2006 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

Last updated

2006 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament
2006 NCAA Women's Final Four logo.svg
2006 Women's Final Four logo
Teams64
Finals site TD Garden
Boston, Massachusetts
Champions Maryland Terrapins (1st title, 1st title game,
3rd Final Four)
Runner-up Duke Blue Devils (2nd title game,
4th Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Brenda Frese (1st title)
MOP Laura Harper (Maryland)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments
« 2005 2007 »

The 2006 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was held from March 18 to April 4, 2006, at several sites, with the championship game held in Boston. The Maryland Terrapins, coached by Brenda Frese, won their first National Championship, beating the Duke Blue Devils, coached by Gail Goestenkors, 78–75 in overtime. Laura Harper of the Terrapins was named Most Outstanding Player.

Contents

The field is set at 64 teams, with 31 automatic bids and 33 at-large bids. Unlike the men's game, there is no play-in game. In addition, the first two rounds and regionals are usually played on "neutral" sites.

As of the 2023 tournament, this is the last Final Four where all four teams were coached by women.

Until the 2023 tournament, this was the last Women's final four not to include either Connecticut or Tennessee.

Notable events

In the Albuquerque Regional, Boston College upset the number one seed, Ohio State, in the second round. BC went on to play fifth seeded Utah in the regional semifinal, but Utah won by three points. Utah then played Maryland in the Regional final. With under eight seconds to go in regulation, Utah was trailing by a single point, with Shona Thorburn at the free throw line for two shots. She only made one, and the game went into overtime. This was familiar territory for the Terrapins, who were now playing in the fifth overtime game of their season. They had won the previous four, and would outscore Utah 12–2 to advance to the Final Four. [1] [2]

In the Bridgeport Regional, Connecticut won their first two games easily, then faced Georgia in their home state. The Huskies started out poorly, going without a single point for a stretch of over six minutes and were down 25–10 with under seven minutes to go in the first half. Then UConn scored 22 of the next 23 points to take a six-point lead. Georgia did not quit, and with seconds left, had a one-point lead. UConn had the ball and set up a last-ditch play. The play broke down, but Barbara Turner, not known as a three-point shooter, hit a three-pointer to put Connecticut up by two points with under two seconds to play. Georgia took a desperation, length of the court shot which bounced off the rim, and Connecticut held on to advance to the regional final. UConn head coach Geno Auriemma was quoted as saying, "I told the guys in the locker room, there are times that if you are lucky, fate taps you on the shoulder and you are ready. And today, we were ready". [3] [4]

In the regional final, top seeded Duke faced second seed UConn. With Connecticut down by two points late in the game, the Huskies Mel Thomas hit a two pint jumper to tie the game at 55 points apiece. Duke had 20 seconds left to hit a shot to take the lead. They called a timeout to set up a play but it broke down, and they called a timeout with three seconds left. The inbound pass ended up near half court, where an attempted buzzer beater bounced off the backboard, and the game went into overtime. The Blue Devils pulled out to a five-point lead with under three minutes to go, but did not score another point. UConn had the ball for a final play, down by two points, but Charde Houston missed an open jumper, and Duke won the right to go to the Final Four in Boston. [5]

The Cleveland Regional got off to a newsworthy start during Tennessee's opening round game against Army, when the Lady Vols' Candace Parker because first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and the first woman to dunk twice in a college game. [6] [7] [8] Ultimately though, the top four seeds advance to the regional semifinals, the top two to the final, and top seed North Carolina beat Tennessee to advance to the Final Four. It was their first trip to the Final Four for the Tarheels since 1994, when they had won the National Championship.

The San Antonio Regional also largely followed the seeding, although third-seeded Stanford upset Oklahoma to reach the regional final. Although top seeded LSU was down by five points at halftime, they came back to beat Stanford by three points to earn a trip to the Final Four. LSU had only a one-point lead, when Candice Wiggins drove to the basket but Seimone Augustus stood in the way and took a charge. Wiggins had passed the ball to Krista Rappahahn who hit a three-pointer, but it was waved off because of the charge. [9]

LSU was one of just seven schools to place both their men's and women's basketball teams in the Final Four in the same year. But one night after the men lost by double digits to UCLA, the women lost as well. Duke had a double-digit lead at halftime, which LSU cut to six points, but Duke then went on an 11–1 run to build the lead back up. Duke won the game 64–55 to head to the championship game. [10]

