2004 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

2004 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament

2004 Women's Final Four logo
Teams	64
Finals site	New Orleans Arena New Orleans
Champions	Connecticut Huskies (5th title, 5th title game, 8th Final Four)
Runner-up	Tennessee Volunteers (11th title game, 15th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Minnesota Golden Gophers (1st Final Four) LSU Tigers (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Geno Auriemma (5th title)
MOP	Diana Taurasi (Connecticut)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments « 2003 2005 »

The 2004 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 20 and concluded on April 6 when Connecticut won a third consecutive national championship, becoming only the second school in history to accomplish such a feat. The Final Four was held at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 4–6 and was hosted by Tulane University. UConn, coached by Geno Auriemma, defeated archrivals Tennessee, coached by Pat Summitt, 81–67 in the championship game. UConn's Diana Taurasi was named Most Outstanding Player for the second consecutive year. The tournament was also notable as UC Santa Barbara became the first double digit seed not to lose by a double-digit margin in the Sweet 16 as they lost to UConn 63–57.

Tournament records

• Final Four appearances – Connecticut appeared in their fifth consecutive Final Four, tied for the longest such streak, with LSU (2004–08)
• Rebounds – Janel McCarville, Minnesota recorded 75 rebounds, the most ever recorded in an NCAA tournament. This record would be broken in 2018 when Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan recorded 109 rebounds. ^[1]
• Assists – Temeka Johnson, LSU, recorded 50 assists, the most ever recorded in an NCAA tournament ^[2]

Qualifying teams – automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA tournament. ^[2]

Automatic bids
		Record
Qualifying school	Conference	Regular season	Conference	Seed
Austin Peay State University	Ohio Valley Conference	23–7	14–2	13
Boston College	Big East	25–6	11–5	3
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	Southern Conference	28–2	20–0	10
Colgate University	Patriot League	21–9	10–4	16
Duke University	ACC	27–3	15–1	1
Eastern Michigan University	MAC	22–7	12–4	14
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay	Horizon League	23–7	13–3	14
Hampton University	MEAC	17–10	14–4	16
University of Houston	Conference USA	27–3	13–1	3
Liberty University	Big South Conference	25–6	14–0	14
Lipscomb University	Atlantic Sun Conference	20–11	14–6	15
Louisiana Tech University	WAC	27–2	17–1	5
Loyola Marymount University	West Coast Conference	24–5	13–1	13
University of Maine	America East	25–6	17–1	13
Marist College	MAAC	20–10	13–5	14
Middle Tennessee State University	Sun Belt Conference	23–7	10–4	13
Missouri State University	Missouri Valley Conference	28–3	16–2	12
University of Montana	Big Sky Conference	27–4	14–0	12
University of New Mexico	Mountain West	23–7	12–2	12
Northwestern State University	Southland	24–6	14–2	16
University of Oklahoma	Big 12	23–8	9–7	3
Old Dominion University	Colonial	25–6	17–1	8
University of Pennsylvania	Ivy League	17–10	11–3	15
Purdue University	Big Ten	27–3	14–2	2
Southern University	SWAC	17–12	12–6	16
St. Francis (PA)	Northeast Conference	25–5	18–0	15
Stanford University	Pac-10	24–6	14–4	6
Temple University	Atlantic 10	21–9	14–2	11
University of California, Santa Barbara	Big West Conference	25–6	17–1	11
Valparaiso University	Mid-Continent	20–11	11–5	15
Vanderbilt University	SEC	24–7	8–6	2

Qualifying teams – at-large

Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations. ^[2]

