Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus UW-Oshkosh (Ex.) on October 28, 2025 at 6:30 PM
6:30 PM
Women's Basketball
UW-Oshkosh (Ex.)
Iowa State University Athletics
Women's Basketball
Fennelly, Bill
Bill Fennelly
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- coachf@iastate.edu
- Phone:
- 515-294-3436
The dean of Big 12 women's basketball coaches, Bill Fennelly inherited an Iowa State program that had never reached the NCAA Tournament and has since transformed it into one of the nation’s elite and an NCAA Tournament regular. He enjoys instant credibility with student-athletes, administrators and fans, having established a solid foundation for his program based on academics, athletics and character. That foundation, known as the "Iowa State Way," has grown into a model of success that has been matched by very few women's basketball programs nationally.
Entering his 31st season in 2025-26 at Iowa State and 38th as a Division I head coach, Fennelly is one of the game’s most respected coaches and the numbers bear witness to the on-court success he has achieved throughout his distinguished career. He has accumulated 800 career victories (800-378) and averaged over 21 wins per season in his 30 years at Iowa State (634-325). Fennelly’s teams have made 31 postseason appearances (26 NCAA, 5 WNIT) in his 37 seasons as a head coach and his 800 career victories rank third among active Division I coaches. He is also the longest tenured active Power 4 basketball coach.
Iowa State Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard and then-University President Dr. Gregory Geoffroy awarded Fennelly a lifetime contract following the 2006-07 campaign, displaying their ultimate confidence in his ability to lead the Cyclones for the long term. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Winning Program
Fennelly invigorated the Iowa State women's basketball program from the day he arrived in Ames. He took a program that had won just 237 games in its first 20 years and has guided it to 25Â postseason appearances, a pair of NCAA Elite Eight berths, six trips to the NCAA Sweet 16, three Big 12 Tournament titles, a regular-season conference crown and 18, 20-win seasons. Fennelly is the winningest coach in Iowa State history, regardless of sport.
Iowa State is fresh off its 23rd NCAA Tournament berth and its fourth consecutive 20-win season. The Cyclones won just eight games the year before Fennelly’s arrival (and 18 combined in the three previous campaigns), but his first season saw the Cyclones win 17 games, and in just his second season he guided Iowa State to the first of its 23 NCAA Tournament berths on his watch, with those NCAA trips producing 23 wins.
Arguably one of the most impressive coaching jobs of his career, Fennelly guided the 2023-24 roster, a group that returned just 25 percent of minutes from the 2023 Big 12 Championship, back to the title game following a fourth-place finish in regular-season league play. Fennelly and staff signed the No. 13 recruiting class in 2023, a group that included future All-Big 12 honorees Audi Crooks and Addy Brown as well as a two-time Division II WBCA All-American Hannah Belanger. The young squad recorded a program-record six wins over AP Top 25 opponents in 2023-24, including season sweeps of Baylor and Kansas State. A No. 7 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the Cyclones faced off with No. 10-seed Maryland in Stanford, California during First Round action. Despite falling behind by 20 points late in the first half, Iowa State used a record-breaking performances by Audi Crooks (40 points, 18-of-20 FG) and Emily Ryan (18 points, 14 assists) as well as the second-largest comeback in tournament history to defeat the Terps, 93-86.
Iowa State shocked the women's basketball world when it knocked off top-seeded Connecticut in 1999 to advance to the school's first NCAA Elite Eight. Ten years later, the 2009 Cyclones put their stamp on women's basketball history once again by overcoming a seven-point deficit with 1:30 left to defeat Michigan State and reach the school's second NCAA Elite Eight. Under Fennelly, ISU has made six NCAA Sweet 16s, including a streak of three-straight from 1999 to 2001 and back-to-back appearances in 2009 and 2010. Iowa State was one of just five schools to reach the NCAA Sweet 16 in both of those seasons. The most recent Sweet 16 appearance in 2022 marked the sixth trip for the Cyclones after recording a program-record 28 victories, the ninth time Fennelly has guided ISU to 25 or more wins in a season.
The Cyclones have been a consistent contender in the Big 12, the nation's best conference, since its inception in Fennelly's second season (1996-97) on the ISU bench. The 1999-2000 ISU squad shared the school's first Big 12 regular-season championship and Iowa State has finished in the top half of the league's final standings in 23Â of its 29Â seasons in the Big 12 Era.