North Carolina entered the other semifinal against Maryland with only a single loss on the season, but that loss was to Maryland. The first half was close, with Maryland holding just a two-point lead at the half. The Terrapins extended the lead in the second half to double digits, but North Carolina came back to cut the lead to three points with just over a minute left in the game. They would get no closer, and Maryland held on to win 81–70 to advance to the final game. [11]

The semifinal wins set up an all-ACC championship game, between the two highest scoring teams in Division I. Duke had won 14 of the last 15 meetings between the two teams, but the sole win by Maryland in the streak was the most recent—the ACC semifinal match up. This game started as if it were a return to the usual results, with Duke reaching a double-digit lead at halftime, and extending to a 13-point lead in the second half. Maryland fought back, and with seconds to go in the game Kristi Toliver hit a three-pointer to tie the game. The game went into overtime, the sixth time this season Maryland had been in an overtime game. The Terrapins had won all five prior overtimes games, and this would be no different. Although down in overtime, Toliver hit two free throws to put her team back in front, and Maryland held on to win their first National Championship. [12]

Locations

Usa edcp location map.svg
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West Lafayette
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Nashville
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University Park
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Norfolk
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Chicago
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Denver
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Tucson
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Trenton
2006 NCAA NCAA first and second round venues
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Albuquerque
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Bridgeport
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San Antonio
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Cleveland
Red pog.svg
Boston
2006 NCAA Regionals and Final Four

The tournament once again used the pod system, meaning that teams were more likely to play closer to home earlier in the tournament. The sites for the first two rounds were as follows:

Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois (Host: DePaul University)
Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado (Host: University of Colorado at Boulder and Big 12 Conference)
McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona)
Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Vanderbilt University)
Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Virginia (Host: Old Dominion University)
Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New Jersey (Host: Rider University and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pennsylvania (Host: Pennsylvania State University)
Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University)

The Regional sites for this year (named after the city, a practice that is in use for the second consecutive year) were:

Albuquerque Regional: The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
San Antonio Regional: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)
Bridgeport Regional: Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut (Host: Fairfield University)
Cleveland Regional: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio (Host: Cleveland State University and the Mid-American Conference)

The winners of the regionals advanced to the Final Four, held at TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts on April 2–4, 2006, hosted by Harvard University and Northeastern University.

Tournament records

Qualifying teams - automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA tournament. [13]

Automatic Bids
  Record 
Qualifying SchoolConferenceRegular
Season
ConferenceSeed
Army Patriot League 20–1011–315
Bowling Green MAC 28–216–012
Chattanooga Southern Conference 27–318–012
Coppin State MEAC 22–818–015
Dartmouth Ivy League 23–612–214
FAU Atlantic Sun Conference 20–1016–416
Hartford America East 27–315–111
Liberty Big South Conference 24–513–113
Louisiana Tech WAC 26–415–111
Marist MAAC 23–616–214
Middle Tennessee State Sun Belt Conference 20–1010–412
Milwaukee Horizon League 21–814–213
Missouri State Missouri Valley Conference 17–147–1113
North Carolina ACC 29–113–11
Northern Arizona Big Sky Conference 22–109–514
Oakland Mid-Continent 15–158–816
Ohio State Big Ten 28–215–11
Oklahoma Big 12 29–416–02
Old Dominion Colonial 22–817–110
Pepperdine West Coast Conference 14–168–615
Rutgers Big East 25–416–03
Sacred Heart Northeast Conference 26–416–215
Southeast Missouri State Ohio Valley Conference 20–816–414
Southern SWAC 20–1014–416
Stanford Pac-10 23–715–33
Stephen F. Austin Southland 23–714–213
Temple Atlantic 10 24–712–46
Tennessee SEC 28-411-32
Tulsa Conference USA 25–514–312
UC-Riverside Big West Conference 16–147–716
Utah Mountain West 24–612–45

Qualifying teams - at-large

Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations. [13]

