Iowa State University Women's Basketball officially took to the court for the first time in the 1973-1974 season, with coach Gloria Crosby at the helm. Prior to that point, women were only able to play basketball at ISU in intramurals. The "cagers," as they were known then, played their first game on January 12, 1974, losing to the University of Northern Iowa 73-38. Iowa State's first win came one week later against Luther College, 57-36. The first ever home win was also the first official home game played, a 51-38 victory over Wartburg. This first team finished the season with a record of 8-8.

For the following season, Lynn Wheeler took over coaching duties and remained for six seasons (1975-1980). Wheeler's years produced three winning seasons, including Iowa State's first 20 win season (1976). Iowa State played three games in an annual tournament against Big Eight Conference schools (1977-1982). These games would eventually be expanded to a full regular conference season within the Big Eight (1983).

Iowa State's third coach was Deb Oing (1981-1984). She coached ISU to a 31-80 record over her four seasons. Iowa State's only winless conference season occurred during this time (1984), with the team going 0-14. The program's first official Big Eight conference win was an 80-76 decision over Oklahoma in Ames on November 27, 1982.

Pam Wettig was the coach for Iowa State for eight seasons (1985-1992), finishing with a 100-121 record, but only two winning seasons. Wettig's tenure saw Iowa State's first win in the Big Eight Conference tournament (1990) since it moved to a single-elimination event (1983). Wettig was named Big 8 Coach of the Year (1986).

Theresa Becker became Iowa State's fifth coach (1993-1995), going 18-63 over three seasons. Iowa State never finished better than a tie for 7th place in the Big Eight under Becker.

1995 saw the hiring of Bill Fennelly, who brought the program to unimagined heights. Fennelly came to Iowa State after building a successful program at the University of Toledo. In thirteen seasons (1995-2008), Fennelly has compiled a record of 280-132 overall, and 122-84 in conference play. Under Fennelly, Iowa State has experienced a number of firsts. Iowa State advanced to its first NCAA appearance (1997), won its first NCAA game (1998), and hosted the first of five NCAA first and second round games (1998-2002). Fennelly was national runner-up for the Associated Press (AP) Coach of the Year and guided the Cyclones to their first national ranking, reaching #22 (1998). Iowa State advanced to its first Elite 8 (1999) and first of three Sweet 16s (1999-2001). Stacy Frese became Iowa State's first AP All-American (1999). Iowa State won its first Big 12 regular season title and first of two Big 12 Conference tournament championships (2000-2001). Iowa State defeated its first #1 team (ESPN poll) and advanced to its first post-season Final Four in the WNIT (2004).

Through the 2007-2008 season, Iowa State has an overall record of 517-485.

The collection (1975-[ongoing]) contains photocopies of newspaper articles written about the Iowa State women's basketball program. These articles include coverage of games, season preparation, coaching and player profiles, and other related topics. Most articles come from the Des Moines Register or the Ames Tribune. There are no articles available for the seasons ending in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1990, 1991, and 1992. Basic information for these years (and all others) may be found in the women's basketball media guide collection (24/18/0/6).

The collection is arranged chronologically.