At-large bids
		Record
Qualifying school	Conference	Regular season	Conference	Seed
University of Arizona	Pacific-10	24–8	14–4	9
Auburn University	Southeastern	21–8	9–5	7
Baylor University	Big 12	24–8	10–6	4
University of Colorado at Boulder	Big 12	22–7	11–5	6
University of Connecticut	Big East	25–4	14–2	2
DePaul University	Conference USA	22–6	10–4	9
University of Florida	Southeastern	18–10	8–6	5
The George Washington University	Atlantic 10	22–7	14–2	8
University of Georgia	Southeastern	22–9	8–6	3
University of Iowa	Big Ten	16–12	10–6	9
Kansas State University	Big 12	24–5	14–2	2
Louisiana State University	Southeastern	23–7	10–4	4
Marquette University	Conference USA	21–9	9–5	9
University of Maryland	Atlantic Coast	17–12	8–8	12
University of Miami	Big East	22–6	11–5	5
Michigan State University	Big Ten	21–8	10–6	8
University of Minnesota	Big Ten	21–8	9–7	7
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)	Southeastern	17–13	7–7	10
University of Missouri	Big 12	17–12	7–9	11
University of North Carolina	Atlantic Coast	24–6	12–4	4
North Carolina State University	Atlantic Coast	17–14	8–8	10
University of Notre Dame	Big East	19–10	12–4	5
Ohio State University	Big Ten	20–9	11–5	6
Pennsylvania State University	Big Ten	25–5	15–1	1
Rutgers University	Big East	21–11	10–6	7
Texas Christian University	Conference USA	24–6	11–3	6
University of Tennessee	Southeastern	26–3	14–0	1
University of Texas at Austin	Big 12	28–4	14–2	1
Texas Tech University	Big 12	24–7	10–6	4
University of California, Los Angeles	Pacific-10	17–12	11–7	10
Villanova University	Big East	22–6	12–4	7
Virginia Tech	Big East	22–7	10–6	8
West Virginia University	Big East	21–10	10–6	11

Bids by conference

Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In twenty-three cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from eight of the conferences. ^[2]

Bids	Conference	Teams
8	Big East	Boston College, Connecticut, Miami FL, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Villanova, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
7	Big 12	Oklahoma, Baylor, Colorado, Kansas St., Missouri, Texas, Texas Tech
7	Southeastern	Vanderbilt, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee
6	Big Ten	Purdue, Iowa, Michigan St., Minnesota, Ohio St., Penn St.
4	Atlantic Coast	Duke, Maryland., North Carolina, North Carolina St.
4	Conference USA	Houston, DePaul, Marquette, TCU
3	Pacific-10	Stanford, Arizona, UCLA
2	Atlantic 10	Temple, George Washington
1	America East	Maine
1	Atlantic Sun	Lipscomb
1	Big Sky	Montana
1	Big South	Liberty
1	Big West	UC Santa Barb.
1	Colonial	Old Dominion
1	Horizon	Green Bay
1	Ivy	Penn
1	Metro Atlantic	Marist
1	Mid-American	Eastern Mich.
1	Mid-Continent	Valparaiso
1	Mid-Eastern	Hampton
1	Missouri Valley	Missouri St.
1	Mountain West	New Mexico
1	Northeast	St. Francis Pa.
1	Ohio Valley	Austin Peay
1	Patriot	Colgate
1	Southern	Chattanooga
1	Southland	Northwestern St.
1	Southwestern	Southern U.
1	Sun Belt	Middle Tenn.
1	West Coast	Loyola Marymount
1	Western Athletic	Louisiana Tech

First and second rounds

Notre Dame

Santa Barbara

Blacksburg

Bridgeport

Missoula

Columbus

Durham

Minneapolis

Albuquerque

Tempe

Chattanooga

Tallahassee

Austin

Baton Rouge

Ames

Philadelphia

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2004 NCAA NCAA first and second round venues

In 2004, the field remained at 64 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-16 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 1 and 16 faced each other, as well as seeds 2 and 15, seeds 3 and 14, seeds 4 and 13, seeds 5 and 12, seeds 6 and 11, seeds 7 and 10, and seeds 8 and 9. Sixteen sites for the first two rounds were determined approximately a year before the team selections and seedings were completed, following a practice established in 2003. ^[3]

The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations: ^[4]

Region	Rnd	Host	Venue	City	State
East	1&2	University of Notre Dame	Edmund P. Joyce Center	Notre Dame	Indiana
East	1&2	University of California, Santa Barbara	UC Santa Barbara Events Center	Santa Barbara	California
East	1&2	Virginia Tech	Cassell Coliseum	Blacksburg	Virginia
East	1&2	Fairfield University	Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard	Bridgeport	Connecticut
Mideast	1&2	University of Montana	Dahlberg Arena	Missoula	Montana
Mideast	1&2	Ohio State University	St. John Arena	Columbus	Ohio
Mideast	1&2	Duke University	Cameron Indoor Stadium	Durham	North Carolina
Mideast	1&2	University of Minnesota	Williams Arena	Minneapolis	Minnesota
Midwest	1&2	University of New Mexico	The Pit (arena)	Albuquerque	New Mexico
Midwest	1&2	Arizona State University	Wells Fargo Arena	Tempe	Arizona
Midwest	1&2	University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	McKenzie Arena	Chattanooga	Tennessee
Midwest	1&2	Florida State University	Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center	Tallahassee	Florida
West	1&2	University of Texas	Frank Erwin Center	Austin	Texas
West	1&2	Louisiana State University	LSU Assembly Center (Pete Maravich Assembly Center)	Baton Rouge	Louisiana
West	1&2	Iowa State University	Hilton Coliseum	Ames	Iowa
West	1&2	Temple University	Liacouras Center	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania

