The 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began on November 11, 2016 and ended with the Final Fourtitle game in Dallas on April 2, 2017, won by South Carolina. Practices officially began on September 30, 2016.
Season headlines
April 20 – The NCAA announced its Academic Progress Rate (APR) sanctions for the 2016–17 school year. A total of 23 Division I programs in 13 sports were declared ineligible for postseason play due to failure to meet the required APR benchmark, with Southern being the only women's basketball team so penalized.[1]
April 28 – The Atlantic Sun Conference announced that effective with the 2016–17 school year, it would rebrand itself as the ASUN Conference.[2]
November 23 – In what ESPN called "one of the most bizarre scenarios imaginable at a major sporting event", top-ranked Notre Dame and Louisiana–Lafayette used two different venues during Notre Dame's 91–51 win. The game began at Campbell Center, a high school venue in Houston, but a power outage during the second quarter prompted the teams to complete the game at another venue. Rice, whose women's team had just completed a home game, offered its Tudor Fieldhouse, and the two teams bused to that venue and finished the game there.[4]
January 7 – A bench-clearing brawl broke out during the third quarter of the UNLV–Utah State game after a UNLV player was fouled. Four players from each team were ejected.[6] Three days later, the Mountain West Conference, home to both schools, issued one-game suspensions to three participants in the brawl (two from UNLV and one from Utah State) and reprimanded six other participants.[7]
February 2 – The Colonial Athletic Association announced that two conference wins by Charleston would be treated as Charleston losses for purposes of seeding in the conference tournament, though it did not (and could not) reverse the results. The conference confirmed that the Cougars had provided "improperly sized" basketballs in the two games, though it would not confirm that men's basketballs were used instead of women's balls.[10]
Milestones and records
December 8 – In Ohio State's 108–73 win over Southern, the Buckeyes' Kelsey Mitchell became the fastest Division I women's player to reach 2,000 career points, reaching the mark in her 79th game. The previous record of 82 was held by Missouri State'sJackie Stiles.[11]
December 16 – Baylor defeated Winthrop 140–32, setting a new Division I women's basketball record for victory margin.[13]
January 10 – UConn crushed South Florida 102–37 to give the Huskies their 90th straight win, equaling the program's own record for the longest winning streak by a Division I team of either sex.[14]
January 13 – Plum became the 12th player in Division I women's history with 3,000 career points during Washington's 90–73 win over Arizona.[15]
January 14 – UConn defeated SMU 88–48 for its 91st straight win, establishing a new Division I record streak.[16]
February 13 – UConn extended its record winning streak to 100 games with a 66–55 win over South Carolina.[18]
February 25 – Plum scored 57 points, a school record for either sex, in Washington's 84–77 win over Utah, surpassing Stiles for the top spot on the all-time NCAA Division I women's career scoring list.[19][b]
March 6 – In the American Athletic Conference tournament final, UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson made all 10 of her three-point attempts, setting a new women's Division I record for most consecutive three-pointers in a game. The Huskies blasted South Florida 100–44 to enter the NCAA Tournament unbeaten.[20]
March 18 – In the first round of the NCAA tournament, Texas A&M came back from a 21-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, ending on a 25–1 run to defeat Penn 63–61. This set a new record for largest comeback in the Division I women's tournament, surpassing the previous record of 16 points by Notre Dame in 2001 and Michigan State in 2005.[21]
March 19 – In the same round, Baylor set two all-time tournament records in its 119–30 pasting of Texas Southern:[22]
The 89-point margin was the largest ever, surpassing the previous record of 74 set by Tennessee against North Carolina A&T in 1994.
Baylor's 119 points were the most ever scored in regulation, surpassing the previous record of 116 set by Ohio State in 1998 and equaled twice by UConn, including earlier that same day.
