2009–10 NCAA Division I women's basketball season

NCAA Tournament

2010

Tournament Dates

March 21, 2010–April 6, 2010

National Championship

Alamodome
San Antonio, Texas

NCAA Champions

Connecticut

Other Champions

California (WNIT),
Appalachian State (WBI)

Player of the Year
(Naismith, Wooden, Wade)

Tina Charles, Connecticut (Naismith, Wooden)
Maya Moore, Connecticut (Wade)

NCAA Division I basketball seasons

«2008–09

2010–11»

The 2009–10 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November 2009 and ended with the 2010 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament's championship game on April 6, 2010 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The tournament opened with the first and second rounds on Thursday through Sunday, March 18–21, 2010. Regional games were played on Thursday through Sunday, March 28–31, 2010, with the Final Four played on Sunday and Tuesday, April 4 and 6, 2010.

The Connecticut Huskies successfully defended their national title from the previous season, defeating Stanford 53–47 in the final. This was the Huskies' second consecutive unbeaten championship season, unprecedented since the NCAA began to organize women's basketball in the 1981–82 season.

Season headlines

May 4:The tenth annual 2009 US Virgin Islands Paradise Jam is a women’s basketball tournament that will take place on November 26–28, 2009. Eight teams from the NCAA have been invited to participate in the tournament. The teams will be separated into two brackets, the Reef Division and the Island Division. The Reef Division will consist of Mississippi State, Rutgers, Southern California and Texas. The Island Division will consist of Notre Dame, Oklahoma, San Diego State and South Carolina^[1]
May 5: The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten Conference announced the pairings for the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge for women’s basketball, which is in the third year of a four-year agreement. The 2009 Challenge, which will take on a two-day format this year, will open on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The Big Ten/ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge matches 11 teams from each conference in head-to-head competition traditionally on the first Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after Thanksgiving, following the men’s basketball Big Ten/ACC Challenge.^[2] The Big Ten and ACC have been among the most successful conferences in women’s basketball. During the 2008-09 season, the ACC was represented by six teams in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship. It was the seventh straight year the league has had at least six teams in the tournament. Maryland advanced to the 2009 NCAA Regional Finals, giving the ACC at least one team in the Elite Eight for the eighth consecutive year. In 2005-06, the ACC became the first conference to send three teams: Duke, Maryland and North Carolina – to the same Final Four. Overall, the ACC has made 11 Final Four trips, including six in the past 13 years.^[2]
May 28, 2009: NBA referee Violet Palmer was hired as coordinator of women's basketball officials for the West Coast Conference and will remain with the NBA, where she has worked for 12 seasons.^[3]
July 1: Rutgers will play in the eighth annual Jimmy V Women’s Classic when the Scarlet Knights host Florida on Dec. 7. This marks the fourth straight season the Scarlet Knights will take part in the game. They beat Georgia 45-34 last season. The games are part of the fundraising effort for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, which is named for the late Jim Valvano, who led North Carolina State to the national championship in 1983.^[4]
July 7: Pat Summitt and C. Vivian Stringer will oppose each other in the fourth annual Maggie Dixon Classic. The women’s doubleheader will be played Dec. 13 at Madison Square Garden. The two Hall of Fame coaches teams will meet in regular season play for the seventh straight year. Baylor and freshman star Brittney Griner will face Boston College in the other contest. The two teams played once before at Madison Square Garden. Tennessee won 68-54 in 1999. Baylor will be making its first appearance at MSG.^[5]
August 4: Joan Bonvicini was introduced as the new women's basketball coach at Seattle University. She is one of only 18 coaches in Division I history with more than 600 victories.^[6]
August 18: On January. 16, Notre Dame and Connecticut will be part of the first-ever ESPN women's basketball College GameDay broadcast. The game will be broadcast from Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn. The matchup between the Fighting Irish and Huskies will tip off at 9 p.m. (ET) and will be televised live to a national cable audience by ESPN.^[7]
Sept. 8: The West Coast Conference (WCC) and its multi-media rights partner, IMG College, announced Zappos.com as the official title sponsor of the WCC Men's and Women's Basketball Championships. The deal is effective through the 2011-12 season, and signifies the WCC's first-ever title sponsorship.^[8]