At-large Bids
  Record 
Qualifying SchoolConferenceRegular
Season
ConferenceSeed
Arizona State Pacific-1024–614–44
Baylor Big 1224–612–43
Boston College Atlantic Coast19–116–88
BYU Mountain West25–513–37
UC-Berkeley Pacific-1018–1110–810
Connecticut Big East29–414–22
DePaul Big East25–611–54
Duke Atlantic Coast26–312–21
Florida Southeastern21–88–66
Florida State Atlantic Coast19–910–46
George Washington Atlantic 1022–813–37
Georgia Southeastern21–810–43
Iowa Big Ten17–1110–610
Kentucky Southeastern21–89–55
Louisville Big East19–910–69
LSU Southeastern27-313-11
Maryland Atlantic Coast28–412–22
Michigan State Big Ten22–911–54
Minnesota Big Ten19–911–58
Missouri Big 1221–910–610
New Mexico Mountain West21–911–511
N.C. State Atlantic Coast19–117–75
Notre Dame Big East18–118–89
Purdue Big Ten24–613–34
USF Big East18–119–79
USC Pacific-1018–1111–78
St. John's Big East21–711–57
TCU Mountain West18–1111–511
Texas A&M Big 1223–811–56
UCLA Pacific-1020–1012–65
Vanderbilt Southeastern20–108–68
Virginia Tech Atlantic Coast20–96–87
Washington Pacific-1018–1011–79

Tournament seeds

Cleveland Regional Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1North CarolinaACC29-1Automatic
2TennesseeSEC28-4Automatic
3RutgersBig East25-4Automatic
4PurdueBig Ten24-6At-large
5UCLAPac-1020-10At-large
6Texas A&MBig 1223-8At-large
7George WashingtonAtlantic 1022-8At-large
8VanderbiltSEC20-10At-large
9LouisvilleBig East19-9At-large
10Old DominionCAA22-8Automatic
11TCUMountain West18-11At-large
12Bowling GreenMAC28-2Automatic
13Missouri StateMissouri Valley17-14Automatic
14DartmouthIvy23-6Automatic
15ArmyPatriot20-10Automatic
16UC RiversideBig West16-14Automatic
Albuquerque Regional The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1Ohio StateBig Ten28-2Automatic
2MarylandACC28-4At-large
3BaylorBig 1224-6At-large
4Arizona StatePac-1024-6At-large
5UtahMountain West24-6Automatic
6FloridaSEC21-8At-large
7St. John'sBig East21-7At-large
8Boston CollegeACC19-11At-large
9Notre DameBig East18-11At-large
10CaliforniaPac-1018-11At-large
11New MexicoMountain West21-9At-large
12Middle TennesseeSun Belt20-10Automatic
13Stephen F. AustinSouthland23-7Automatic
14Northern ArizonaBig Sky22-10Automatic
15Sacred HeartNortheast26-4Automatic
16OaklandMid-Continent15-15Automatic
Bridgeport Regional Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1DukeACC26-3At-large
2ConnecticutBig East29-4At-large
3GeorgiaSEC21-8At-large
4Michigan StateBig Ten22-9At-large
5KentuckySEC21-8At-large
6TempleAtlantic 1024-7Automatic
7Virginia TechACC20-9At-large
8Southern CalPac-1018-11At-large
9South FloridaBig East18-11At-large
10MissouriBig 1221-9At-large
11HartfordAmerica East27-3Automatic
12ChattanoogaSouthern27-3Automatic
13MilwaukeeHorizon21-8Automatic
14MaristMAAC23-6Automatic
15Coppin StateMEAC22-8Automatic
16SouthernSWAC20-10Automatic
San Antonio Regional AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1LSUSEC27-3At-Large
2OklahomaBig 1229-4Automatic
3StanfordPac-1023-7Automatic
4DePaulBig East25-6At-large
5NC StateACC19-11At-large
6Florida StateACC19-9At-large
7BYUMountain West25-5At-large
8MinnesotaBig 1019-9At-large
9WashingtonPac-1018-10At-large
10IowaBig 1017-11At-large
11Louisiana TechWAC26-4Automatic
12TulsaConference USA25-5Automatic
13LibertyBig South24-5Automatic
14Southeast MissouriOhio Valley20-8Automatic
15PepperdineWest Coast14-16Automatic
16Florida AtlanticAtlantic Sun20-10Automatic

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. [13]