Iowa State has enjoyed more success than almost any other team in the history of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship, winning 34 tournament contests. The Cyclones cut down the nets in 2023 after knocking off Baylor, No. 14 Oklahoma and No. 15 Texas in three-consecutive days for the tournament title and automatic NCAA Tournament berth. Iowa State also captured Big 12 tournament titles in 2000 and 2001 and has played in six Championship games. The Cyclones’ 292 Big 12 regular-season victories rank second all-time.
Fennelly's leadership has produced 11 ISU All-Americans in Stacy Frese, Angie Welle, Anne O'Neil, Lyndsey Medders, Alison Lacey, Kelsey Bolte, Chelsea Poppens, Hallie Christofferson, Bridget Carleton, Ashley Joens and Audi Crooks. His Cyclones have earned all-conference recognition over 50 times, while 16Â of his players have been selected in the WNBA Draft. Stephanie Soares was selected fourth overall in the 2023 draft by the Washington Mystics and was traded moments later to the Dallas Wings. Joens followed as the 19th pick, also by Dallas. Alison Lacey was taken as the 10th pick in the 2010 draft by Seattle and became the first Cyclone to win a WNBA Championship in 2010 when the Storm defeated Atlanta. In 2013, Iowa State was one of just five schools with multiple players selected in the WNBA Draft when Chelsea Poppens (2nd/18th) was picked by the Seattle Storm and Anna Prins (2nd/23rd) went to the Connecticut Sun.Â
Carleton left Iowa State as one of the program’s most decorated players ever. She was honored as an All-American by every outlet and was the first Cyclone to be named Big 12 Player of the Year. As capstone to her legendary Cyclone career, she became the first Cyclone to earn a WBCA position award and be named a WBCA All-American. Carleton won the Cheryl Miller Award, honoring the nation’s top small forward, and was included in the 2019 Naismith Starting Five. Carleton recently completed her sixth season with the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx and first as a regular in the starting lineup, reaching the 2024 WNBA Finals and being named the squad’s Most Improved Player.
ISU's Ashley Joens became the first three-time winner of the Cheryl Miller Award, earning the honor in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Joens owns a majority of the trophies in the award's eight-year history. She was named a Second Team All-American by the USBWA and a Third Team All-American by the Associated Press in 2023. She is the only player in program history to make multiple USBWA All-America teams and joins Angie Welle as the only player in ISU history to make multiple AP All-America squads. In 2023, Joens was honored as the Big 12 Player of the Year and was recognized as the female recipient of the inaugural Bob Bowlsby Award, the conference’s highest honor for the men’s and women’s student-athlete of the year.
Nationally Respected
A three-time finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award (2001, 2002, 2005), Fennelly’s peers also voted him as the WBCA District 5 Coach of the Year twice (1999, 2005) and he finished runner-up to Tennessee's Pat Summitt in 1998 Associated Press Women's Coach of the Year balloting.
The turnaround in Ames has been noticed on a national level as Fennelly's squads spent the better part of 12Â seasons in The Associated Press Top 25, including 58Â weeks in the Top 10.
International Experience
Fennelly has served four stints as a member of a USA Basketball coaching staff, most recently capturing the gold medal as head coach at the 2011 World University Games in Shenzhen, China.
Previously, Fennelly won gold as an assistant at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championships in Thailand, the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Argentina and the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival in St. Louis, Mo.
Academics
Fennelly made academics a top priority for his Cyclone squads, and his student-athletes have flourished in the classroom. Every student-athlete who has completed her eligibility under Fennelly has graduated from Iowa State with a degree. Former Cyclone women's basketball players are scattered all over the globe enjoying careers as doctors, lawyers, broadcasters, teachers, accountants and coaches. Many also have continued their playing careers professionally overseas and in the WNBA.
During Fennelly's tenure, Iowa State has been represented on the academic all-conference list 166Â times. Seven Cyclones earned College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America honors and an ISU player has made the CSC Academic All-District list 19 times during that span.