Major rule changes

Preseason

Preseason "Wade Watch" list

On July 30, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), on behalf of the Wade Coalition, announced the 2009-2010 preseason "Wade Watch" list for The State Farm Wade Trophy Division I Player of the Year. The nominees are made up of top NCAA Division I student-athletes who best embody the spirit of Lily Margaret Wade. This is based on the following criteria: game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on their team and overall playing ability. The list are as follows:
Jayne Appel, Stanford^[9]
Jessica Breland, North Carolina^[10]
Tina Charles, Connecticut^[9]
Alysha Clark, Middle Tennessee
Allyssa DeHaan, Michigan State
Alexis Gray-Lawson, California^[11]
Tiffany Hayes, Connecticut
Allison Hightower, LSU
Ashley Houts, Georgia
Jantel Lavender, Ohio State ^[12]
Danielle McCray, Kansas
Jacinta Monroe, Florida State
Maya Moore, Connecticut
Jené Morris, San Diego State
Deirdre Naughton, DePaul ^[13]
Kayla Pedersen, Stanford
Ta'Shia Phillips, Xavier
Jeanette Pohlen, Stanford
Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State ^[12]
Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State
Danielle Robinson, Oklahoma^[14]
Jenna Smith, Illinois^[15]
Carolyn Swords, Boston College
Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga^[16]
Monica Wright, Virginia ^[17]

Preseason Wooden Award nominees

August 21: The 2009-10 preseason candidates list for the Women’s Wooden Award was released, naming 31 student athletes.^[18]

Name	Height	Class	Position	School
Jayne Appel	6-4	Sr.	F/C	Stanford
Erica Beverly	6-0	Sr.	F	Hartford
Angie Bjorklund	6-0	Jr.	G/F	Tennessee
Heather Bowman	6-2	Sr.	F	Gonzaga
Jessica Breland*	6-3	Sr.	F	North Carolina
Tina Charles	6-4	Sr.	C	Connecticut
Alysha Clark	5-10	Sr.	F	Middle Tennessee
Allyssa DeHaan	6-9	Sr.	C	Michigan State
Tyra Grant	5-11	Sr.	G	Penn State
Alexis Gray-Lawson	5-8	Sr.	G	California
Allison Hightower	5-10	Sr.	G	LSU
Ashley Houts	5-6	Sr.	G	Georgia
Ify Ibekwe	6-1	Jr.	F	Arizona
Jantel Lavender	6-4	Jr.	C	Ohio State
Gabriela Marginean	6-1	Sr.	F	Drexel
Danielle McCray	5-11	Sr.	G/F	Kansas
Nicole Michael	6-2	Sr.	F	Syracuse
Jacinta Monroe	6-4	Sr.	F/C	Florida State
Maya Moore	6-0	Jr.	F	Connecticut
Jené Morris	5-9	Sr.	G	San Diego State
Dierdre Naughton	5-10	Sr.	G	DePaul
Ta‘Shia Phillips	6-6	Jr.	C	Xavier
Jeanette Pohlen	6-0	Jr.	G	Stanford
Samantha Prahalis	5-7	So.	G	Ohio State
Andrea Riley	5-5	Sr.	G	Oklahoma State
Danielle Robinson	5-9	Jr.	G	Oklahoma
Jenna Smith	6-3	Sr.	C	Illinois
Ashley Sweat	6-2	Sr.	F	Kansas State
Carolyn Swords	6-6	Jr.	C	Boston College
Courtney Vandersloot	5-8	Jr.	G	Gonzaga
Monica Wright	5-11	Sr.	G	Virginia

Preseason WNIT

Ohio State headlines a field of 16-teams for the 2009 Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament. The field includes 11 teams that played in the postseason last spring: Arkansas-Little Rock, Bowling Green, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia Tech, Marist, New Mexico, North Carolina A&T, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Winthrop. They will be joined in the Preseason WNIT field by Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Northern Colorado, Towson, and UTEP.