BidsConferenceTeams
7 Atlantic Coast North Carolina, Boston College, Duke, Florida St., Maryland, North Carolina St., Virginia Tech
7 Big East Rutgers, Connecticut, DePaul, Louisville, Notre Dame, South Fla., St. John's NY
6 Pacific-10 Stanford, Arizona St., California, Southern California, UCLA, Washington
6 Southeastern LSU, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
5 Big Ten Ohio St., Iowa, Michigan St., Minnesota, Purdue
4 Big 12 Oklahoma, Baylor, Missouri, Texas A&M
4 Mountain West Utah, BYU, New Mexico, TCU
2 Atlantic 10 Temple, George Washington
1 America East Hartford
1 Atlantic Sun Fla. Atlantic
1 Big Sky Northern Ariz.
1 Big South Liberty
1 Big West UC Riverside
1 Colonial Old Dominion
1 Conference USA Tulsa
1 Horizon Milwaukee
1 Ivy Dartmouth
1 Metro Atlantic Marist
1 Mid-American Bowling Green
1 Mid-Continent Oakland
1 Mid-Eastern Coppin St.
1 Missouri Valley Missouri St.
1 Northeast Sacred Heart
1 Ohio Valley Southeast Mo. St.
1 Patriot Army
1 Southern Chattanooga
1 Southland Stephen F. Austin
1 Southwestern Southern U.
1 Sun Belt Middle Tenn.
1 West Coast Pepperdine
1 Western Athletic Louisiana Tech

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from twenty-nine states, plus Washington, D.C. California had the most teams with six bids. Twenty-one states did not have any teams receiving bids. [13]

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 2006 NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 2006.svg
NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 2006
BidsStateTeams
6 California Pepperdine, Stanford, UC Riverside, California, Southern California, UCLA
4 Florida Fla. Atlantic, Florida, Florida St., South Fla.
4 Tennessee Chattanooga, Middle Tenn., Tennessee, Vanderbilt
4 Texas Stephen F. Austin, Baylor, TCU, Texas A&M
3 Connecticut Hartford, Sacred Heart, Connecticut
3 Louisiana Louisiana Tech, LSU, Southern U.
3 Missouri Missouri St., Missouri, Southeast Mo. St.
3 New York Army, Marist, St. John's NY
3 North Carolina North Carolina, Duke, North Carolina St.
3 Virginia Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia Tech
2 Arizona Northern Ariz., Arizona St.
2 Indiana Notre Dame, Purdue
2 Kentucky Kentucky, Louisville
2 Maryland Coppin St., Maryland
2 Michigan Oakland, Michigan St.
2 Ohio Bowling Green, Ohio St.
2 Oklahoma Oklahoma, Tulsa
2 Utah Utah, BYU
1 District of Columbia George Washington
1 Georgia Georgia
1 Illinois DePaul
1 Iowa Iowa
1 Massachusetts Boston College
1 Minnesota Minnesota
1 New Hampshire Dartmouth
1 New Jersey Rutgers
1 New Mexico New Mexico
1 Pennsylvania Temple
1 Washington Washington
1 Wisconsin Milwaukee

Brackets

Data source [13]
*-Overtime game.

Cleveland Regional

First round
March 18 and 19
Second round
March 20 and 21
Regional semifinals
March 26
Regional finals
March 28
            
1 North Carolina 75
16 UC Riverside 51
1 North Carolina89
Nashville, TN
8 Vanderbilt 70
8 Vanderbilt 76
9 Louisville 64
1 North Carolina70
4 Purdue 68
5 UCLA 74
12 Bowling Green 61
5 UCLA 54
West Lafayette, IN
4 Purdue61
4 Purdue 73
13 Missouri State 54
1 North Carolina75
2 Tennessee 63
6 Texas A&M 65
11 TCU 69
11 TCU 48
Trenton, NJ
3 Rutgers82
3 Rutgers 63
14 Dartmouth 58
3 Rutgers 69
2 Tennessee76
7 George Washington 87
10 Old Dominion 72
7 George Washington 53
Norfolk, VA
2 Tennessee66
2 Tennessee 102
15 Army 54

Albuquerque Regional

First round
March 18 and 19
Second round
March 20 and 21
Regional semifinals
March 25
Regional finals
March 27
            
