Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball

The Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball team (formerly the Lady Monarchs) represents Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The team currently competes in the NCAA Division I as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.

Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball
2024–25 Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball team
University	Old Dominion University
First season	1969–70; 56 years ago
All-time record	1166–502
Head coach	DeLisha Milton-Jones (5th season)
Conference	Sun Belt
Location	Norfolk, Virginia
Arena	Chartway Arena (capacity: 8,472[1])
Nickname	Monarchs (2013–present) Lady Monarchs (1969–2012)
Colors	Slate blue, silver, and light blue[2]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA tournament champions
1985
Other NCAA tournament results Runner-up 1997 Final Four 1983, 1985, 1997 Elite Eight 1983, 1984, 1985, 1997, 2002 Sweet Sixteen 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008 Appearances 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
AIAW tournament champions
1979, 1980
Other AIAW tournament results Final Four 1979, 1980, 1981 Elite Eight 1979, 1980, 1981 Sweet Sixteen 1979, 1980, 1981 Appearances 1979, 1980, 1981
Conference tournament champions Sun Belt: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1990 CAA: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Conference regular-season champions Sun Belt: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989 CAA: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010

The ODU Monarchs women's basketball team contributed to the initial rise in popularity of women's intercollegiate basketball in the United States in the 1970s. Women's college basketball was organized under the auspices of the AIAW in the early 1970s, at a time when competitive power was distributed among small colleges that had established a niche (such as Immaculata, Delta State, West Chester State, Wayland Baptist and Stephen F. Austin).

ODU won two AIAW national championships in 1979 and 1980 in dominating fashion with star players, Nancy Lieberman and Anne Donovan. Led by Medina Dixon and Tracy Claxton, ODU won the NCAA Division I championship in their 1984–85 season, defeating the University of Georgia 70–65.

Old Dominion, along with UCLA and Tennessee, led the rise to prominence of large schools with national reputations to the top intercollegiate level, before the NCAA began sponsoring sports for women.

Rivalries

Old Dominion team of 1936

Old Dominion (in white) game in 1971

Old Dominion–James Madison: All-Time Record

Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	ODU wins	ODU losses	Win %
77	1969–70 (won 66–39)	February 28, 2013 (lost 61–77)	52	25	.675

Old Dominion–VCU: All-Time Record

Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	ODU wins	ODU losses	Win %
79	1969–70 (won 49–36)	November 21, 2021 (lost 48–71)	60	19	.759

Old Dominion–Virginia: All-Time Record

Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	ODU wins	ODU losses	Win %
35	1973–74 (lost 40–46)	November 24, 2019 (lost 53–56)	19	16	.543

Old Dominion–Virginia Tech: All-Time Record

Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	ODU wins	ODU losses	Win %
33	1972–73 (won 31–29)	November 25, 2014 (won 69–62)	25	8	.758

Old Dominion–William & Mary: All-Time Record

Games played	First meeting	Last meeting	ODU wins	ODU losses	Win %
68	1969–70 (won 62–22)	December 5, 2021 (won 68–55)	61	7	.897