March 21 – In the second round of the NCAA tournament, Plum surpassed Stiles' D-I record for points in a season, scoring 38 in the Huskies' 108–82 win over Oklahoma and finishing the game with 1,080 points on the season.[23] Plum eventually finished with 1,109 points on the season and 3,527 for her career.[24]
March 31 – UConn's record winning streak ended at 111 games with a 66–64 overtime loss to Mississippi State on a buzzer-beater by the Bulldogs' Morgan William.[25]
South Dakota opened the new Sanford Coyote Sports Center. The completion of the 6,000-seat venue saw the South Dakota men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball teams move out of the considerably larger DakotaDome, which remains home to football, track & field, and swimming & diving. The first women's basketball game in the new arena was the opening leg of a November 13 doubleheader with the men's team, with the Coyotes defeating Stephen F. Austin 80–74.[31]
North Dakota State opened the renovated Scheels Center. This completion brought the previously outdated Bison Sports Arena up to full Division 1 standards. The arena resumed competition of their men's basketball, women's basketball, and wrestling teams inside the Scheels Center. The renovated arena seats 5,700 people on the North side of NDSU's campus in Fargo, North Dakota. The first women's game played in the renovated arena was an exhibition on November 3, 2016 against NCAA Division IIBemidji State, the Bison winning that game 79-59.[32] The first official women's game was on November 12, 2016; the Bison beat Dickinson State University 70-63.[33]
In addition, Alabama returned women's home games to Coleman Coliseum, home to Alabama men's basketball since the venue's opening in 1968. The Crimson Tide women began play in 1974 at Foster Auditorium, and split home games between the two facilities until moving full-time into the Coliseum in 1981. The women would move back to Foster near the end of the 2010–11 season, and used that as their main venue until returning to the Coliseum.[34]
This proved to be the final season for four Division I teams in their then-current venues.
Robert Morris closed the Charles L. Sewall Center, home to the Colonials since 1985, in June 2017. The UPMC Events Center is currently being built at the Sewall Center site and is scheduled to open in the middle of the 2018–19 basketball season.[37] Until that time, the Colonials are playing at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center, which was built at the school's North Athletic Complex as part of the UPMC Events Center project and opened in September 2017.[38]
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.
† 2017 Southland tournament winner As of March 20, 2017 *ineligible for conference and NCAA tournament postseason play due to Div. I transition Rankings from AP poll
† 2017 WAC tournament winner As of March 19, 2017 Rankings from AP poll * Ineligible for WAC Basketball Tournament as part of reclassification from Division II
Coaching changes
Several teams changed coaches during and after the season.
Dykes resigned at the end of his third season, finishing with a 43–49 overall record and 16–36 in the SEC, capped off with an 11-game losing streak to end this season.[93] Washington's Neighbors was hired as his replacement.[94]
Park was fired after 4 seasons in the wake of numerous allegations of misconduct with his players.[97] The school went to Division II for their next hire, tabbing Central Washington's Jeff Harada as the next head coach.
Martin announced her Retirement on April 28. Asst. Radice was named interim coach during the school coaching search. The school would then hire Georgetown's Adair as the next head coach.[100]
Black was fired after 4 seasons, composing a 34-80 overall record with a 21-43 record in Ohio Valley Conference play. Former Illinois coach Bollant was hired as the next coach.[101]
Butler was fired on March 6—her 45th birthday—after 10 seasons at her alma mater. Despite being ranked by the AP in the preseason, the Gators finished with their second losing record in three seasons, and remain the only women's team on the campus that has never won a conference championship.[102] Florida hired Belmont head coach Newbauer.[95]
Domond left to take an asst. coaching position at Rutgers on July 1, 2016. Asst. coach Murray was named interim coach for 2016-17. He later had the tag removed on April 6, 2017
May was fired on March 7 after 10 seasons. Top assistant Karre was named interim head coach during the search for May's successor.[104] Oregon asst. coach and former WNBA star Powell was tabbed as the next head coach.[105]
Bollant was fired on March 14 after five seasons. He went 61–94 overall and 22–62 in Big Ten play, and had been sued in 2015 by seven former players who alleged racial harassment.[106] The Illini turned to Women's Basketball Hall of Fame coach Fahey from Division IIIWashington (MO), where she led the Bears to five national titles and 737 wins in 31 seasons.[107]
Smith was fired on March 13 after four seasons. She inherited a program that had put together seven straight winning seasons, but the Redbirds went 28–93 during her tenure.[108] Illinois State hired Gillespie from Division II in-state school Lewis.[109]
Grentz was fired on April 4 after two seasons and a 10–51 overall record and 6–30 in conference play. Top assistant Calhoun was named as interim head coach during the search for Grentz' successor.[110] The school would then hire Cincinnati asst. Damon as their next head coach.
