From 1977 to 2022, Texas women's basketball played its home games in the Frank Erwin Special Events Center, where the team compiled a 576–118 (.830) record.

Through the 2021–22 season, Texas ranks 10th in all-time NCAA Tournament victories (48), trailing Connecticut (130), Tennessee (128), Stanford (99), Notre Dame (69), Louisiana Tech (65), Duke (61), Georgia (58), Baylor (54) and North Carolina (49).

[4][5] The very first women's basketball games occurred in 1892, at Smith College, under the direction of Senda Berenson Abbott.

While she was called a visionary for her role in directing physical education and intramurals, she was "dead-set against intercollegiate athletics for women".

[2] The ascension of Hiss to the head of the department roughly coincided with the influence of Lou Henry Hoover, First Lady of the United States.

[7] The following year, Hiss formed an organization which voted "condemn intercollegiate competition for women, and to endorse the intramural/interclass model".

[2] Hiss supported many activities, including tennis, golf, archery, swimming and interpretive dance, but was opposed to team sports.

While it was a substantial resource for women's athletics, it was designed to fit her beliefs—the courts were too small for a proper basketball game, and had no room for spectators and the swimming pool was deliberately shorter than Olympic length.

Basketball was not one of the club sports offered until a student, Mary Neikirk, organized a petition which was presented to the administration.

Shortly after the conclusion of the 1974 basketball season, Stephen Spurr, the University president, announced that a women's athletic department would be started, complete with offices, staff and a budget of $50,000.

[8] Some schools waited for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to provide specific regulations covering Title IX.

[13] Lopiano's choice was Jody Conradt, who was garnering national attention as the head coach at the University of Texas at Arlington.

At that time, an obscure NCAA rule revealed that if she played past her March 16 birthday that season, it would be considered an additional year of eligibility.

Opting to help Davis in her senior season, the team reached the Elite Eight in the Austin Regional where it fell to Maryland 79–71.

The next fall, the state of Texas' top recruit in years, Sheryl Swoopes arrived on campus, only to leave due to homesickness before classes started.

Swoopes would go on to lead Texas Tech to the 1993 NCAA Championship as Final Four MVP and Naismith College Player of the Year.

The Texas women's basketball team opened the Frank Erwin Center on November 29, 1977 with a 67–64 victory over Temple College.

[25] Built for a total cost of $34 million, the building was named for former UT alumnus and Board of Regents member Frank Erwin.

[28] The Erwin Center was located at the southeastern corner of the UT central campus and was bounded on the west by Red River Street on the east by Interstate 35.

As part of the project, UT constructed the Denton A. Cooley Pavilion, a state-of-the-art practice and training facility that sits adjacent to the Erwin Center.

[27][29] The master plan released in 2013 for the University's new Dell Medical School indicated that the Erwin Center would be demolished in a later phase of construction within 6–15 years.

[30][31][32] Built during the final phase of the renovation of the Erwin Center, the Denton A. Cooley Pavilion opened in the fall of 2003.

[29] The two-level, 44,000-square-foot building sits adjacent to the Erwin Center and serves as a state-of-the-art practice and training facility for the Texas men's and women's basketball teams.

The Pavilion is named for Dr. Denton A. Cooley, a UT alumnus, basketball letterman (1939–41), and pioneering heart surgeon.

[33][34] The Cooley Pavilion will be demolished and replaced during the same phase of construction of the Dell Medical School as the Erwin Center.

The replacement to the Frank Erwin Center was built on a former parking lot located immediately south of Mike A. Myers Soccer Stadium.

Kamie Ethridge’s number 33 was officially retired at halftime of a Texas–LSU football game, becoming the first female Longhorn athlete to receive this honor.

[42] Clarissa Davis's number 24 was retired on March 8, 2020, at a pre-game ceremony during the Texas-Oklahoma State Women's Basketball game.

[50] Longhorn alumna Nell Fortner was head coach of gold medal-winning United States teams in 1996 and 2000.

Conradt was also a member of the inaugural class elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee in June 1999.