The Preseason WNIT features a three-game guarantee format. The event opens Friday, November 13 with first-round games. Second-round games will be played November 15 and 16. The semifinals will be on November 18 and 19. The championship is set for Sunday, November 22. Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, November 20–22. All games are hosted by participating schools, and sites are announced by the end of the preceding round.^[19] In last year’s Preseason WNIT, North Carolina defeated Oklahoma 80-79.

First-round Preseason WNIT games to be held on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
- Eastern Illinois (24-9) at Ohio State (29-6), 5 p.m. ET
- UTEP (18-12) at Florida Gulf Coast (26-5), 7 p.m. ET
- Arkansas-Little Rock (26-7) at Oklahoma State (17-16), 7 p.m. ET
- Towson (17-13) at West Virginia (18-15), 7 p.m. ET
- Winthrop (16-16) at Georgia Tech (22-10), 7:30 p.m. ET
- Chicago State (16-13) at Bowling Green (29-5), 7:30 p.m. ET
- North Carolina A&T (26-7) at Marist (29-4), 7:30 p.m. ET
- Northern Colorado (12-18) at New Mexico (25-11), 9 p.m. ET

Season outlook

Nov. 11: The Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences announced the formation of an annual inter-conference challenge for women’s basketball. The challenge will span at least two years and will begin in the fall of 2010. The series will feature a home-and-home format over the initial two-year agreement, and each of the Big 12’s teams will play in each Challenge, while one Big Ten team, Wisconsin, will play two Challenge games each year.^[20]

Pre-season polls

Associated Press
Ranking	School	Points
1	Connecticut	1000
2	Stanford	951
3	Ohio State	862
4	Notre Dame	799
5	North Carolina	798
6	Duke	772
7	Baylor	744
8	Tennessee	676
9	LSU	600
10	Michigan State	521
11	Xavier	492
12	Texas	487
13	Oklahoma	444
14	Virginia	394
15	Florida State	385
16	Arizona State	317
17	DePaul	301
18	California	294
19	Georgia Tech	262
20	Kansas	241
21	Georgia	201
22	Vanderbilt	165
23	Louisville	156
24	Middle Tennessee	143
25	Rutgers	138

USA Today
Ranking	School	Points
1	Connecticut	775
2	Stanford	739
3	Ohio State	653
4	Baylor	649
5	North Carolina	561
6	Duke	547
7	Notre Dame	438
8	Oklahoma	416
9	Tennessee	412
10	Michigan State	353
11	Arizona State	328
12	Florida State	323
13	California	314
14	Texas	311
15	Xavier	303
16	Texas A&M	302
17	LSU	298
18	Virginia	246
19	Louisville	232
20	Vanderbilt	223
21	Maryland	209
22	Pittsburgh	127
23	Purdue	126
24	Iowa State	125
25	DePaul	121

^[21]

Preseason All-Americans

Jayne Appel, Stanford
Tina Charles, Connecticut
Jantel Lavender, Ohio State
Maya Moore, Connecticut
Monica Wright, Virginia^[22]

- November 3: Maya Moore became just the seventh unanimous choice on The Associated Press' preseason All-America team. She received all 40 votes from a national media panel. It's the third straight year a player has been a unanimous choice in the preseason. Moore was joined on the preseason squad by teammate Tina Charles. It was the fifth time that two players from the same team made the All-America squad. Connecticut has also had two of the four other pairs of teammates on a preseason team - Jen Rizzotti and Kara Wolters in 1995-96 and Shea Ralph and Svetlana Abrosimova in 2000-01.^[22]

Preseason All-Conference teams

Big Ten

2009-10 Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year
- Jantel Lavender
Preseason All-Big Ten Coaches Team
- Jenna Smith, Sr., F, ILL
- Allyssa DeHaan, Sr., C, MSU
- JANTEL LAVENDER, Jr., C, OSU
- Samantha Prahalis, So., G, OSU
- Tyra Grant, Sr., F, PSU
Preseason All-Big Ten Media Team
- Jenna Smith, Sr., F, ILL
- Allyssa DeHaan, Sr., C, MSU
- JANTEL LAVENDER, Jr., C, OSU
- Samantha Prahalis, So., G, OSU
- Tyra Grant, Sr., F, PSU