Barron was forced to take an extended medical leave on January 6 due to an as-yet-undetermined, but not life-threatening, neurological condition.[112] Vachon took over on an interim basis at that time. Her interim term was extended after the end of the season in order to allow Barron to seek further treatment and determine if he can return to coaching.[113]
Daniel resigned on March 12 after five seasons, citing family reasons, specifically an opportunity to move back to his home state of Arkansas.[114] Marshall promoted top assistant Kemper to fill the vacancy.[115]
Kern left after 1 season for the Tennessee State opening. The school went to the NAIA for their next hire, tabbing Wiley College's Walker as the next coach.
Cross was fired on February 27 after nine seasons. While he led the Racers to an OVC regular-season title in his first season, the Racers never finished higher than fourth in the conference during the rest of his tenure.[116] The Racers went a mere five minutes' drive for their new coach, hiring Turner after 21 seasons as head coach at their city's high school.[117]
Albright announced her retirement on March 1, effective at season's end, after 33 seasons as a Division I head coach and nine at Nevada.[118] The Wolf Pack hired top Arizona State assistant Levens, who had been a Nevada assistant from 2003 to 2008.[119]
Trakh left for the USC vacancy.[120] Atkinson, who served as an assistant at New Mexico State from 2003 to 2011, was hired after serving as an assistant coach at Colorado State for the last three seasons.
Taylor was fired on March 23 after an 8–21 season and a 33–113 overall record in five seasons. The Eagles, after naming assistant Eaton as interim coach during their search for a permanent replacement, hired Stafford-Odom, a former assistant at UCLA, North Carolina, and Duke, from Division II Concordia–Irvine.[121]
Barefoot left for the UNC Wilmington opening.[122] The school hired former WNBA All-Star McCray-Penson, who spent the last 9 seasons as an assistant under Dawn Staley at South Carolina.[123]
Weisenberg was fired on March 8 after four seasons in which the Waves went 28–94, capped off with a 7–23 record this season. The Waves hired Milton-Jones, who joined the program as an assistant at the start of the season after 17 seasons playing in the WNBA.[124]
Cooper-Dyke resigned after the Trojans' season ended with a first-round loss in the Pac-12 Tournament on March 3. She had led the Trojans to an NCAA appearance in her first season in 2014, but the Trojans posted mediocre records in her other three seasons, ending with a 14–16 mark this season.[126] The Trojans brought back Trakh, who had been their head coach from 2004 to 2009, from New Mexico State.[120]
The Shockers parted ways with Adams-Birch on January 22 with the team at 8–10 on the season. She had been temporarily replaced by top assistant Kirk Crawford three days earlier while AD Darron Boatright reviewed the program. Following Adams-Birch's departure, former Shockers head coach Hargrove was brought back to serve for the remainder of the season.[129][130] Wichita State ultimately hired UTEP head coach Keitha Adams as the permanent replacement.[127]
The Eagles parted ways with Cook on February 24 after suspending him in January for what the school called a personnel matter. Top assistant Woodard was named interim coach during Cook's suspension,[131] and Winthrop removed the interim tag after the season.[132]
^Although Cheryl Miller, who starred at USC during the 1980s, then had more career points than either Plum or Ogwumike, she never played in the Pac-12 (or, as it was known during her career, the Pac-10). The conference did not sponsor women's sports until the 1986–87 season, the season after Miller's graduation.
^Lynette Woodard finished her career at Kansas in 1981 with 3,649 points, more than Plum's final career total of 3,527. However, Woodard's entire career was in the era when women's college sports were governed by the AIAW; the NCAA did not organize women's sports until the 1981–82 season.
