Indiana Hoosiers women's basketball

Early years

Varsity basketball

In 1971, Bea Gorton became the first head basketball coach for the Indiana University Women's Basketball Team. Like other faculty members, Gorton did not receive compensation for her coaching position. It was considered part of her graduate assistantship while she worked towards her degree. In their inaugural season, they went 14–2, winning their first 12 games of the season before losing at Nationals to Immaculata. In 1982, Indiana joined the Big Ten Conference for women's basketball, and the Hoosiers won the conference title with a 15–3 conference record, under Maryalyce Jeremiah (who was later named Big Ten Coach of the Year). Their season ended with a Second Round loss to #8 Georgia.

From 1971–1976 Gorton coached the Hoosiers to an 81% winning percentage, 2 Elite 8 appearances (1972 & 1974), and AIAW Final 4 appearance in 1973. It was not until 1974 that Indiana University Women's Basketball was integrated into the Athletic Department and sponsored as a Varsity Team.

The 2015–2016 season was a historic one, despite having only one senior and a second year coach. The Hoosiers finished with a 21–12 record with a 12–6 record in conference play under second year coach Teri Moren. Teri Moren was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, the first Indiana women's basketball coach to do so since Maryalyce Jeremiah in 1982. Tyra Buss was also named to the All-Big Ten first team, with Amanda Cahill receiving honorable mention. The Hoosiers finished a perfect 14–0 at home and finished fourth in the Big Ten conference, behind #5 Maryland, #9 Ohio State, and #16 Michigan State. After regular season play was over, the Hoosiers received a #9 seed and were able to participate in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 14 years. Indiana defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 62–58 for their first NCAA tournament win in 33 years. The Hoosiers then fell to #1 seed Notre Dame.

NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament

The Hoosiers have competed in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament five times. Their combined record is 2–5.^[4]

Career leaders

• Points scored: 2,156 (Tyra Buss 2015-present)
• Assists: 533 (Tisha Hill 1989–92)
• Rebounds: 1,273 (Denise Jackson 1981–84)
• Steals: 271 (Tyra Buss 2015-present)
• Blocks: 269 (Quacy Barnes 1995–98)

Single season leaders

• Points scored: 642 (Kama Abram 1984–85)
• Assists: 206 (Lori Burroughs 1979–80)
• Rebounds: 366 (Denise Jackson 1982–83)
• Steals: 96 (Lori Burroughs 1978–79)
• Blocks: 95 (Quacy Barnes 1996–97)

Single game leaders

• Points scored: 40 (by Karna Abram vs Michigan State – 1987)
• Assists: 15 (by Tracy Krick vs Purdue – 1985)
• Rebounds: 22 (by Denise Jackson vs Purdue – 1981 & by Shirley Bryant vs Michigan – 1985)
• Steals: 9 (by Kim Roberson vs Wake Forest – 2008, by Deb McClur vs Northwestern – 1982, and by Amy Cherubini vs UIC – 1991)
• Blocks: 10 (by Quacy Barnes vs Youngstown State – 1997)

Hall of Fame Inductees

• Abram Chier, Karna^[5]
  • Inducted in 2008.
  • Abram won basketball letters in 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987. She was First Team All-Big Ten in 1985, 1986, and 1987. Additionally, Abram was Academic Big-Ten in 1987. She was the first Indiana University Female Athlete of the Year in 1987.
  • Second leading scorer in Indiana history and lead the Big Ten in scoring in 1987.
• Gorton, Bea^[6]
  • Inducted in 2014.
  • First Women's Head Basketball Coach. Served as head coach from 1971–1976 while she was a graduate student on the Bloomington campus.
  • Under her direction, the varsity program became the most accomplished Hoosier women's basketball team to date. Gorton had an 81% winning percentage, 2 Elite 8 appearances (1972 and 1974), and an AIAW Final 4 appearance in 1973.
  • She served as an advisor to the AIAW from 1975–1980, served on the Kodak Coaches All-American Selection Committee in 1975–1976, was a speaker at the International Olympic Scientific Congress in 1984 and 1988, and consulted at the Paralympics in New York City in 1984.
• Jackson Salters, Denise^[7]
  • Inducted in 2010.
  • Salters won basketball letters in 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984. She was First Team All-Big Ten in 1983 and 1984. She was also a District All-American in 1983 and 1984, two-time Wade Trophy finalist, and IU Female Athlete of the Year in 1983.
  • Indiana's all-time leading scorer with 1,917 points and all-time leading rebounder with 1,263 rebounds.
• Oing, Debra "Debbie"^[8]
  • Inducted in 1997.
  • Oing played in the first few years of varsity basketball at Indiana University from 1972–1975. She led the team to a fourth-place finish in the National Tournament in 1973.
  • Won Kodak All-American honors in 1975. She was National AAU Tournament Rookie of the Year in 1975 and member of the 1975 AAU All-Star Team.
• VanDerveer, Tara^[9]
  • Inducted in 1995.
  • VanDerveer was a three-year letter winner for the Indiana University Women's Basketball Team in 1973, 1974, and 1975.
  • She went on to be named big Ten Coach of the Year at Ohio State in 1984 and 1985, Pac 10 Coach of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 1995.
  • Named National Coach of the Year in 1988, 1989, and 1990.
  • Named head coach of the World University Games Team in 1991 and 1995–1996 USA Women's National Team which won Gold at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
  • Currently the head coach at Stanford.
  • Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2011.
  • Became only the second Division I women's coach, and third Division I coach overall, with 1,000 career wins in 2017.