^[23]

Conference USA

2009-10 C-USA Preseason PLAYER OF THE YEAR
- Emma Cannon, UCF
2009-10 C-USA Preseason Team
- Courtney Taylor, Houston
- Brittany Gilliam, SMU
- Pauline Love, Southern Miss
- Emma Cannon, UCF
- Jareica Hughes, UTEP^[24]

Regular season

2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Schedule

Date	Visiting Team	Home Team	Score	Leading Scorer	Attendance
Dec. 2/09	Georgia Tech	Penn State	G Tech 64-60^[25]	Tyra Grant, PSU (20)	TBD
Dec. 2/09	Illinois	Wake Forest	Illinois, 65-50^[26]	Jenna Smith, Illinois (27)	TBD
Dec. 2/09	Boston College	Iowa	BC, 72-67^[27]	Kamilee Wahlin, Iowa (23)	TBD
Dec. 3/09	Michigan	Virginia Tech	Mich, 71-51	Veronica Hicks, Michigan (19)^[28]	TBD
Dec. 3/09	Clemson	Northwestern	CLEM, 69-68	Kirstyn Wright, Clemson (22)	TBD
Dec. 3/09	Minnesota	Maryland	MD, 66-45	Kim Rodgers, Maryland (14)^[29]	TBD
Dec. 3/09	North Carolina	Michigan State	MSU, 72-66	Italee Lucas, North Carolina (29)^[30]	TBD
Dec. 3/09	Ohio State	Duke	Duke, 83-67	Jasmine Thomas, Duke (29)	TBD
Dec. 3/09	Purdue	Virginia	VA, 56-49	Brittany Rayburn, Purdue (19)^[31]	TBD
Dec. 3/09	Florida State	Indiana	FSU, 82-74	Jori Davis, Indiana (23)^[32]	TBD
Dec. 3/09	Wisconsin	NC State	Wisc, 53-48	Taylor Wurtz, Wisconsin (13)^[33]	TBD

^[2]