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1982	#1	First round Sweet Sixteen	#8 St. Peter's #4 Kansas State	W 75–42 L 67–76
1983	#2	First round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#7 St. John's #3 Maryland #5 Penn State #1 Louisiana Tech	W 86–63 W 74–57 W 74–60 L 55–71
1984	#1	First round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#8 Penn State #4 NC State #3 Cheyney State	W 87–65 W 73-71 (OT) L 71–80
1985	#1	First round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Title Game	#8 Syracuse #4 NC State #2 Ohio State #2 NE Louisiana #2 Georgia	W 88–63 W 77–67 W 72–68 W 57–47 W 70–65
1987	#5	Second round Sweet Sixteen	#4 North Carolina #1 Auburn	W 76–58 L 61–77
1988	#6	Second round	#3 Rutgers	L 78–88
1989	#6	First round Second round	#11 Villanova #3 Ole Miss	W 66–41 L 58–74
1990	#8	First round Second round	#9 St. Joseph's #1 Tennessee	W 91–69 L 68–87
1992	#10	First round	#7 North Carolina	L 54–60
1993	#7	First round Second round	#10 Tennessee Tech #2 Iowa	W 77–60 L 56–82
1994	#6	First round Second round	#11 St. Joseph's #3 North Carolina	W 56–55 L 52–63
1995	#8	First round	#9 FIU	L 76–81
1996	#2	First round Second round Sweet Sixteen	#15 Holy Cross #10 Toledo #3 Virginia	W 83–56 W 72–66 L 60–72
1997	#1	First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Title Game	#16 Liberty #8 Purdue #4 LSU #3 Florida #1 Stanford #3 Tennessee	W 102–52 W 69–65 W 62–49 W 53–51 W 83–82 L 59–68
1998	#1	First round Second round Sweet Sixteen	#16 St. Francis (PA) #9 Nebraska #4 NC State	W 92–39 W 75–60 L 54–55
1999	#2	First round Second round Sweet Sixteen	#15 Tennessee Tech #10 Maine #3 Duke	W 74–48 W 72–62 L 63–76
2000	#4	First round Second round Sweet Sixteen	#13 Green Bay #12 SMU #1 Louisiana Tech	W 94–85 W 96–76 L 74–86
2001	#11	First round	#6 Washington	L 65–67
2002	#7	First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#10 Georgia #2 Purdue #3 Kansas State #1 Connecticut	W 68–54 W 74-70 (OT) W 82–62 L 64–85
2003	#12	First round	#5 Boston College	L 72–73
2004	#8	First round	#9 Marquette	L 64–67
2005	#11	First round	#6 Virginia	L 57–79
2006	#10	First round	#7 George Washington	L 72–87
2007	#7	First round	#10 Florida State	L 75–85
2008	#5	First round Second round Sweet Sixteen	#12 Liberty #4 Virginia #1 Connecticut	W 82–62 W 88-85 (OT) L 63–78

AIAW Division I

The Lady Monarchs made three appearances in the AIAW women's basketball tournament, with a combined record of 11–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1979	First round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship	Kansas State Maryland UCLA Louisiana Tech	W, 96–75 W, 69–51 W, 87–82 W, 75–65
1980	First round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship	BYU Rutgers Louisiana Tech Tennessee	W, 88–66 W, 84–62 W, 73–59 W, 68–53
1981	Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Third-place game	Stephen F. Austin Long Beach State Tennessee USC	W, 60–54 W, 76–60 L, 65–68 W, 68–65

Home venues

Old Dominion play their home games at Chartway Arena. In the past, the team played at the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse from 1970 to 2002.

Notable players

• Lucienne Berthieu
• Medina Dixon
• Anne Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018),coach and player at 6'8"
• Adrienne Goodson
• T. J. Jordan
• Nancy Lieberman (born 1958), WNBA Hall of Fame basketball player, general manager, and coach, Olympic silver medal
• Clarisse Machanguana
• Hamchétou Maïga
• Inge Nissen
• Ticha Penicheiro
• Mery Andrade
• Nyree Roberts
• Rhonda Rompola
• Kim Aston
• Jackie Kenney
• TJ Jones
• Kelly Lyons
• Celeste Hill

Coaches

• Mary Jackson (1969–1973)
• Debbie Wilson (1973–1974)
• Pam Parsons (1974–1977)
• Marianne Stanley (1977–1987)
• Wendy Larry (1987–2011)
• Karen Barefoot (2011–2017)
• Nikki McCray-Penson (2017–2020)
• DeLisha Milton-Jones (2020–present)