Regionals and Final Four

Norman

Seattle

Hartford

Norfolk

New Orleans

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2004 NCAA regionals and Final Four

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 27 to March 30 at these sites: ^[4]

• Midwest Regional Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma (Host: University of Oklahoma)
• West Regional Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle (Host: University of Washington)
• East Regional Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut (Host: Big East Conference)
• Mideast Regional Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Virginia (Host: Old Dominion University)

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held April 4 and April 6 in New Orleans at the New Orleans Arena (Host: Tulane University)

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from thirty-two states, plus Washington, D.C. Tennessee had the most teams with six bids. Eighteen states did not have any teams receiving bids. ^[2]

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 2004

Bids	State	Teams
6	Tennessee	Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Lipscomb, Middle Tenn., Vanderbilt, Tennessee
5	Texas	Houston, Baylor, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech
4	California	Loyola Marymount, Stanford, UC Santa Barb., UCLA
4	Louisiana	Louisiana Tech, Northwestern St., Southern U., LSU
4	Pennsylvania	Penn, Temple, Penn St., Villanova St. Francis Pa.
4	Virginia	Hampton, Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia Tech
3	Indiana	Purdue, Valparaiso, Notre Dame
3	New York	Colgate, Marist,
3	North Carolina	Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina St.
2	Florida	Florida, Miami FL
2	Michigan	Eastern Mich., Michigan St.
2	Missouri	Missouri St., Missouri
2	Wisconsin	Green Bay, Marquette
1	Alabama	Auburn
1	Arizona	Arizona
1	Colorado	Colorado
1	Connecticut	Connecticut
1	District of Columbia	George Washington
1	Georgia	Georgia
1	Illinois	DePaul
1	Iowa	Iowa
1	Kansas	Kansas St.
1	Maine	Maine
1	Maryland	Maryland.
1	Massachusetts	Boston College
1	Minnesota	Minnesota
1	Mississippi	Ole Miss
1	Montana	Montana
1	New Jersey	Rutgers
1	New Mexico	New Mexico
1	Ohio	Ohio St.
1	Oklahoma	Oklahoma
1	West Virginia	West Virginia

Brackets

Data Source ^[5]

East Region – Hartford, Connecticut

	First round March 20 and 21					Second round March 22 and 23					Regional semifinals March 27					Regional finals March 29
	1	Penn State	79
	16	Hampton	42
						1	Penn State	61
	Blacksburg, Virginia
						8	Virginia Tech	48
	8	Virginia Tech	89
	9	Iowa	76
											1	Penn State	55
											5	Notre Dame	49
	5	Notre Dame	69*
	12	Missouri State	65
						5	Notre Dame	59
	South Bend, Indiana
						13	Middle Tennessee	46
	4	North Carolina	62
	13	Middle Tennessee	67
																1	Penn State	49
																2	Connecticut	66
	6	Colorado	49
	11	UC Santa Barbara	76
						11	UC Santa Barbara	56
	Santa Barbara, California
						3	Houston	52
	3	Houston	62
	14	Green Bay	47
											11	UC Santa Barbara	57
											2	Connecticut	63
	7	Auburn	79
	10	NC State	59
						7	Auburn	53
	Bridgeport, Connecticut
						2	Connecticut	79
	2	Connecticut	91
	15	Pennsylvania	55

Mideast Region – Norfolk, Virginia

	First round March 20 and 21					Second round March 22 and 23					Regional semifinals March 28					Regional finals March 30
	1	Duke	103
	16	Northwestern State	51
						1	Duke	76
	Durham, North Carolina
						9	Marquette	67
	8	Old Dominion	64
	9	Marquette	67
											1	Duke	63
											5	Louisiana Tech	49
	5	Louisiana Tech	81
	12	Montana	77
						5	Louisiana Tech	81
	Missoula, Montana
						4	Texas Tech	64
	4	Texas Tech	60
	13	Maine	50
																1	Duke	75
																7	Minnesota	82
	6	Ohio State	73
	11	West Virginia	67
						6	Ohio State	48
	Columbus, Ohio
						3	Boston College	63
	3	Boston College	58
	14	Eastern Michigan	56
											3	Boston College	63
											7	Minnesota	76
	7	Minnesota	92
	10	UCLA	81
						7	Minnesota	80
	Minneapolis, Minnesota
						2	Kansas State	61
	2	Kansas State	71
	15	Valparaiso	63