1 Ohio State 68
16 Oakland (MI) 45
1 Ohio State 69
West Lafayette, IN
8 Boston College79
8 Boston College 78
9 Notre Dame 61
8 Boston College 54
5 Utah57
5 Utah 76
12 Middle Tennessee 71
5 Utah86
Tucson, AZ
4 Arizona State 65
4 Arizona State 80
13 Stephen F. Austin 61
5 Utah 65
2 Maryland75*
6 Florida 59
11 New Mexico 83
11 New Mexico 67
Tucson, AZ
3 Baylor87
3 Baylor 74
14 Northern Arizona 56
3 Baylor 63
2 Maryland82
7 St. John's 78
10 California 68
7 St. John's 74
University Park, PA
2 Maryland81
2 Maryland 95
15 Sacred Heart 54

Bridgeport Regional

First round
March 18 and 19
Second round
March 20 and 21
Regional semifinals
March 26
Regional finals
March 28
            
1 Duke 96
16 Southern 27
1 Duke85
Norfolk, VA
8 Southern California 51
8 Southern California 67
9 South Florida 65
1 Duke86
4 Michigan State 61
5 Kentucky 69
12 Chattanooga 59
5 Kentucky 63
Rosemont, IL
4 Michigan State67
4 Michigan State 65
13 Milwaukee 46
1 Duke63*
2 Connecticut 61
6 Temple 58
11 Hartford 64
11 Hartford 54
Trenton, NJ
3 Georgia73
3 Georgia 75
14 Marist 60
3 Georgia 75
2 Connecticut77
7 Virginia Tech 82
10 Missouri 51
7 Virginia Tech 56
University Park, PA
2 Connecticut79
2 Connecticut 77
15 Coppin State 54

San Antonio Regional

First round
March 18
Second round
March 20
Regional semifinals
March 25
Regional finals
March 27
            
1 LSU 72
16 Florida Atlantic 48
1 LSU72
Nashville, TN
9 Washington 49
8 Minnesota 69
9 Washington 73
1 LSU66
4 DePaul 56
5 NC State 61
12 Tulsa 71
12 Tulsa 67
Rosemont, IL
4 DePaul71
4 DePaul 68
13 Liberty 43
1 LSU62
3 Stanford 59
6 Florida State 80
11 Louisiana Tech 71
6 Florida State 70
Denver, CO
3 Stanford88
3 Stanford 72
14 Southeast Missouri 45
3 Stanford88
2 Oklahoma 74
7 BYU 67
10 Iowa 62
7 BYU 70
Denver, CO
2 Oklahoma86
2 Oklahoma 78
15 Pepperdine 66

Final Four – TD Banknorth Garden (Boston, Massachusetts)

National Semifinals
April 2
National Championship
April 4
      
Alb2 Maryland81
Cle1 North Carolina 70
Alb2 Maryland78*
Bpt1 Duke 75
Bpt1 Duke64
SA1 LSU 45

Alb-Albuquerque; Bpt-Bridgeport; Cle-Cleveland; SA-San Antonio.

Record by conference

Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Round
of 32
Sweet
Sixteen
Elite
Eight
Final
Four
Championship
Game
Atlantic Coast 7 19–6 .760 6 4 3 3 2
Big East 7 8–7 .533 4 3 1 0 0
Southeastern 6 11–6 .647 5 3 2 1 0
Pacific-10 6 7–6 .538 5 1 1 0 0
Big Ten 5 5–5 .500 3 2 0 0 0
Mountain West 4 6–4 .600 4 1 1 0 0
Big 12 4 4–4 .500 2 2 0 0 0
Atlantic 10 2 1–2 .333 1 0 0 0 0
America East 1 1–1 .500 1 0 0 0 0
Conference USA 1 1–1 .500 1 0 0 0 0

Twenty-one conferences went 0-1: Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Colonial, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Missouri Valley Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt Conference, West Coast Conference, and WAC

