The 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November and ended with the Final Four in Indianapolis, April 3–5. Practices officially began on October 3.
This season of NCAA women's basketball games was the first to be played in 10-minute quarters, the standard for FIBA and WNBA play.
Other NCAA changes In addition to the change to quarter play, the NCAA also affords each team three 30-second timeouts and one 60-second timeout per game, and a media timeout will occur at the first dead ball after the 5:00 mark of each quarter. If a timeout is called before the 5:00 mark, that timeout replaces the media timeout. Teams will also be allowed to advance the ball to the front court following a timeout after a made basket, a rebound or change in possession in the last minute of the fourth quarter or any overtime periods.
The bonus situation has also changed, with teams reaching the bonus on the fifth foul of each quarter, where they will be awarded two free throws. Previously, teams shot one-and-one on the seventh foul of the half and reached the two-shot double bonus on the 10th foul. Fouls will reset following each quarter, with all overtime periods counting as extensions of the fourth quarter.
Team changes The Omaha Mavericks began their NCAA Division I and Summit League postseason eligibility this season in a new on-campus venue, Baxter Arena. The first game was a 61–56 exhibition loss to Division II Washburn on November 4; the first regular-season game was a 75–60 win over UCF on November 14. On January 10, the Ole Miss Rebels made their debut in the new Pavilion at Ole Miss against Florida, losing 85–65.
Pre-season polls
The top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls. Associated PressRankingTeam1Connecticut (32)2South Carolina3Notre Dame4Tennessee5Baylor6Ohio State7Florida State8Louisville9Maryland10Oregon State11Mississippi State12Texas13Texas A&M14Duke15Arizona State16Stanford17Oklahoma18Kentucky19Northwestern20South Florida21George Washington22North Carolina23Syracuse24Michigan State25Chattanooga USA Today CoachesRankingTeam1Connecticut (32)2South Carolina3Notre Dame4Tennessee5Baylor6Maryland7Florida State8Louisville9Oregon State10Ohio State11Texas12Duke13Mississippi State14Stanford15Arizona State16Texas A&M17Kentucky18Oklahoma19South Florida20North Carolina21George Washington22DePaul23Iowa24Northwestern25Princeton
Postseason
Conference winners and tournaments Thirty-one athletic conferences each ended their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament. The team with the best regular-season record in each conference was given the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. All conferences also recognize regular-season champions, with co-championships being awarded in the case of ties. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2016 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. For the final time, the Ivy League did not hold a conference tournament, instead giving its automatic invitation to its regular season champion; in case of a tie for the regular-season title (which did not happen this season), the automatic berth would have been decided by a one-game playoff (or series of one-game playoffs if more than two teams were tied).
ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference Coach of the YearConference tournamentTournament venue (city)Tournament winner America East AlbanyMaine Shereesha Richards, Albany Linda Cimino, Binghamton 2016 America East women's basketball tournament Quarterfinals and semifinals:Binghamton University Events Center(Vestal, New York)Final at top remaining seed Albany American Connecticut Breanna Stewart, Connecticut Geno Auriemma, Connecticut 2016 American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament Mohegan Sun Arena(Uncasville, Connecticut) Connecticut Atlantic 10 