Early season tournaments

Name	Dates	Num. teams	Location	Championship
Aggie Hotel Encato Classic	Nov. 27-28	4	Las Cruces, NM	New Mexico State Aggies
ASU Classic	Dec. 4-5	4	Tempe, AZ
Bahamas Tournament	Dec. 19-20	4	Nassau, Bahamas
Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament	Nov. 27-29	4	Lubbock, TX
Big Easy Classic	Dec. 4-5	4	New Orleans, LA
BTI Classic	Nov. 20-22	4	West Lafayette, Ind.	Dayton Flyers
BTI Tip-Off Tournament	Nov. 27-28
Buckeye Classic	Nov. 28-29	4	Columbus, Ohio	Ohio State Buckeyes
Cal Poly Holiday Beach Classic	Nov. 28-29	4	San Luis Obispo, Calif.	Illinois Fighting Illini
Caribbean Challenge	Nov. 26-27	4	Cancun, Mexico	Duke Blue Devils
Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic	Dec. 4
Desert Sun Classic	Dec. 19-20	4	Las Vegas
Great Alaska Shootout	Nov. 24-25	4	Anchorage	Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves
Holiday Inn & Suites Express Thanksgiving Tournament	Nov. 27-28	4	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Toledo Rockets
Hukilau Tournament	Dec. 4-5		Laie, Hawai'I
Iona Tip-Off Tournament	Nov. 14-15	4	New Rochelle, NY	Arizona Wildcats
Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic	Nov. 27-29	4	Honolulu, HI	Arizona State Sun Devils
Junkanoo Jam	Nov. 27-28		Bahamas	Michigan State Spartans
KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge	Nov. 14-15	4	Iowa City, IA	Iowa Hawkeyes
Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic	Nov 27-28	4	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	Georgia Lady Bulldogs
Las Vegas Hoops Classic (Duel in the Desert)	Dec. 19-20	4	Las Vegas	Baylor Lady Bears
LIU Thanksgiving Tournament	Nov. 27-28	4	Brooklyn, New York	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Maggie Dixon Classic	Dec. 13	2	New York, NY	Baylor Lady Bears
Maine Classic	Nov. 27-28	4	Orono, Maine	Penn State Lady Lions
Mildred and Roger L. White Invitational	Nov. 29-Dec. 2		Evanston, Ill.
Navy Classic	Nov. 20-21	2	Annapolis, MD	Navy Midshipmen
Northwestern Tournament	Nov. 27-28	4	Evanston, Ill.	Iowa State Cyclones
Nugget Classic	Nov. 7-8	4	Reno, Nevada	West Virginia Mountaineers
Omni Hotels Classic	Nov. 27-28		Boulder, Colorado	Colorado Buffaloes
Paradise Jam Tournament	Nov. 25-28	8	US Virgin Islands	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Saint Mary’s Hilton Tournament	Nov. 27-29	4	Moraga, California	Nebraska Cornhuskers
San Diego Surf and Slam	Dec. 28-30		San Diego, California
Seminole Classic	Nov. 27-29	4	Tallahassee, Fla.	Florida State Seminoles
SMU Tournament	Nov. 27-28	4	Dallas, TX	Boston College Eagles
Subway Basketball Classic	Nov. 21-22	4	Minneapolis	Minnesota Golden Gophers
Terrapin Classic	Dec. 27-29		College Park, MD
Tulane DoubleTree Classic	Dec. 28-29	4	New Orleans, LA
University of Miami Thanksgiving Tournament	Nov. 27-28	4	Coral Gables, FL	Miami Hurricanes
University of Miami Holiday Tournament	Dec. 28-29		Coral Gables, FL
Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament	Nov. 27-28	4	Nashville, TN	Vanderbilt Commodores
Villanova Tournament	Dec. 28-29		Villanova, PA
Waikiki Beach Marriott Classic	Dec. 29-30		Honolulu, HI
WBCA Classic	Nov. 27-Nov. 29	4		Connecticut Huskies
Women of Troy Classic	Dec. 19 - Dec. 20		Galen Center
World Vision Classic	Nov. 27-Nov. 29	4	Waco, Texas	Baylor Lady Bears
World Vision Invitational	Nov. 27-Nov. 29	4	Eugene, Oregon	Wisconsin Badgers

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty 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, with tiebreakers applied if more than one team tops the season standings. In the table below, if teams tied for the regular-season title, the first team listed won the tiebreaker for top seed in the tournament.

