The 2018–19 Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November. Conference play started in January 2019 and concluded in March with the 2019 ACC women's basketball tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC.

Head coaches

Coaching changes Erik Johnson resigned as the head coach of Boston College and Joanna Bernabei-McNamee was named as his replacement. Audra Smith would not be returning as coach of Clemson and Amanda Butler was named as her replacement. Joanne Boyle retired from Virginia after the 2017–18 season and Tina Thompson was hired as her replacement. Suzie McConnell-Serio would not be returning as coach of Pittsburgh and Lance White was hired as her replacement.

Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Record at school ACC record ACC titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsBoston College Joanna Bernabei-McNamee Albany 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Clemson Amanda Butler Florida 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Duke Joanne P. McCallie Michigan State 12 297–80 132–38 4 10 0 0Florida State Sue Semrau Wisconsin (Assistant) 22 427–240 186–138 2 14 0 0Georgia Tech MaChelle Joseph Georgia Tech (Assistant) 16 294–1191 106–122 0 7 0 0Louisville Jeff Walz Maryland (Assistant) 12 299–96 131–48 1 4 3 0Miami Katie Meier Charlotte 14 252–163 99–99 1 7 0 0NC State Wes Moore Chattanooga 6 112–51 51–29 0 3 0 0North Carolina Sylvia Hatchell Francis Marion 33 732–309 289–201 7 22 3 1Notre Dame Muffet McGraw Lehigh 32 800–229 404–85 4 5 8 2Pittsburgh Lance White Florida State (Assistant) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Syracuse Quentin Hillsman Syracuse (Assistant) 12 117–48 55–35 0 5 1 0Virginia Tina Thompson Texas (Associate Head Coach) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Virginia Tech Kenny Brooks James Madison 3 43–28 10–22 0 0 0 0Wake Forest Jennifer Hoover High Point 7 88–104 29–69 0 0 0 0 Notes: Year at school includes 2018–19 season. Overall and ACC records are from time at current school and are through the end the 2017–18 season. NCAA Tournament appearances are from time at current school only. NCAA Final Fours and Championship include time at other schools

Preseason

Preseason watch lists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. LiebermanDrysdaleMillerMcClainLeslie Kyra Lambert - Duke Paris Kea - North Carolina Marina Mabrey - Notre Dame Tiana Mangakahia - Syracuse Asia Durr - Louisville Arike Ogunbowale - Notre Dame Leonna Odom - Duke Francesca Pan - Georgia Tech Jackie Young - Notre Dame Miranda Drummond - Syracuse Jocelyn Willoughby - Virginia Elisa Penna - Wake Forest Jessica Shepard - Notre Dame Jade Williams - Duke Sam Fuehring - Louisville Janelle Bailey - North Carolina Brianna Turner - Notre Dame

ACC Women's Basketball Tip-off Prior to the start of the season, the ACC hosted a media day at the Sheraton/Le Méridien Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the media day, the head coaches voted on the finishing order of the teams, an All-ACC team, a Preseason Player of the Year, and Newcomers to watch. The media day was hosted on October 2, 2018. A selected group of student athletes also took questions from the media on this day. This question and answer period was live streamed on theacc.com.

At the media day, both the Head Coaches and the Blue Ribbon Panel selected Notre Dame to defend their title.

ACC preseason polls 2018 ACC Women's Basketball Preseason Polls Head coaches Blue Ribbon Panel Notre Dame – 225 (15) Louisville – 210 Syracuse – 178 NC State – 165 Miami – 160 Duke – 141 North Carolina – 127 Florida State – 124 Georgia Tech – 112 Virginia Tech – 108 Virginia – 95 Wake Forest – 57 Pittsburgh – 41 Clemson – 32 Boston College – 25 Notre Dame – 927 (59) Louisville – 870 (3) Syracuse – 730 NC State – 671 Duke – 652 Miami – 577 Florida State – 572 North Carolina – 462 Virginia – 450 Georgia Tech – 432 Virginia Tech – 424 Wake Forest – 269 Pittsburgh – 157 Boston College – 126 Clemson – 121 Note: First Place votes shown in ().

Preseason All-ACC Teams 2018 ACC Women's Basketball Preseason All-ACC Teams Head coaches Blue Ribbon Panel Asia Durr – Louisville Janelle Bailey – North Carolina Paris Kea – North Carolina Marina Mabrey – Notre Dame Arike Ogunbowale – Notre Dame Jessica Shepard – Notre Dame Brianna Turner – Notre Dame Tiana Mangakahia – Syracuse Taylor Emery – Virginia Tech Elisa Penna – Wake Forest Asia Durr – Louisville Janelle Bailey – North Carolina Paris Kea – North Carolina Marina Mabrey – Notre Dame Arike Ogunbowale – Notre Dame Jessica Shepard – Notre Dame Brianna Turner – Notre Dame Tiana Mangakahia – Syracuse Taylor Emery – Virginia Tech Elisa Penna – Wake Forest

