Arizona women's basketball coach, staff won't be returning

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - University of Arizona officials say Wildcats women's basketball coach Niya Butts and her staff won't be back next season.

Director of Athletics Greg Byrne announced the decision Tuesday and says a national search for the school's next head women's basketball coach will begin immediately.

Butts arrived at Arizona prior to the 2008-09 season after serving five years as an assistant coach at Kentucky.

Her best season at Arizona came in 2010-11 when the Wildcats went 21-12 and 10-8 in the Pac-12 Conference. That team qualified for the WNIT, which marked Arizona's first postseason appearance since 2005.

The eighth head coach in the program's history, Butts enters this week's Pac-12 Tournament with 101 career victories at Arizona.

However, the Wildcats have gone 14-76 in conference play the past five seasons.