The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2010 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. The Great West Conference began play in 2009–10 and does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Conference	Regular Season Winner^[34]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner^[35]
America East Conference	Hartford	Diana Delva, Hartford^[36]	2010 America East Women's Basketball Tournament	All games before final at Chase Family Arena (West Hartford, Connecticut) Final at highest remaining seed	Vermont
Atlantic 10 Conference	Xavier	Amber Harris, Xavier^[37]	2010 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Tournament	The Show Place Arena (Upper Marlboro, Maryland)	Xavier
Atlantic Coast Conference	Duke & Florida State	Monica Wright, Virginia^[38]	2010 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament	Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)	Duke
Atlantic Sun Conference	East Tennessee State	Siarre Evans, East Tennessee State^[39]	2010 Atlantic Sun Women's Basketball Tournament	University Center (Macon, Georgia)	East Tennessee State
Big 12 Conference	Nebraska	Kelsey Griffin, Nebraska^[40]	2010 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament	Municipal Auditorium (Kansas City, Missouri)	Texas A&M
Big East Conference	Connecticut	Tina Charles, Connecticut^[41]	2010 Big East Women's Basketball Tournament	XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut)	Connecticut
Big Sky Conference	Eastern Washington	Julie Piper, Eastern Washington^[42]	2010 Big Sky Women's Basketball Tournament	Reese Court (Cheney, Washington)	Portland State
Big South Conference	Gardner-Webb	Margaret Roundtree, Gardner-Webb^[43]	2010 Big South Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	Millis Center (High Point, North Carolina)	Liberty
Big Ten Conference	Ohio State	Jantel Lavender, Ohio State (coaches and media)^[44]	2010 Big Ten Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Indiana)	Ohio State
Big West Conference	UC Davis	Kristina Santiago, Cal Poly^[45]	2010 Big West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, California)	UC Riverside
Colonial Athletic Association	Old Dominion	Elena Delle Donne, Delaware^[46]	2010 CAA Women's Basketball Tournament	JMU Convocation Center (Harrisonburg, Virginia)	James Madison
Conference USA	Tulane	Courtney Taylor, Houston^[47]	2010 Conference USA Women's Basketball Tournament	Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)	Tulane
Great West Conference	North Dakota	Kayla Bagaason, North Dakota^[48]	2010 Great West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	McKay Events Center (Orem, Utah)	Utah Valley
Horizon League	Green Bay	Melanie Thornton, Butler^[49]	2010 Horizon League Women's Basketball Tournament	First round and quarterfinals at campus sites, Final Four at Kress Events Center (Green Bay, Wisconsin)	Cleveland State
Ivy League	Princeton	Judie Lomax, Columbia^[50]	No Tournament
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference	Marist	Rachele Fitz, Marist^[51]	2010 MAAC Women's Basketball Tournament	Times Union Center (Albany, New York)	Marist
Mid-American Conference	Bowling Green (East & overall) Toledo (West)	Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green^[52]	2010 MAC Women's Basketball Tournament	Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland, Ohio)	Bowling Green
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	North Carolina A&T	Corin Adams, Morgan State^[53]	2010 MEAC Women's Basketball Tournament	Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)	Hampton
Missouri Valley Conference	Illinois State	Casey Garrison, Missouri State^[54]	2010 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	The Family Arena (St. Charles, Missouri)	Northern Iowa
Mountain West Conference	TCU	Helena Sverrisdóttir, TCU^[55]	2010 MWC Women's Basketball Tournament	Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, Nevada)	San Diego State
Northeast Conference	Robert Morris	Angela Pace, Robert Morris^[56]	2010 Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	Quarterfinals and semifinals at DeGol Arena (Loretto, Pennsylvania) Final at highest remaining seed	Saint Francis
Ohio Valley Conference	Eastern Illinois	Chynna Bozeman, Morehead State^[57]	2010 Ohio Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	First round at campus sites, Final Four at Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tennessee)	Austin Peay
Pacific-10 Conference	Stanford	Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Stanford (coaches^[58] and media^[59])	2010 Pacific-10 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	Galen Center (Los Angeles, California)	Stanford
Patriot League	Lehigh & American	Michelle Kirk, American^[60]	2010 Patriot League Women's Basketball Tournament	Quarterfinals and semifinals at Hart Center (Worcester, Massachusetts) Final at highest remaining seed	Lehigh
Southeastern Conference	Tennessee	Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky^[61]	2010 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament	Arena at Gwinnett Center (Duluth, Georgia)	Tennessee
Southern Conference	Chattanooga	Shanara Hollinquest, Chattanooga (coaches^[62] and media^[63])	2010 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	Bojangles' Coliseum (first two rounds) Time Warner Cable Arena (semifinals and final) (Charlotte, North Carolina)	Chattanooga
Southland Conference	Stephen F. Austin (East) Lamar (West & overall #1 seed by tiebreaker)	Jenna Plumley, Lamar^[64]	2010 Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	Leonard E. Merrell Center (Katy, Texas)	Lamar
Southwestern Athletic Conference	Southern	Katrich Williams, Alabama A&M^[65]	2010 SWAC Women's Basketball Tournament	CenturyTel Center (Bossier City, Louisiana)	Southern
The Summit League	Oral Roberts	Kevi Luper, Oral Roberts^[66]	2010 Summit League Women's Basketball Tournament	Sioux Falls Arena (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)	South Dakota State
Sun Belt Conference	Middle Tennessee (East) UALR (West & overall #1 seed by tiebreaker)	Alysha Clark, Middle Tennessee^[67]	2010 Sun Belt Women's Basketball Tournament	Summit Arena (Hot Springs, Arkansas)	Middle Tennessee
West Coast Conference	Gonzaga	Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga^[68]	2010 West Coast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament	Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)	Gonzaga
Western Athletic Conference	Fresno State	Shanavia Dowdell, Louisiana Tech^[69]	2010 WAC Women's Basketball Tournament	Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)	Louisiana Tech

Coaching changes

Final season rankings

Post-Season Tournaments

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2010 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

Final Four – Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 2010 Women's National Invitation Tournament

Women's Basketball Invitational

This season saw the debut of a third national postseason tournament in the Women's Basketball Invitational, a 16-team affair with all games played on home courts.