Family
For the Fennelly family, basketball is a way of life. Fennelly insists that his wife, Deb, is his all-time greatest recruit, and she has been an integral part of ISU's success, making each new Cyclone feel like a part of her own family. The couple's oldest son, Billy, has gone into the family business and joined the Cyclone staff as the Director of Player Development in July 2010 before moving into an assistant’s role in 2012. Billy is married to former Cyclone great Lyndsey Medders, who ranks third all-time in assists at ISU. Steven, the youngest son of Bill and Deb, graduated from ISU in 2011 and served as a graduate assistant for the Cyclones (2011-13) before being named an assistant at Cal State Fullerton in 2013. He began working at Idaho as an assistant coach in the summer of 2016 before taking an assistant coach position at UNI from 2017-2022.
Fan Support
Fennelly took a personal approach to growing the Iowa State fan base into one of most envied in all of women's basketball. The Cyclones' yearly attendance average has increased from 733 fans per game the season before Fennelly’s arrival to 10,000 fans per contest in 2024-25, ranking sixth nationally. ISU's attendance has ranked among the Top 11 schools nationally in each of the last 25 seasons (excluding the 2020-21 COVID-impacted season), peaking at second in 2013, 2014, 2019 and 2022. The Cyclones enjoyed sellout crowds in the 2004 WNIT against St. Joseph's and in December 2023 for the Cy-Hawk matchup with Iowa.
Coaching Tree
Fennelly has mentored a number of former assistant coaches and players who have gone on to successful head coaching careers across the country. Brenda Frese spent four seasons on Fennelly's ISU staff before taking over the reins of her own program. She led Maryland to the 2006 national championship and three Final Fours. After three seasons on Fennelly's coaching staff, Robin Pingeton spent 22 years at the helm for Illinois State and Missouri before being named Wisconsin’s next head coach in March 2025. At Illinois State, she guided the Redbirds to a pair of Missouri Valley Conference tournament titles and earned MVC Coach of the Year honors.
Former Fennelly assistant Katie Abrahamson-Henderson was named the head coach at Georgia in the spring of 2022 after guiding UCF to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances. Chris Kielsmeier started his coaching career as a student manager for Fennelly. Now the head coach at Cleveland State, Kielsmeier has posted an all-time NCAA DI record of 386-527 (.732) in his stops at Wayne State and Cleveland State. The latest former Cyclone to join the Division I head coach ranks is Heather Ezell, an All-Big 12 performer as a Cyclone who was promoted to head coach at Wyoming in March of 2022 after seven seasons as a Cowgirls’ assistant.
Background
A native of Davenport, Iowa, Fennelly acquired an extensive background in coaching before being introduced as Iowa State's sixth head coach on July 10, 1995. He went 166-53 (.758) in seven years as head coach at the University of Toledo, and still ranks as the Mid-American Conference's winningest coach by percentage (.758). Fennelly compiled six, 20-win seasons and six postseason tournament berths at Toledo. He coached the Rockets to second-, third- and fifth-place WNIT finishes, three NCAA Tournament appearances, and is a member of Toledo's Varsity "T" Hall of Fame.
Fennelly Year-By-Year
| Year | School | Overall Record | Conference Record/Finish | Postseason |
| 1988-89 | Toledo | 25-8 (.757) | 13-3 (.813) 2nd (MAC) | WNIT Third Round |