Preseason ACC Player of the Year 2018 ACC Women's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year Head coaches Blue Ribbon Panel Arike Ogunbowale - Notre Dame Arike Ogunbowale - Notre Dame

Newcomer Watchlist 2018 ACC Women's Basketball Newcomer Watchlists Head coaches Blue Ribbon Panel Elizabeth Balogun – Georgia Tech Elizabeth Dixon – Georgia Tech Beatrice Mompremier – Miami Jordan Nixon – Notre Dame Emily Engstler – Syracuse Kiah Gillespie – Florida State Elizabeth Dixon – Georgia Tech Beatrice Mompremier – Miami Jordan Nixon – Notre Dame Emily Engstler – Syracuse

Regular season

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week     First Place votes shown in ()

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 FinalBoston College AP C Clemson AP RV RV RV RV RV C RV Duke AP 21 RV RV C 20 RV RV Florida State AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 22 RV 22 24 24 21 22 22 22 т 25 25C RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 23 18 21 19 21 19 19 20 21 21 22 22 23Georgia Tech AP RV C Louisville AP 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 3 3 2 (10) 4 4 3 (2) 2 (3) 2 (3) 4 3 3 5 5C 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 (9) 4 4 3 2 (3) 2 (2) 4 т 3 3 5 5 6Miami AP 25 24 24 21 25 24 24 24 RV RV RV RV 25 20 14 15 16 19 19C 24 22 20 23 22 23 23 RV 23 RV 23 23 25 20 14 15 т 15 16 15 20North Carolina AP RV RV RV RV C RV RV NC State AP 17 17 15 13 10 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 7 9 12 9 10 9 10 10C 16 13 13 10 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 7 9 11 12 10 11 10 10 9 Notre Dame AP 1 (31) 1 (30) 1 (31) 1 (31) 2 2 2 2 2 1 (12) 1 (23) 1 (22) 5 4 6 5 4 4 3 3C 1 (30) 1 (30) 1 (32) 2 2 2 2 2 1 (15) 1 (26) 1 (26) 5 (1) 4 (1) 6 4 т 4 4 3 3 2 Pittsburgh AP C Syracuse AP 18 18 14 12 15 15 15 15 14 12 12 13 18 15 16 18 17 18 15 12C 18 15 12 14 14 14 14 14 12 12 14 16 14 16 18 17 16 14 12 16Virginia AP RV C Virginia Tech AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 RV RV Wake Forest AP C

Note: The Coaches Poll releases a final poll after the NCAA tournament, but the AP Poll does not release a poll at this time.

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 16 conference games, and at least 1 against each opponent.   Boston CollegeClemsonDukeFlorida StateGeorgia TechLouisvilleMiamiNorth CarolinaNC StateNotre DamePittsburghSyracuseVirginiaVirginia TechWake Forestvs. Boston College – 91–58 90–92 (2OT) 91–71 81–76 87–51 76–73 93–78 85–69 92–6397–47 55–59 96–6976–59 79–77 (OT) 95–86 64–65vs. Clemson 58–91 – 63–59 45–5768–73 61–7175–53 76–44 67–76 70–64 54–51 101–63 59–65 84–75 65–71 66–73 53–69vs. Duke 92–90 (2OT) 59–63 – 66–62 70–64 73–51 58–50 69–8544–62 63–51 89–61 55–74 64–55 53–47 64–57 52–6644–55vs. Florida State 71–91 57–4573–68 62–66 – 55–64 69–48 58–6264–54 63–64 70–75 97–70 46–78 94–88 61–63 54–56 61–85vs. Georgia Tech 76–81 71–6153–75 64–70 64–55 – 61–44 69–56 91–90 68–60 76–5590–50 55–67 55–65 53–45 68–76 46–60vs. Louisville 51–87 44–76 51–73 48–69 44–61 – 79–73 66–73 62–92 82–68 42–7040–67 51–76 43–9149–71 63–72 49–73vs. Miami 73–76 76–67 50–58 62–5854–64 56–69 73–79 – 68–76 70–68 65–72 51–65 71–84 59–72 61–6873–65 57–72vs. North Carolina 78–93 64–70 85–6962–44 64–63 90–91 73–66 76–68 – 51–6474–69 73–78 91–78 90–77 53–70 69–81 61–84vs. NC State 69–85 51–54 51–63 75–70 60–68 92–62 68–70 64–5169–74 – 95–72 34–63 73–77 38–66 61–70 (OT) 50–5946–80vs. Notre Dame 63–9247–97 63–101 61–89 70–97 55–7650–90 68–82 72–65 78–73 72–95 – 44–100 68–98 66–103 51–80 48–78vs. Pittsburgh 59–55 65–59 74–55 78–46 0–0 70–4267–40 65–51 78–91 63–34 100–44 – 82–5090–63 74–57 74–58 64–70vs. Syracuse 69–9659–76 75–84 55–64 88–94 65–55 76–51 84–71 77–90 77–73 98–68 50–8263–90 – 68–72 73–75 (OT) 57–77vs. Virginia 77–79 (OT) 71–65 47–53 63–61 45–53 91–4371–49 72–59 70–53 66–38 103–66 57–74 72–68 – 58–6263–45 52–42vs. Virginia Tech 86–95 73–66 57–64 56–54 76–68 72–63 68–6165–73 81–69 70–61 (OT) 80–51 58–74 75–73 (OT) 62–5845–63 – 57–69vs. Wake Forest 65–64 69–53 66–5255–44 85–61 60–46 73–49 72–57 84–61 59–5080–46 78–48 70–64 77–57 42–52 69–57 –Total 3–13 9–7 6–10 10–6 7–9 13–2 12–4 8–8 12–4 14–2 2–13 11–5 5–11 6–10 1–15