The inaugural title was won by Appalachian State, who came back from a 19-point deficit to defeat Memphis 79–71 in the final held on the Mountaineers' home floor in Boone, North Carolina.^[70]

Awards and honors

References

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^ http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2009-2010/msuunc.html
^ http://www.virginiasports.com/fls/17800/stats/wbasketball/2009/va1203.htm
^ http://www.seminoles.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2009-2010/iuwgam07.html
^ http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/120309aaa.html
^ "Women's NCAA Division I Basketball Standings: 2009 - 2010". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/standings. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Championship Week results, bids". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/news/story?id=4961164. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Seniors, Hawks Dominate Postseason Awards and All-Conference Team" (Press release). America East Conference. 2009-03-04. http://www.americaeast.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14000&ATCLID=204900656. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Xavier's Amber Harris Named A-10 Women's Basketball Player of the Year" (Press release). Atlantic 10 Conference. 2010-03-03. http://www.atlantic10.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030310aaa.html. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "ACC Women's Basketball Player of the Year Announced" (Press release). Atlantic Coast Conference. 2010-03-04. http://www.theacc.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030410aab.html. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Postseason Women’s Basketball Awards Announced" (Press release). Atlantic Sun Conference. 2010-03-02. http://www.atlanticsun.org/wbasketball/news/103/4204/. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "2009-10 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Awards Announced" (Press release). Big 12 Conference. 2010-03-08. http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=204903887. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "UConn's Tina Charles Named BIG EAST Player of the Year" (Press release). Big East Conference. 2010-03-05. http://www.bigeast.org/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=92557&SPID=11229&DB_OEM_ID=19400&ATCLID=204901885. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Big Sky Women's Basketball All-Conference Team" (Press release). Big Sky Conference. 2010-03-08. http://bigskyconf.com/news/2010/3/8/WBB_0308101007.aspx. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Big South Announces Top Women's Basketball Awards" (Press release). Big South Conference. 2010-03-11. http://www.bigsouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25897&SPID=2026&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=4800&ATCLID=204906315. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
^ "Ohio State's Lavender Named Big Ten Player of the Year forThird Straight Season" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. 2010-03-01. http://www.bigten.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030110aab.html. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Santiago Highights Women's Basketball All-Conference Selections as Player of the Year" (Press release). Big West Conference. 2010-03-08. http://www.bigwest.org//story.asp?story_id=13547. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Delaware's Delle Donne Headlines 2009-10 All-CAA Women's Basketball Team" (Press release). Colonial Athletic Association. 2010-03-10. http://www.caasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8500&ATCLID=204905634. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
^ "Conference USA Announces Women's Basketball Player and Coach of the Year" (Press release). Conference USA. 2010-03-08. http://conferenceusa.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030810aab.html. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "North Dakota's Bagaason Headlines GWC All-Conference Women's Basketball Team" (Press release). Great West Conference. 2010-03-10. http://www.greatwestconference.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/031010aab.html. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
^ "Horizon League announces women's basketball postseason awards" (Press release). Horizon League. 2010-03-07. http://www.horizonleague.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030710aaa.html. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "All-Ivy Women's Basketball — 2009-10" (Press release). Ivy League. 2010-03-11. http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/article.asp?intID=7631. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
^ "MAAC Announces 2009-2010 Women's Basketball Individual Award Recipients" (Press release). Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. 2010-03-04. http://www.maacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=87908&SPID=10447&DB_OEM_ID=17400&ATCLID=204901061. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "MAC Announces Women's Basketball Post Season Award Winners" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. 2010-03-09. http://mac-sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=42881&SPID=3793&DB_OEM_ID=9400&ATCLID=204904367. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
^ "MEAC Announces 2009–10 Women’s Basketball Honors" (Press release). Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. 2010-03-04. http://www.meacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=20800&ATCLID=204901137. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Missouri State's Garrison Named Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year" (Press release). Missouri Valley Conference. 2010-03-11. http://www.mvc-sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7600&ATCLID=204905886. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
^ "Mountain West Announces 2009-10 Women's Basketball All-Conference Team" (Press release). Mountain West Conference. 2010-03-08. http://www.themwc.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030810aaf.html. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "RMU's Angela Pace Makes NEC Women's Basketball History Winning Two Major Awards" (Press release). Northeast Conference. 2010-03-05. http://northeastconference.org/News/wbball/2010/3/5/WBB-AllNEC-10.asp?path=wbball. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Morehead State's Bozeman and Eastern Illinois' Nixon Earn Top OVC Women's Basketball Honors" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. 2010-03-04. http://www.ovcsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=31049&SPID=2444&DB_OEM_ID=6200&ATCLID=204900060. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Pac-10 Announces 2009-10 Individual Women's Basketball Honors" (Press release). Pacific-10 Conference. 2010-03-11. http://www.pac-10.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/031110aab.html. Retrieved 2010–03-11.
^ "Pac-10 Announces Women's Basketball Media Awards" (Press release). Pacific-10 Conference. 2010-03-09. http://www.pac-10.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030910aae.html. Retrieved 2010–03-11.
^ "All-Patriot League Teams and Awards Announced Tuesday" (Press release). Patriot League. 2010-03-02. http://www.patriotleague.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030210aab.html. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
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^ "SoCon Media Names Player, Freshman of the Year" (Press release). Southern Conference. 2010-03-02. http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22074&SPID=1799&DB_OEM_ID=4000&ATCLID=204899226. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
^ "Plumley Named Southland Women's Basketball Player of the Year" (Press release). Southland Conference. 2010-03-08. http://www.southland.org/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=90091&SPID=10826&temp_site=NO&DB_OEM_ID=18400&ATCLID=204903778. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
^ (Press release). Southwestern Athletic Conference. 2010-03-09. SWAC Announces 2010 Women's Basketball All-Conference Honors. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
^ "Oral Roberts' Luper Named Summit League Women's Basketball Player of the Year" (Press release). The Summit League. 2010-03-04. http://www.thesummitleague.org/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=21777&SPID=1769&DB_OEM_ID=3900&ATCLID=204900382. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
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^ "This Week in WAC Women's Basketball – March 16" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. 2010-03-16. http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=45995&SPID=4127&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=10100&ATCLID=204909958. Retrieved 2010-03-21. Scroll down to "All-WAC Honors Announced" near the bottom of the release.
^ Associated Press (2010-03-28). "Appalachian State rallies from 19 points down to win inaugural WBI title". ESPN.com. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncw/recap?gameId=300872026. Retrieved 2010-03-31.

NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989

1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999

2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009

2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014

Broadcasters · AIAW Tournament (pre-NCAA)

Women's National Invitation Tournament

1969

1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979

1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989

1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999

2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

2010, 2011, 2012

2009–10 Women’s basketball team seasons of the Big Ten Conference

Illinois Fighting Illini • Indiana Hoosiers • Iowa Hawkeyes • Michigan Wolverines • Michigan State Spartans • Minnesota Golden Gophers • Northwestern Wildcats • Ohio State Buckeyes • Penn State Lady Lions • Purdue Boilermakers • Wisconsin Badgers

2009–10 women's basketball team seasons of the Atlantic Coast Conference

Boston College Eagles Clemson Tigers Duke Blue Devils Florida State Seminoles Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Maryland Terrapins Miami Hurricanes North Carolina Tar Heels North Carolina State Wolfpack Virginia Cavaliers Virginia Tech Hokies Wake Forest Demon Deacons

2009-10 Women's basketball team seasons of the Big 12 Conference

North Division	Colorado Buffaloes Iowa State Cyclones Kansas Jayhawks Kansas State Wildcats Missouri Tigers Nebraska Cornhuskers

South Division	Baylor Lady Bears Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma State Cowgirls Texas Longhorns Texas A&M Aggies Texas Tech Lady Raiders