| 1989-90 | Toledo | 25-7 (.781) | 13-3 (.813) 2nd (MAC) | WNIT Third Round |
| 1990-91 | Toledo | 24-7 (.774) | 13-3 (.813) 1st (MAC) | NCAA Second Round |
| 1991-92 | Toledo | 26-6 (.813) | 15-1 (.938) 1st (MAC) | NCAA Second Round |
| 1992-93 | Toledo | 18-10 (.642) | 12-6 (.667) T-3rd (MAC) | - |
| 1993-94 | Toledo | 24-8Â (.750) | 13-5 (.722) 2nd (MAC) | WNIT Third Round |
| 1994-95 | Toledo | 24-7 (.774) | 15-3 (.833) 1st (MAC) | NCAA First Round |
| Totals at Toledo | 7 Seasons | 166-53 (.757) | 94-24 (.796) | 3 NCAAs, 3 WNITs |
| 1995-96 | Iowa State | 17-10 (.629) | 5-9 (.357) 6th (Big Eight) | - |
| 1996-97 | Iowa State | 17-12 (.586) | 9-7 (.563) T-5th (Big 12) | NCAA First Round |
| 1997-98 | Iowa State | 25-8 (.757) | 12-4 (.750) 2nd (Big 12) | NCAA Second Round |
| 1998-99 | Iowa State | 25-8 (.757) | 12-4 (.750) 2nd (Big 12) | NCAA Elite Eight |
| 1999-00 | Iowa State | 27-6 (.818) | 13-3 (.813) T-1st (Big 12)^ | NCAA Sweet 16 |
| 2000-01 | Iowa State | 27-6 (.818) | 12-4 (.750) 3rd (Big 12)^ | NCAA Sweet 16 |
| 2001-02 | Iowa State | 24-9 (.727) | 9-7 (.563) 6th (Big 12) | NCAA Second Round |
| 2002-03 | Iowa State | 12-16 (.428) | 7-9 (.438) 8th (Big 12) | - |
| 2003-04 | Iowa State | 18-15 (.545) | 7-9 (.438) T-7th (Big 12) | WNIT Semifinals |
| 2004-05 | Iowa State | 23-7 (.767) | 12-4 (.750) T-3rd (Big 12) | NCAA First Round |
| 2005-06 | Iowa State | 18-13 (.580) | 7-9 (.438) T-8th (Big 12) | WNIT Second Round |
| 2006-07 | Iowa State | 26-9 (.742) | 10-6 (.625) T-4th (Big 12) | NCAA Second Round |
| 2007-08 | Iowa State | 21-13 (.617) | 7-9 (.438) T-7th (Big 12) | NCAA Second Round |
| 2008-09 | Iowa State | 27-9 (.771) | 11-5 (.688) T-3rd (Big 12) | NCAA Elite Eight |
| 2009-10 | Iowa State | 25-8 (.757) | 11-5 (.688) T-2nd (Big 12) | NCAA Sweet 16 |
| 2010-11 | Iowa State | 22-11 (.667) | 9-7 (.563) 5th (Big 12) | NCAA First Round |
| 2011-12 | Iowa State | 18-13 (.580) | 9-9 (.500) T-4th (Big 12) | NCAA First Round |
| 2012-13 | Iowa State | 24-9Â (.727) | 12-6 (.667) 2nd (Big 12) | NCAA Second Round |
| 2013-14 | Iowa State | 20-11 (.645) | 9-9 (.500) 5th (Big 12) | NCAA First Round |
| 2014-15 | Iowa State | 18-13 (.580) | 9-9 (.500) T-3rd (Big 12) | NCAA First Round |
| 2015-16 | Iowa State | 13-17 (.433) | 5-13 (.384) 8th (Big 12) | - |
| 2016-17 | Iowa State | 18-13 (.580) | 9-9 (.500) 5th (Big 12) | NCAA First Round |
| 2017-18 | Iowa State | 14-17 (.451) | 7-11 (.389) 7th (Big 12) | - |
| 2018-19 | Iowa State | 26-9 (.742) | 13-5 (.722) 2nd (Big 12) | NCAA Second Round |
| 2019-20 | Iowa State | 18-11 (.620) | 10-8 (.556) 4th (Big 12) | -* |
| 2020-21 | Iowa State | 17-11 (.607) | 12-6 (.667) 4th (Big 12) | NCAA Second Round |
| 2021-22 | Iowa State | 28-7 (.800) | 14-4 (.778) 2nd (Big 12) | NCAA Sweet 16 |
| 2022-23 | Iowa State | 22-10 (.690) | 11-7 (.610) 3rd (Big 12)^ | NCAA First Round |
| 2023-24 | Iowa State | 21-12 (.636) | 12-6 (.667) 4th (Big 12) | NCAA Second Round |
| 2024-25 | Iowa State | 23-12 (.657) | 12-6 (.667) 7th (Big 12) | NCAA First Round |
| Totals at Iowa State | 30 Seasons | 634-325Â (.661) | 297-209Â (.587) | 23 NCAAs, 2 WNITs |
| Career Totals | 37 Seasons | 800-378 (.679) | 391-235Â (.625) | 26 NCAAs, 5 WNITs |
*2019-20 postseason was canceled due to Covid-19 pandemic.
^Indicates Big 12 Tournament Champion
Audi Crooks 7_15_25 interview
Tuesday, July 15
Bill Fennelly 7_15_25 interview
Tuesday, July 15
Inside Iowa State WBB
Friday, June 06
WBB Post-Game Press Conference vs. Michigan
Friday, March 21