DuquesneGeorge WashingtonSaint Louis Jackie Kemph, Saint LouisApril Robinson, Duquesne Lisa Stone, Saint Louis 2016 Atlantic 10 women's basketball tournament Richmond Coliseum(Richmond, Virginia) George Washington Atlantic Coast Notre Dame Myisha Hines-Allen, Louisville (media)Brianna Turner, Notre Dame (coaches) Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame 2016 ACC women's basketball tournament Greensboro Coliseum(Greensboro, North Carolina) Notre Dame Atlantic Sun Florida Gulf Coast Whitney Knight, Florida Gulf Coast Karl Smesko, Florida Gulf Coast 2016 ASUN women's basketball tournament Campus sites Jacksonville Big 12 Baylor Brittney Martin, Oklahoma State Jim Littell, Oklahoma State 2016 Big 12 Conference women's basketball tournament Chesapeake Energy Arena(Oklahoma City) Baylor Big East DePaul Chanise Jenkins, DePaul Doug Bruno, DePaul 2016 Big East women's basketball tournament McGrath–Phillips Arena(Chicago) St. John's Big Sky Montana State Jasmine Hommes, Montana State Tricia Binford, Montana State 2016 Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournament Reno Events Center(Reno, Nevada) Idaho Big South UNC Asheville Chatori Major, UNC Asheville Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, UNC Asheville 2016 Big South Conference women's basketball tournament Kimmel Arena(Asheville, North Carolina) UNC Asheville Big Ten Maryland Rachel Banham, Minnesota Teri Moren, Indiana 2016 Big Ten Conference women's basketball tournament Bankers Life Fieldhouse(Indianapolis) Maryland Big West UC Riverside Brittany Crain, UC Riverside John Margaritis, UC Riverside 2016 Big West Conference women's basketball tournament First round and quarterfinals:Bren Events Center(Irvine, California) Semifinals and final:Honda Center(Anaheim, California) Hawaii Colonial James Madison Jazmon Gwathmey, James Madison Kenny Brooks, James Madison 2016 CAA women's basketball tournament The Show Place Arena(Upper Marlboro, Maryland) James Madison CUSA UTEP Kendall Noble, Western Kentucky Keitha Adams, UTEP 2016 Conference USA women's basketball tournament First two rounds and quarterfinals:Bartow Arena(Birmingham, Alabama) Semifinals and final:Legacy Arena(Birmingham, Alabama) Middle Tennessee Horizon Green Bay Kim Demmings, Wright State Kyle Rechlicz, Milwaukee 2016 Horizon League women's basketball tournament Kress Events Center(Green Bay, Wisconsin) Green Bay Ivy Penn Sydney Stipanovich, Penn Mike McLaughlin, Penn No tournament Metro Atlantic Quinnipiac Tori Jarosz, Marist Tricia Fabbri, Quinnipiac 2016 MAAC women's basketball tournament Times Union Center(Albany, New York) Iona Mid-American Ohio (East and overall #1) Central Michigan (West) Nathalie Fontaine, Ball State Sue Guevara, Central Michigan 2016 Mid-American Conference women's basketball tournament First round at campus sites Remainder at Quicken Loans Arena, (Cleveland, Ohio) Buffalo Mid-Eastern Bethune–CookmanNorth Carolina A&T Malia Tate-DeFreitas, Hampton Vanessa Blair-Lewis, Bethune-Cookman 2016 MEAC women's basketball tournament Norfolk Scope(Norfolk, Virginia) North Carolina A&T Missouri Valley Northern Iowa Tyonna Snow, Missouri State Tanya Warren, Northern Iowa 2016 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball tournament iWireless Center(Moline, Illinois) Missouri State Mountain West Colorado State Ellen Nystrom, Colorado State Ryun Williams, Colorado State 2016 Mountain West Conference women's basketball tournament Thomas & Mack Center(Paradise, Nevada) Colorado State Northeast Sacred Heart Hannah Kimmel, Sacred Heart Jessica Mannetti, Sacred Heart 2016 Northeast Conference women's basketball tournament Campus sites Robert Morris Ohio Valley UT Martin Shronda Butts, SIU Edwardsville Kevin McMillan, UT Martin 2016 Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball tournament Nashville Municipal