• About UANews
• Sign up for News
• Resources for Media
• Calendar
• Contact Us

Coach ends 17-year tenure as the winningest coach in UA women's basketball history.

By University Communications
March 17, 2008

Arizona women’s basketball coach Joan Bonvicini will not serve the final year of her contract for the 2008-09 season, University of Arizona athletics director Jim Livengood announced today.

Bonvicini, the Wildcats head coach since the 1991-92 season and a 600-game winner in nearly three decades of coaching, completed her 17th season in Tucson last week with a 287-223 overall record. The 2008 team finished 10-20 and 4-14 for an eighth place tie in the Pacific-10 Conference.

“I want to thank Joan for her service to the UA, to the women’s basketball program and to the Tucson community. She has been a great ambassador for the athletics department,” Livengood said.

“We’ll begin a national search for Joan’s successor immediately,” he added.

“I want to thank the UA for the opportunity to coach here. The UA is a great university and I have had the pleasure of coaching some wonderful student-athletes who have been an inspiration to me,” Bonvicini said. “I also want to thank all the assistant coaches who have been great staff members and friends to me personally and to our program. Our support staff has been great and very instrumental to the success of our team.

“I have had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but I also feel I have worked with wonderful people during my years here,” Bonvicini said. “I would also like to thank all the TopCats who have been extremely faithful and supportive in watching our games and being a part of our program over the years, and the fans in Tucson have made me feel so welcome.”

Arizona tied for first place in 2005 with a 14-4 mark in its 24-9 campaign culminating in a third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, but slipped to a combined 29-63 over the past three years and 11-43 in league play.

In her 17 seasons, Arizona made seven NCAA tournaments, with the 1997-98 team advancing to the NCAA East Regional and finishing 23-7. Her 1995-6 team won the WNIT Championship and the 2000-01 team also was invited to the WNIT, advancing to the second round.

An accomplished collegiate player at Southern Connecticut State, Bonvicini’s overall college record as a coach, including 12 years at Long Beach State prior to assuming the UA job, is 612-294. She was 325-71 in her tenure at LBSU, including NCAA tournament bids her last 10 seasons, with two Final Fours and six Regional appearances. She is the winningest coach in UA women’s history and became the 18th coach in Division I history to reach the 600-victory milestone in February 2007.