Intramural sports and physical education instruction for women at UC Irvine started with the opening of the university in 1965 under the direction of eventual Athletic Director Linda Dempsay. By 1967-68, nearly 200 women were competing in UCI’s organized intramural sports which included volleyball, badminton, basketball, bowling, softball, swimming and tennis.

In the spring of 1968, the Anteater women also entered competitive tennis for the first time as they faced USC, UCLA and Cal State Fullerton while also taking part in the Ojai Tournament, where Patti Hogan was the singles champion. The following year, swimming and volleyball were added to the women’s intercollegiate schedule.

1972: On June 23, 1972, Title IX was enacted into law, protecting people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance, including athletics. The passage of Title IX opened many doors for girls and women in sports.

1973: UC Irvine’s women’s intercollegiate tennis and volleyball teams were able to hold regularly scheduled practices under the direction of qualified coaches after several years of going at it alone. The two teams competed in the Southern California Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The national governing body at the time was the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). 

1974: UC Irvine started its first season of women’s basketball under head coach Dorene Cowart. Jean Nachand (Tennis) was the first recipient of a women's athletic scholarship at UC Irvine.

1976: Jean Nachand became the first UCI women’s student-athlete to earn All-America honors. UC Irvine added women’s swimming and diving. 

1977: Linda Dempsay was named UC Irvine’s athletic director, making her the first female AD in NCAA Division I history. Lindsay Morse became the Anteaters’ first female athlete to win a national championship as she claimed the AIAW tennis singles title. Morse and Nachand received All-America distinction, while UCI went 24-3 as a team and finished third at the national championships.

1978: UC Irvine added women's outdoor track & field.

1979: Three divers - Wanda Boda, Beth Gerard and Jane Ward - became the women’s swimming & diving program’s first All-Americans. 

1980: Jennifer Chandler (Diving), who was the 1976 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 3-meter springboard and transferred to UC Irvine in 1978, qualified for the 1980 Olympic Games that were boycotted by the United States. The 1-meter (11 dives) school-record holder also earned All-America honors.

1982: Michelle Kelley scored at the inaugural NCAA Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, finishing 11th in the long jump at 19-8.75.

1983: UC Irvine won the inaugural Pacific Coast Athletic Association Women’s Cross Country Championship. Not only was it the first women’s competition sponsored by the PCAA (which was renamed the Big West in 1988), but it was the start of an Anteater dynasty as UCI won nine of the first 10 conference championships.

1984: UC Irvine started its first season of women’s soccer. Cheri Graham earned UCI women’s basketball’s first All-America honor.

1988: UC Irvine women’s volleyball earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth. 

1989: Beth McGrann, a two-time All-American, was the women's track & field team's first double qualifier at the NCAA Championships, advancing to the national meet in the 5,000m and 10,000m. 

1990: UC Irvine women’s cross country won the seventh of their league-leading 12 Big West Championships, finished second at the West Regional and fourth at the NCAA Championships. That stands as the highest NCAA finish by a women’s team in UCI history. 

1991: Buffy Rabbitt earned her seventh career All-America honor with a top-10 finish in the 3000m at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Her seven All-America awards in cross country/track & field are the most by any female athlete in school history.

1992: UC Irvine sailing alums Lanee Butler-Beashel and Pamela Poletti-Healy competed at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Poletti-Healy won bronze in the 470 class. All-American Traci Goodrich had UCI’s best individual finish at the NCAA Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, placing fifth overall in the 10,000-meter run.

1995: Women’s basketball won the program’s first and only Big West Tournament title to date as they defeated Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton and Pacific as the No. 3 seed. 

1996: Allah-mi Basheer became the second All-American in UCI women’s basketball history.

1997: Women’s soccer claimed its first Big West Tournament title. 

2000: Lanee Butler-Beashel finished fourth in the windsurfing event at the Sydney Olympic Games. She was the first female sailor to represent the United States in three consecutive Olympics as she was also 11th in 1996 and fifth in 1992.

2001: UC Irvine added women's golf and women's water polo. Women’s golf has had three female head coaches in program history - Kelly Crawford (2001-06), Julie Brooks (2006-22) and Margo Dionisio, who was hired in August 2022.

2002: In their inaugural spring season, women’s golf won the first of their five Big West Championships. Stella Lee claimed the individual title and Walailak Satarak was named the conference’s golfer of the year, the National Golf Coaches Association Division I Freshman of the Year as well as an honorable mention All-American. Melissa Fernandez earned UCI women's water polo's first All-America honor. UC Irvine kicked off its first season of women's indoor track & field with a meet at Northern Arizona on Feb. 2.

2003: Women’s volleyball made their first NCAA appearance in 15 years and won their first postseason match with a five-set victory over Missouri in the opening round at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. The Anteaters finished with a single-season school-record 24 wins, which was later matched in 2017.