Seasons

Year	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Independent (1969–1982)
1969–70	Mary Jackson	16–2
1970–71	Mary Jackson	8–7
1971–72	Mary Jackson	12–7
1972–73	Mary Jackson	7–9
1973–74	Debbie Wilson	7–7
1974–75	Pam Parsons	13–9
1975–76	Pam Parsons	15–11
1976–77	Pam Parsons	23–9			NWIT Semifinals
1977–78	Marianne Stanley	30–4			NWIT Champions
1978–79	Marianne Stanley	35–1			AIAW Champions
1979–80	Marianne Stanley	37–1			AIAW Champions
1980–81	Marianne Stanley	28–7			AIAW 3rd Place
1981–82	Marianne Stanley	22–6			NCAA Sweet 16
Sun Belt Conference (1982–1991)
1982–83	Marianne Stanley	29–6		1st	NCAA Final Four
1983–84	Marianne Stanley	24–5		1st	NCAA Elite Eight
1984–85	Marianne Stanley	31–3	6–0	1st	NCAA Champions
1985–86	Marianne Stanley	15–13	5–1	2nd
1986–87	Marianne Stanley	18–13	5–1	2nd	NCAA Sweet 16
1987–88	Wendy Larry	17–12	6–0	1st	NCAA 2nd Round
1988–89	Wendy Larry	23–9	5–1	1st	NCAA 2nd Round
1989–90	Wendy Larry	21–10	4–2	2nd	NCAA 2nd Round
1990–91	Wendy Larry	5–21	2–4	5th
Colonial Athletic Association (1991–2013)
1991–92	Wendy Larry	20–11	9–5	3rd	NCAA 1st Round
1992–93	Wendy Larry	22–8	14–0	1st	NCAA 2nd Round
1993–94	Wendy Larry	25–6	14–0	1st	NCAA 2nd Round
1994–95	Wendy Larry	27–6	13–1	T-1st	NCAA 1st Round
1995–96	Wendy Larry	29–3	16–0	1st	NCAA Sweet 16
1996–97	Wendy Larry	34–2	16–0	1st	NCAA Runner-up
1997–98	Wendy Larry	29–3	16–0	1st	NCAA Sweet 16
1998–99	Wendy Larry	28–4	16–0	1st	NCAA Sweet 16
1999–00	Wendy Larry	29–5	16–0	1st	NCAA Sweet 16
2000–01	Wendy Larry	21–9	15–1	1st	NCAA 1st Round
2001–02	Wendy Larry	28–6	18–0	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2002–03	Wendy Larry	21–11	15–3	T-1st	NCAA 1st Round
2003–04	Wendy Larry	25–7	17–1	1st	NCAA 1st Round
2004–05	Wendy Larry	22–9	15–3	2nd	NCAA 1st Round
2005–06	Wendy Larry	22–9	17–1	1st	NCAA 1st Round
2006–07	Wendy Larry	24–9	17–1	1st	NCAA 1st Round
2007–08	Wendy Larry	31–5	17–1	1st	NCAA Sweet 16
2008–09	Wendy Larry	17–13	11–7	4th
2009–10	Wendy Larry	19–14	14–4	1st	WNIT 2nd Round
2010–11	Wendy Larry	20–11	14–4	T-2nd	WNIT 1st Round
2011–12	Karen Barefoot	11–21	7–11	T-8th
2012–13	Karen Barefoot	19–12	10–8	T-4th	WNIT 1st Round
Conference USA (2013–2022)
2013–14	Karen Barefoot	18–16	9–7	T-6th	WNIT 2nd Round
2014–15	Karen Barefoot	21–13	11–7	T-4th	WNIT 2nd Round
2015–16	Karen Barefoot	17–17	10–8	5th
2016–17	Karen Barefoot	17–14	11–7	6th
2017–18	Nikki McCray-Penson	8–23	6–10	T-10th
2018–19	Nikki McCray-Penson	21–11	10–6	T-5th	WNIT 1st Round
2019–20	Nikki McCray-Penson	24–6	14–4	T-2nd
2020–21	DeLisha Milton-Jones	13–11	7–9	6th East
2021–22	DeLisha Milton-Jones	24–10	12–6	3rd East	WNIT 2nd Round
Sun Belt Conference (2022–present)
2022–23	DeLisha Milton-Jones	22–12	12–6	T-4th
2023–24	DeLisha Milton-Jones	22–10	12–6	4th	WNIT 2nd Round
Total:		1166–502 (.699)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

• Source: Old Dominion Athletics,^[3] Sun Belt Conference,^[4] Colonial Athletic Association^[5]

See also

• 1984–85 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball team
• 1985 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1979 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship
• 1980 AIAW National Division I Basketball Championship
• Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament
• Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball tournament
• Women's Basketball at ODU, Special Collections and University Archives Wiki, Old Dominion University Libraries