Player of the week Throughout the conference regular season, the Atlantic Coast Conference offices named a Player(s) of the week and a Rookie(s) of the week.

Week Player of the week Rookie of the week Reference 1 – Nov. 12 Asia Durr – Louisville Valencia Myers – Florida State 2 – Nov. 19 Arike Ogunbowale – Notre Dame Elizabeth Dixon – Georgia Tech Maeve Dialdi-Tabdi – Syracuse 3 – Nov. 26 Tiana Mangakahia – Syracuse Marnelle Garraud – Florida State 4 – Dec. 3 Asia Durr (2) – Louisville Maeve Dialdi-Tabdi (2) – Syracuse 5 – Dec. 10 Asia Durr (3) – Louisville Elissa Cunane – NC State 6 – Dec. 17 Simone Westbrook – Clemson Elizabeth Balogun – Georgia Tech 7 – Dec. 24 Arike Ogunbowale (2) – Notre Dame Elizabeth Balogun (2) – Georgia Tech 8 – Dec. 31 Janelle Bailey – North Carolina Miela Goodchild – Duke 9 – Jan. 2 Beatrice Mompremier – Miami Elizabeth Balogun (3) – Georgia Tech Tiana Mangakahia (2) – Syracuse 10 – Jan. 14 Tiana Mangakahia (3) – Syracuse Makayla Dickens – Boston College Elizabeth Dixon (2) – Georgia Tech 11 – Jan. 21 Beatrice Mompremier (2) – Miami Elizabeth Balogun (4) – Georgia Tech 12 – Jan. 28 Paris Kea – North Carolina Elissa Cunane (2) – NC State 13 – Feb. 4 Regan Magarity – Virginia Tech Dara Mabrey – Virginia Tech 14 – Feb. 11 Beatrice Mompremier (3) – Miami Elizabeth Dixon (3) – Georgia Tech 15 – Feb. 18 Emese Hof – Miami Elissa Cunane (3) – NC State 16 – Feb. 25 Paris Kea (2) – North Carolina Miela Goodchild (2) – Duke 17 – Mar. 4 Tiana Mangakahia (4) – Syracuse Elissa Cunane (4) – NC State

Postseason

ACC tournament

NCAA tournament

The ACC sent a record tying eight teams to the NCAA Tournament, including two number 1 seeds. Eight teams were also selected in 2014, 2015, and 2018. Eight teams was the most out of any conference this year.

Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship 1 Albany Louisville W 69–34 vs. #16 Robert Morris – (Louisville) W 71–50 vs. #8 Michigan – (Louisville) W 61–44 vs. #4 Oregon State – (Albany) L 73–80 vs. #2 Connecticut – (Albany) 1 Chicago Notre Dame W 92–50 vs. #16 Bethune–Cookman – (South Bend) W 91–63 vs. #8 Michigan State – (South Bend) W 87–80 vs. #4 Texas A&M – (Chicago) W 84–68 vs. #2 Stanford – (Chicago) W 81–76 vs. #2 Connecticut – (Tampa) L 81–82 vs. #1 Baylor – (Tampa) 3 Greensboro NC State W 63–51 vs. #14 Maine – (Raleigh) W 72–57 vs. #6 Kentucky – (Raleigh) L 61–79 vs. #2 Iowa – (Greensboro) 3 Portland Syracuse W 70–49 vs. #14 Fordham – (Syracuse) L 64–75 vs. #6 South Dakota State – (Syracuse) 4 Portland Miami W 69–62 vs. #13 Florida Gulf Coast – (Miami) L 55–57 vs. #5 Arizona State – (Miami) 5 Greensboro Florida State W 70–69 vs. #12 Bucknell – (Charlotte) L 64–72 vs. #4 South Carolina – (Charlotte) 9 Portland Clemson W 79–66 vs. #8 South Dakota – (Starkville) L 61–85 vs. #1 Mississippi State – (Starkville) 9 Greensboro North Carolina L 72–81 vs. #8 California – (Waco)W–L (%): Total:

National Invitation tournament