2004: Lanee Butler-Beashel qualified for her fourth consecutive Olympic Games in windsurfing. She is UC Irvine's only female four-time Olympian. As a junior on the Anteater swim team, Lara Bjargardottir represented her native Iceland in the 200-meter individual medley at the Athens Games. It was her second Olympic appearance as she also competed in the 100 free and 200 free at the 2000 Sydney Games. Women’s volleyball made it back to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. Kelly Wing was named the Big West Player of the Year and earned her second-straight All-America honor.

2005: UC Irvine swimming & diving claimed its first Big West team title. Women’s golf won their second Big West Championship, starting a stretch of four-straight conference titles (2005-08). The Anteaters also made their first NCAA Championship appearance after tying for sixth at the West Regional.

2006: Chelsea Nagata became UCI’s first swimmer to win three individual events at the Big West Championships. She claimed the title in the 50 free, 100 fly and 100 backstroke, while she was also part of the Anteaters’ Big West champion 200 medley relay team. Nagata, who was named the Big West Athlete of the Year, went on to earn the first of her two All-America honors.

2007: The Big West Champion women's golf team tied for fifth at the West Regional in Utah to earn their second trip to the NCAA Championships.

2009: Women’s golf earned an NCAA at-large bid and tied for fourth at the West Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships for the third time in program history. Jane Chin, who was tabbed the Big West Golfer of the Year, tied for third at regionals and went on to place among the top-20 at the NCAA Championships. Women’s water polo won the first of their eight Big West Tournament titles. 

2010: Women’s soccer became the first and only Big West team to date to win the regular-season championship with a perfect conference record (8-0-0). The Anteaters, who finished with a program-best 19 wins, earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they advanced to the Sweet 16 by defeating Arizona State and Wake Forest. CoCo Goodson and Tanya Taylor garnered the first All-America honors in program history. Women’s tennis won their first Big West Tournament title, defeating Long Beach State, 4-1, in the final to dethrone the six-time defending champions.

2011: Women’s soccer won the Big West regular-season championship and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. CoCo Goodson also received her second career All-America award. 

2012: Women’s water polo won their NCAA first-round game and placed fourth overall at the national championships. That matched the 1990 cross country squad as the highest NCAA finish by a UCI women’s team.

2013: Women’s tennis went unbeaten in Big West matches, winning the regular-season title at 9-0. They earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they advanced to the second round with a 4-2 victory over San Jose State. 

2016: As a rising junior at UCI, Persis William-Mensah (Track & Field) was selected as a member of Ghana's 4x100 relay team for the 2016 Olympic Games. William-Mensah, who holds five school records in indoor and outdoor track, was one of Ghana's 16 Olympians to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2017: Under the direction of head coach Ashlie Hain, women's volleyball made their first postseason appearance since 2004, advancing to the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Anteaters notched their first postseason victory since 2003 when Hain was a junior on the UCI squad. Hain's 2017 and 2003 teams both finished with 24 wins, tying for the most victories in program history.

2018: After securing their second-straight Big West Tournament title, women’s water polo won their NCAA opening-round match over Pomona-Pitzer, 16-2. The Anteaters then fell to second-seeded Stanford in the quarterfinals.

2019: Paula Smith was named UC Irvine’s Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. She was one of 40 female Division I athletic directors in the nation and second at UCI, following Linda Dempsay (1977-1983). 

2021: Women's soccer claimed their fourth Big West regular-season championship and second Big West Tournament title. The Anteaters went on to advance to the NCAA Second Round with a 1-0 upset win over third-ranked and second-seeded UCLA.

2022: UC Irvine women’s athletics had two more teams make the postseason during the 2021-22 campaign. Women’s water polo claimed their eighth Big West Tournament championship and made their seventh NCAA appearance. Women’s basketball, which registered their second 20-win season in four years, also earned the program’s first WNIT bid.

UCI WOMEN'S ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME MEMBERS

Lindsay Morse-Bennett (1983), Tennis

Darlene Bailey (1985), Volleyball

Katherine Hamilton (1989), Basketball

Linda Dempsay (1997), Athletic Director

Buffy Rabbitt (1998), Cross Country/Track & Field

Jill Harrington (1999), Cross Country/Track & Field

Jean Nachand (2000), Tennis

Beth McGrann-Alsen (2002), Cross Country/Track & Field

Allah-mi Basheer (2003), Basketball

Popi Edwards (2005), Volleyball and Track & Field

Leticia Oseguera (2005), Basketball

Nicole Bucciarelli (2006), Soccer

Cheri Graham (2007), Basketball

Jane Chin (2020), Golf

Kris Roberts (2020), Volleyball

CoCo Goodson (2020), Soccer

Chelsea Nagata (2021), Swimming

Tanya Taylor (2021), Soccer

Kelly Wing (2021), Volleyball

*UCI did not have any Hall of Fame inductees from 2008-19