Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represents the University of Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats have four Elite Eight appearances and seventeen appearances in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. They have won the SEC tournament twice and SEC regular season championship once.
| Kentucky Wildcats | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| University | University of Kentucky | ||
| Athletic director | Mitch Barnhart | ||
| Head coach | Kenny Brooks (1st season) | ||
| Conference | SEC | ||
| Location | Lexington, Kentucky | ||
| Arena | Memorial Coliseum (Capacity: 8,500) | ||
| Nickname | Wildcats | ||
| Colors | Blue and white | ||
| Uniforms | |||
| |||
| NCAA tournament Elite Eight | |||
| 1982, 2010, 2012, 2013 | |||
| NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | |||
| 1982, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 | |||
| NCAA tournament appearances | |||
| 1982, 1983, 1986, 1991, 1999, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 | |||
| AIAW tournament Sweet Sixteen | |||
| 1981 | |||
| AIAW tournament appearances | |||
| 1980, 1981 | |||
| Conference tournament champions | |||
| 1982, 2022 | |||
| Conference regular season champions | |||
| 2012 | |||
The first University of Kentucky women's basketball team was organized in 1902, and competed for the first time on Feb. 21, 1903. However, in 1924, despite a perfect 10-0 season, the University Senate passed a bill to abolish women's basketball in part because, according to state politicians, "basketball had proven to be a strenuous sport for boys and therefore was too strenuous for girls."
After 50 years, women's basketball was granted varsity status in 1974, and most of the official records maintained by the university only reflect games since that time. The team, coached by Sue Feamster, was given the nickname "Lady Kats", which continued to be used until May 1995.
The team's current head coach is Kenny Brooks, who was hired from Virginia Tech after Kyra Elzy was fired in March 2024.