All-Tournament Team

Game Officials

See also

Notes

  1. "Boxscore MD". ESPN. March 27, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  2. "Maryland Rises in Overtime, 75-65". Los Angeles Times. March 28, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  3. "Connecticut holds off Georgia, 77-75". Honolulu Advertiser. March 27, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  4. GOLDBERG, JEFF (March 27, 2006). "Ncaa Women's Tournament: Uconn 77, Georgia 75". Hartford Courant. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  5. Byrnes, Patrick (March 28, 2006). "duke escapes uconn in overtime thriller". The Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  6. "NCAA Video Vault: Candace Parker becomes first woman to dunk in NCAA tournament history | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  7. "Candace Parker Dunks Twice as Lady Vols Roll to 102-54 Win over Army".
  8. "Offseason 2008-09: Overseas Roster". Wnba.com. January 8, 2009.
  9. "Augustus draws game-saving charge to send LSU to Final Four". ESPN. March 27, 2006. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  10. "Duke routs LSU to set up all-ACC final". ESPN. April 2, 2006. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  11. "Harper helps Terps trip up Tar Heels to advance to title game". ESPN. April 2, 2006. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  12. Orton, Kathy (April 5, 2006). "A 3-Point Landing". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nixon, Rick. "Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  14. Nixon, Rick. "2023 Women's Final Four Championship Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. p. 86. Retrieved March 26, 2023.

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The 1991 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 13 and ended on March 31. The tournament featured 48 teams. The Final Four event was hosted by the University of New Orleans, and held at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. The Final Four teams consisted of Tennessee, Stanford, Connecticut, and Virginia, with Tennessee defeating Virginia 70-67 (OT) to win its third NCAA title. Virginia's Dawn Staley was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2000 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament</span> American college basketball tournament

The 2000 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 17 and ended on April 2. The tournament featured 64 teams. The Final Four consisted of Connecticut, Penn St., Tennessee, and Rutgers, with Connecticut defeating Tennessee 71-52 to win its second NCAA title. Connecticut's Shea Ralph was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1995 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament</span> American college basketball tournament

The 1995 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament featured 64 teams. The Final Four consisted of Connecticut, Tennessee, Stanford, and Georgia. Connecticut defeated Tennessee 70–64 to win its first NCAA title and complete a 35–0 undefeated season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament</span> College basketball championship in Denver

The 2012 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began March 17 and concluded April 3, 2012. The Final Four was played at Pepsi Center in Denver. For only the second time in history, and the first time since 1989, all four of the number one seeds made it to the Final Four. Baylor won its second national championship, defeating Notre Dame 80–61 in the championship game. They were the only team to win 40 straight games in a season until Connecticut matched it in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament</span> American college basketball tournament

The 2013 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was played from March 23 through April 9, 2013. Tennessee continued its streak of making every NCAA women's basketball tournament at 32 consecutive appearances. Kansas made the regional semifinals for the second year in a row as a double-digit seed, UConn made it into the Final Four for the sixth consecutive year, the longest such streak, and Louisville became the first team seeded lower than fourth in a region to advance to the championship game. For the first time in tournament history, the same four teams were #1 seeds as in the previous year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament</span>

The 2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was played in March and April 2014, with the Final Four played April 6–8. The Ohio Valley Conference served as the host institution. The Final Four was played at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament</span> Womens basketball championship

The 2015 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was played between March and April 2015, with the Final Four played April 5 & 7. The regional locations, after a one-year experiment allowing tournament teams to host, returned to four neutral sites: Oklahoma City, Spokane, Greensboro and Albany. The subregionals were played 20–23 March, while the regionals were played 27–30 March. This represented a change; in the past, the rounds were played starting on a Saturday and ending on a Tuesday. In 2015, the opening rounds and regionals were played starting on a Friday and ending on a Monday. The Final Four was played at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. For only the third time in history, all four of the number one seeds made it to the Final Four.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament</span> Womens basketball championship

The 2017 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was played from Friday, March 17 to Sunday, April 2, 2017, with the Final Four played at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on March 31 and April 2. This was the first time that the women's Final Four was played in Dallas and the first time since 2002 that the Final Four games were played on Friday and Sunday, rather than Sunday and Tuesday. South Carolina defeated Mississippi State to win the championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament</span> American womens collegiate basketball tournament

The 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 40th edition of the tournament began on March 16, 2022, and concluded with the championship game on April 3 at Target Center in Minneapolis, where the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the UConn Huskies 64–49 to win their second NCAA title, and handing UConn its first loss in the championship game. This tournament marked the introduction of the "First Four" round and an expansion of the field of participants from 64 teams to 68, mirroring the men's tournament since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament</span> Womens Basketball Tournament

The 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 41st edition of the tournament began on March 15, 2023, and concluded on April 2 with the championship game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.