In basketball, field-goal percentage is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted.[1] The top 25 highest career percentages in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's basketball history are listed below. While the NCAA's current three-division format has been in place since the 1973–74 season,[2] it did not sponsor women's sports until the 1981–82 school year; before that time, women's college sports were governed by the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW).
To be listed in the Division I record book, a player must have been active in at least three D-I seasons during the era in which the NCAA governed women's sports if she played four seasons in all, or two D-I seasons in a three-season career.[3] However, for those players who qualify for inclusion in the record book, AIAW statistics are included. To qualify for career leaderboards, a player must have made at least 400 field goals in her college career.
No listed players have been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, but Ruth Riley and Kara Wolters have been enshrined in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Among the career top 25, only two have played at more than one school. Celena Taborn split her college career between Furman and Butler, and Liz Sherwood split hers between UConn and Vanderbilt. Monika Czinano[a][5] of Iowa, Mya Berkman of Liberty, Taborn, and the currently active Mackenzie Holmes of Indiana are the only players among the top 25 to have played in more than four college seasons. All benefited from the NCAA's decision not to count the 2020–21 season, extensively impacted by COVID-19, against the eligibility of any basketball player.
Six programs have placed more than one player in the top 25. UConn has three in all, with Sherwood joined by all-time leader Tamika Williams and Wolters, who played their entire college careers at UConn. Five programs have two each: Georgia Southern (Regina Days and Trina Roberts), Iowa (Czinano and Megan Gustafson), Maryland (Crystal Langhorne and Brionna Jones), Tennessee Tech (Renay Adams and Roschelle Vaughn), and Vanderbilt (Chantelle Anderson and Sherwood).
Key
edit^ | Player still competing in NCAA Division I[b] |
C | Player was active in the 2020–21 season, benefiting from the NCAA's blanket COVID-19 eligibility waiver |
† | Elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame |
* | Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
Team (X) | Denotes the number of times a player from that team appears on the list |
Top 25 career field-goal percentage leaders
editCurrent through the 2022–23 season.
Player | Team | Career start |
Career end |
Games played |
Total field goals made |
Total field goals attempted |
Percentage | Ref.[c] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tamika Williams | UConn | 1998 | 2002 | 132 | 560 | 797 | 70.3 | |
Deneka Knowles | Southeastern Louisiana | 1992 | 1996 | 106 | 578 | 849 | 68.1 | |
Carolyn Swords | Boston College | 2007 | 2011 | 133 | 850 | 1,207 | 67.6 | |
Lidiya Varbanova | Boise State | 1990 | 1994 | 107 | 754 | 1,119 | 67.4 | |
Monika CzinanoC | Iowa | 2018 | 2023 | 162 | 1,031 | 1,537 | 67.1 | [6] |
Megan Gustafson | Iowa (2) | 2015 | 2018 | 135 | 1,136 | 1,731 | 65.6 | |
Crystal Langhorne | Maryland | 2004 | 2008 | 135 | 889 | 1,363 | 65.2 | |
Regina Days | Georgia Southern | 1984 | 1988 | 111 | 835 | 1,282 | 65.1 | |
Ruthy Hebard | Oregon | 2016 | 2020 | 144 | 987 | 1,516 | 65.1 | |
Chantelle Anderson | Vanderbilt | 1999 | 2003 | 137 | 1,020 | 1,568 | 65.1 | |
Brionna Jones | Maryland (2) | 2013 | 2017 | 142 | 803 | 1,236 | 65.0 | |
Kelly Lyons | Old Dominion | 1986 | 1990 | 122 | 887 | 1,373 | 64.6 | |
Renay Adams | Tennessee Tech | 1987 | 1991 | 120 | 600 | 931 | 64.4 | |
Mya BerkmanC | Liberty | 2018 | 2023 | 154 | 580 | 900 | 64.4 | [7] |
Celena TabornC | Furman / Butler | 2017 | 2022[d] | 143 | 793 | 1,233 | 64.3 | [8] |
Angie Welle | Iowa State | 1998 | 2002 | 132 | 791 | 1,234 | 64.1 | |
Kalani Brown | Baylor | 2015 | 2018 | 147 | 884 | 1,384 | 63.9 | |
Barbara Farris | Tulane | 1994 | 1998 | 118 | 660 | 1,036 | 63.7 | |
Liz Sherwood | UConn (2) / Vanderbilt (2) |
2003 | 2008[e] | 124 | 506 | 795 | 63.6 | |
Mackenzie Holmes^[f] | Indiana | 2019 | present | 115 | 783 | 1,233 | 63.5 | [9] |
Trina Roberts | Georgia Southern (2) | 1980 | 1984 | 117 | 695 | 1,099 | 63.2 | |
Myndee Kay Larsen | Southern Utah | 1994 | 1998 | 103 | 707 | 1,118 | 63.2 | |
Ruth Riley† | Notre Dame | 1997 | 2001 | 131 | 777 | 1,229 | 63.2 | |
Tyish Hall | Duke | 1993 | 1997 | 109 | 543 | 862 | 63.0 | |
Kara Wolters† | UConn (3) | 1993 | 1997 | 137 | 947 | 1,507 | 62.8 |
Footnotes
edit- ^ Last name pronounced /sɪˈnɒnoʊ/; si-NON-oh[4]
- ^ Defined here as being eligible to play in the 2023–24 season.
- ^ Except as otherwise noted, references for each entry are cited in the "General references" section below.
- ^ Taborn played four seasons at Furman and took advantage of the COVID-19 eligibility waiver to transfer to Butler for her fifth and final college season.
- ^ Although Sherwood's career spanned five seasons, she only played in four. She transferred from UConn after the 2003–04 season, sat out the 2004–05 season due to then-current NCAA transfer rules, and played her final three seasons at Vanderbilt.
- ^ Holmes is eligible to return in the 2023–24 season due to the COVID-19 waiver.
References
edit- General
- "Career Records: Field-Goal Percentage" (PDF). 2021–22 Division I Women's Basketball Records. NCAA. p. 15. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
- Specific
- ^ "Basketball glossary". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
- ^ "NCAA 101: Our Three Divisions". NCAA. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ "2021–22 Division I Women's Basketball Records" (PDF). NCAA. p. 12. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
- ^ "2021–22 Roster: Pronunciation Guide" (PDF). 2021–22 Iowa Women's Basketball Media Guide. Iowa Hawkeyes. p. 3. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
- ^ Dubrof, Jeff (February 20, 2022). "Iowa's Monika Czinano to return next season". Des Moines, IA: KCCI. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
- ^ "Monika Czinano: Stats". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- ^ "Mya Berkman". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- ^ "2021–22 Women's Basketball Stats". Butler Bulldogs. Retrieved June 6, 2022. Statistics here added to Taborn's entry in the 2021–22 NCAA record book.
- ^ "Mackenzie Holmes". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2023.