Midwest Region – Norman, Oklahoma

	First round March 20 and 21					Second round March 22 and 23					Regional semifinals March 28					Regional finals March 30
	1	Tennessee	77
	16	Colgate	54
						1	Tennessee	79
	Tallahassee, Florida
						9	DePaul	59
	8	George Washington	46
	9	DePaul	83
											1	Tennessee	71
											4	Baylor	69
	5	Florida	68
	12	New Mexico	56
						5	Florida	76
	Albuquerque, New Mexico
						4	Baylor	91
	4	Baylor	71
	13	Loyola Marymount	60
																1	Tennessee	62
																6	Stanford	60
	6	Stanford	68
	11	Missouri	44
						6	Stanford	68
	Tempe, Arizona
						3	Oklahoma	43
	3	Oklahoma	58
	14	Marist	45
											6	Stanford	57
											2	Vanderbilt	55
	7	Rutgers	69
	10	Chattanooga	74
						10	Chattanooga	44
	Chattanooga, Tennessee
						2	Vanderbilt	60
	2	Vanderbilt	76
	15	Lipscomb	45

West Region – Seattle

	First round March 20 and 21					Second round March 22 and 23					Regional semifinals March 27					Regional finals March 29
	1	Texas	92
	16	Southern	57
						1	Texas	80
	Austin, Texas
						8	Michigan State	61
	8	Michigan State	72
	9	Arizona	60
											1	Texas	55
											4	LSU	71
	5	Miami (FL)	85
	12	Maryland	86
						12	Maryland	61
	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
						4	LSU	76
	4	LSU	83
	13	Austin Peay	66
																4	LSU	62
																3	Georgia	60
	6	TCU	70
	11	Temple	57
						6	TCU	71
	Philadelphia
						3	Georgia	85
	3	Georgia	78
	14	Liberty	53
											3	Georgia	66
											2	Purdue	64
	7	Villanova	66
	10	Ole Miss	63
						7	Villanova	42
	Ames, Iowa
						2	Purdue	60
	2	Purdue	78
	15	St. Francis (PA)	59

Final Four – New Orleans

	National semifinals April 4					National championship April 6
	E2	Connecticut	67
	ME7	Minnesota	58
						E2	Connecticut	70
						MW1	Tennessee	61
	MW1	Tennessee	52
	W4	LSU	50

E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West.

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Sweet Sixteen	Elite Eight	Final Four	Championship Game
Big East	8	12-7	63.2%	3	1	1	1
SEC	7	16-7	69.6%	4	3	2	1
Big 12	7	7-7	50.0%	2	0	0	0
Big Ten	6	11-6	64.7%	3	2	1	0
ACC	4	4-4	50.0%	1	1	0	0
Conference USA	4	4-4	50.0%	0	0	0	0
Pac-10	3	3-3	50.0%	1	1	0	0
Atlantic 10	2	0-2	0.0%	0	0	0	0
Big West Conference	1	2-1	66.7%	1	0	0	0
WAC	1	2-1	66.7%	1	0	0	0
Southern Conference	1	1-1	50.0%	0	0	0	0
Sun Belt Conference	1	1-1	50.0%	0	0	0	0

Nineteen conferences went 0-1: America East, Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference Colonial, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, Summit League, MEAC, Missouri Valley Conference, Mountain West, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southland, SWAC, and West Coast Conference

All-Tournament team

• Diana Taurasi, Connecticut
• Jessica Moore, Connecticut
• Ann Strother, Connecticut
• Janel McCarville, Minnesota
• Shanna Zolman Tennessee ^[2]

Game officials

• Scott Yarbrough (semifinal)
• Sally Bell (semifinal)
• Tina Napier (semifinal)
• Melissa Barlow (semifinal)
• Greg Small (semifinal)
• Bill Titus (semifinal)
• Dee Kantner (final)
• Melissa Barlow (final)
• Bryan Enterline (final) ^[2]

See also

• NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
• 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2004 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament

Notes

1. Nixon, Rick. "2023 Women's Final Four Championship Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. p. 85. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
2. Nixon, Rick. "Official 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
3. HAVEL, CARRIE J. (2005). "The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship: an analysis of first and second rounds and the change to predetermined sites" (PDF). p. 1. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
4. "Attendance and Sites" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
5. "Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book". NCAA. February 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.