Auditorium(Nashville, Tennessee) Belmont Pac-12 Arizona StateOregon State Jamie Weisner, Oregon State (coaches & media)Jillian Alleyne, Oregon (media) Charli Turner Thorne, Arizona State 2016 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball tournament KeyArena(Seattle) Oregon State Patriot ArmyBucknell Kelsey Minato, Army Aaron Roussell, Bucknell 2016 Patriot League women's basketball tournament Campus sites Army Southeastern South Carolina A'ja Wilson, South Carolina Dawn Staley, South Carolina 2016 SEC women's basketball tournament Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena(Jacksonville, Florida) South Carolina Southern ChattanoogaMercer Kahlia Lawrence, Mercer Susie Gardner, Mercer 2016 Southern Conference women's basketball tournament U.S. Cellular Center(Asheville, North Carolina) Chattanooga Southland Abilene Christian Alexis Mason, Abilene Christian Julie Goodenough, Abilene Christian 2016 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament Leonard E. Merrell Center(Katy, Texas) Central Arkansas Southwestern Alabama StateSouthernTexas Southern Norianna Haynes, Alcorn State Nadine Domond, Grambling State 2016 SWAC women's basketball tournament Toyota Center(Houston, Texas) Alabama State Summit South Dakota Nicole Seekamp, South Dakota Amy Williams, South Dakota 2016 Summit League women's basketball tournament Denny Sanford Premier Center(Sioux Falls, South Dakota) South Dakota State Sun Belt Arkansas State Aundrea Gamble, Arkansas State Bryan Boyer, Arkansas State 2016 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament Lakefront Arena (New Orleans) Troy West Coast BYU Lexi Rydalch, BYU Jeff Judkins, BYU 2016 West Coast Conference women's basketball tournament Orleans Arena(Paradise, Nevada) San Francisco Western New Mexico State Shawnte' Goff, UTRGV Mark Trakh, New Mexico State 2016 WAC women's basketball tournament Orléans Arena(Paradise, Nevada) New Mexico State
Statistical leaders Points per game Rebounds per game Assists per game Steals per game Player School PPG Player School RPG Player School APG Player School SPG Jasmine Nwajei Wagner 29 Anna Stickland Houston Baptist 14.2 Niya Johnson Baylor 8.7 Ashley Deary Northwestern 4.03 Rachel Banham Minnesota 28.6 Jillian Alleyne Oregon 13.6 Rachel Theriot Nebraska 7.3 Chastadie Barrs Lamar 3.97 Kelsey Mitchell Ohio State 26.1 Lexi Martins Lehigh 13.6 Jackie Kemph St. Louis 7 Adella Randle-El Sacramento State 3.77 Kelsey Plum Washington 25.9 Ruvanna Campbell Ill-Chicago 13.5 Caitlin Ingle Drake 6.939 Aliyah Kilpatrick Winthrop 3.59 Lexi Rydalch BYU 24.2 Kalani Purcell BYU 12.6 Roddricka Patton Oklahoma State 6.935 Amani Tatum Manhattan 3.26 Blocked shots per game Field goal percentage Three-point field goal percentage Free throw percentage Player School BPG Player School FG% Player School 3FG% Player School FT% Bego Faz Davalos Fresno State 4 Brionna Jones Maryland 66.5 Shatori Walker-Kimbrough Maryland 54.5 Kim Albrecht Binghamton 91.4 Jasmine Joyner Chattanooga 3.94 Hallie Thome Michigan 63.1 Kelsey Minato Army 47.8 Cartaesha Macklin Southern Illinois 90.5 Jodie Cornelie-Sigmundova Dayton 3.55 Sara Rhine Drake 62.9 Karlie Samuelson Stanford 47.3 Janelle Perez Northwestern State 90.2 Ruth Hamblin Oregon State 3.51 Sarah Cash Youngstown State 60 Jacquie Klotz Bucknall 47.3 Daniele Ewert Alabama State 90.1 Josie Stockill Colgate 3.5 Brianna Turner Notre Dame 59.3 Madison Cable Notre Dame 46 Kelsey Plum Washington 88.96
NCAA tournament
Tournament upsets For this list, a "major upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent. Date Winner Score Loser Region Round March 18 Albany (12) 61-59 Florida (5) Sioux Falls Round of 64 March 19 South Dakota State (12) 74-71 Miami (FL) (5) Lexington Round of 64
Women's NIT
Women's Basketball Invitational
Conference standings
Award winners
All-America teams