Wylie Hall (1890–1896)

In the beginning of Women's Gymnasium the basement of Wylie Hall was used. Beginning in 1890, physical training for women occurred in the room pictured above. This space proved to be difficult in regards to playing basketball. Six support pillars proved a safety hazard which caused the women to play basketball more cautiously than desired. In addition, Wylie Hall housed the chemistry laboratories so the fumes in the basement at times were almost unbearable. Other difficulties with this space included the fact that the hall and stairway remained unheated and became very cold in the winter months and the ceiling was very low in the women could almost touch the basketball rim. However, the women proved to be crafty in their method of accessing the gym.

Mitchell Hall (1896–1906)

Mitchell Hall was used after the women's gymnasium was moved from Wylie Hall and before the completion of the Student Building. From 1886 to 1906, Mitchell Hall was the physical activity center for the coed athlete. The women were permitted to use the men's gymnasium for their spring championship game which became an annual tradition and was opened to the public for a small fee in 1899 marking the first time at Indiana University women were seen performing athletic activities.

Frances Morgan Swain Student Building(1906-1960s)

Formerly known as the Student Building, the women used this building as the athletic hub of campus for several decades. Mrs. Joseph Swain proposed the Student Building as the Woman's Building and believed it should serve as a social center for the students at the University and proved an adequate gymnasium. After the completion of the building, the Women's Gymnasium took over the north wing of the Student Building which had an exercising room that was 80 feet long by 50 feet wide. It had a gallery overlooking the room for viewing the athletics. In this building, the athletic program for women continued to expand. In 1906, the inaugural year of the Student Building, the Senior girls organized a team. Their ignition of creating an interclass competition added much excitement among the classes. There were enough girls interested in basketball that two freshman teams were organized. They held a scrimmage between the "Reds" and "Whites" to determine which would represent the Freshman class in the interclass tournament. Juliette Maxwell and Mary Roddy acted as coaches for the teams. This form of interclass rivalry continued throughout the early decades of the 20th century.

The interclass competition created a system for women to organize themselves into teams. However, the best athletes in the program were selected for the honorary varsity team. The basketball photo in the 1922 Arbutus labeled the interclass competition "As Thrilling as the Men's Game". Basketball held the hearts of coed athletes as year after year a surplus of women tried out to represent their respective class teams. The development of the program led to more drills and practices for women to improve their skills.

It is unclear the exact date the Student Building ceased to be the main arena of women's athletics at Indiana University. It is known that in 1940 additions were made to Student Building which was still used as the headquarters for athletics. Sometime after this the women's athletics moved to the Wildermuth center which would have occurred after the Men's Gymnasium moved to its new facilities.

Wildermuth Field house (1960s–1972)

The Wildermuth Fieldhouse was used for the Men's Gymnasium and IU Men's Basketball Team starting in the 1928–1929 season. The Men's Basketball team relocated to the "New Fieldhouse" in the 1960 season and then to Assembly Hall in 1971. While documentation is unclear on the exact transition of Women's Gymnasium to the School of Public Health, it is known the facilities were used by coed athletes by the 1960s.

Assembly Hall (1972–present)

Women's Basketball was played at Assembly Hall starting in 1972, but their program was not integrated into the Athletic Department until 1974. It was in 1974 that the University acknowledged the presence and included women's athletics as part of the Athletic Department and gave full support in the development of the program. This occurs two years after Title IX was passed. Assembly Hall has continued to be the home of Women's Athletics and especially women's basketball since the early 1970s.

Coaching staff