles
Mary DiStanislao1975–198075–420–0
Annette Lynch1980–198489–3032–15
Don Perrelli1984–1999251–181135–1261
June Olkowski 1999–200431–1087–73
Beth Combs 2004–200824–957–59
Joe McKeown 2008–present233-18693–1281
Totals694–642275–4012

Postseason

NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament

The Wildcats have appeared in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament eight times. They have a record of 4–7.

YearRoundOpponentResult
1982 First RoundNorth Carolina StateL 73–71
1987 First Round
Second Round
Kansas State
Louisiana Tech
W 62–61 (OT)
L 82–60
1990 First RoundSouth CarolinaL 76–67
1991 First Round
Second Round
Washington State
Arkansas
W 82–62
L 105–68
1993 First Round
Second Round
Georgia Tech
Tennessee
W 90–62
L 89–66
1997 First RoundGeorge WashingtonL 61–46
2015 First RoundArkansasL 57–55
2021 First Round
Second Round
UCF
Louisville
W 62–51
L 62–53

NIT results

The Wildcats have appeared in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) five times, having a combined record of 10–5. They also appeared in the National Women's Invitational Tournament (the precursor to the WNIT, with 8 teams instead of the traditional 64 the WNIT has) once, having a record of 2–1.

YearRoundOpponentResult
1996 Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals
Illinois State
Louisiana State
Arizona
W 93–71
W 79–75
L 79–63
2010 First Round
Second Round
Third Round
Duquesne
St. Bonaventure
Michigan
W 79–72
W 66–62
L 65–44
2011 First Round
Second Round
Creighton
Alabama
W 89–63
L 72–70
2014 First Round
Second Round
Third Round
Ball State
IUPUI
Indiana
W 69–55
W 88–52
L 66–65
2016 First RoundSan DiegoL 69–55
2019 First Round
Second Round
Third Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals
Dayton
Toledo
West Virginia
Ohio
James Madison
Arizona
W 74–51
W 54-47
W 56-54
W 61-58
W 74-69
L 56-42

AIAW Women's Basketball tournament

The Wildcats appeared in the AIAW women's basketball tournament (the precursor to the modern NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship) three times (the first being in a 16 team tournament and the latter two being in a 24 team tournament) before it was discontinued in 1982. They compiled a record of 1–3. They received a bye in 1980.

YearRoundOpponentResult
1979 First Round
Quarterfinals
Southern Connecticut State
Louisiana Tech
W 67–61
L 88–52
1980 Second RoundSouth CarolinaL 64–61
1981 First RoundStephen F. AustinL 88–67

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References

  1. "Northwestern University's Guide to Using Marks, Colors, Trademarks, and Logos" (PDF). September 21, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  2. "NU Sports". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  3. "Evanston's Beardsley Gym to Host Women's Hoops, Volleyball in 2017–18" (Press release). Northwestern Wildcats. January 25, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  4. "Northwestern Basketball 2015-16 Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016.