2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

Last updated

2014 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament
2014 NCAA Women's Final Four logo.png
Season 201314
Teams64
Finals site Bridgestone Arena,
Nashville, Tennessee
Champions UConn Huskies (9th title, 9th title game,
15th Final Four)
Runner-up Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4th title game,
6th Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Geno Auriemma (9th title)
MOP Breanna Stewart (UConn)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments
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The 2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was played in March and April 2014, with the Final Four played April 6–8. [1] The Ohio Valley Conference served as the host institution. [2] The Final Four was played at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Tennessee continued its streak of making every NCAA women's basketball tournament at 33 consecutive appearances. Connecticut (who made their seventh consecutive Final Four overall) and Notre Dame faced each other in the NCAA Final. Both were undefeated heading into the championship game, making it the first ever match up of two undefeated teams in the championship game. Connecticut prevailed, 79–58, to win their ninth national championship.

The previous day, Connecticut also won the men's tournament. It was just the second time in NCAA history the same school had won both the men's and women's tournament; UConn first accomplished that feat in 2004. [6]

Tournament procedure

Pending any changes to the format, a total of 64 teams will enter the 2014 tournament. 32 automatic bids shall be awarded to each program that wins their conference's tournament. The remaining 36 bids are "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The tournament is split into four regional tournaments, and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16, with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible.[ citation needed ] The top-seeded team in each region plays the #16 team, the #2 team plays the #15, etc. (meaning where the two seeds add up to 17, that team will be assigned to play another).

The basis for the subregionals returned to the approach used between 1982 and 2002; the top sixteen teams, as chosen in the bracket selection process, hosted the first two rounds on campus.

The Selection Committee will also seed the entire field from 1 to 64.

2014 NCAA tournament schedule and venues

There were 64 teams in the tournament, placed in a seeded bracket with four regions. Thirty-two teams received automatic bids—31 of which were their conference tournament champions; the other was for the Ivy League regular-season champion. An additional 32 teams were given at-large bids by the selection committee on the basis of their body of work during the regular season. Unlike the men's tournament, there was no "First Four" round.

First and second rounds (Subregionals)

The subregionals were played from March 22 to March 25, 2014. [7] Sites chosen to host first- and second-round games in 2014 were:

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Ames
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Baton Rouge
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Chapel Hill
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College Park
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College Station
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Durham
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Iowa City
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Knoxville
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Lexington
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Los Angeles
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Seattle
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Storrs
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Toledo
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University Park
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Waco
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West Lafayette
2014 NCAA subregionals (hover over city to see link to host)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

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Lincoln
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Louisville
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Notre Dame
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Stanford
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Nashville
2014 NCAA Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red) (Hover over city to see link to arena)

The Regionals, named for the city rather than the region of geographic importance since 2005, were held from March 29 to April 1 at the following sites: [8] [9]

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and national championship)

It was the first time that Nashville had hosted a women's Final Four basketball tournament. [10]

Tournament records

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams earned automatic qualifiers for the 2014 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion receives the automatic bid):

ConferenceTeamAppearancesLast bid
ACC Notre Dame 21 2013
America East Albany 3 2013
American Connecticut 26 2013
Atlantic 10 Fordham 2 1994
Atlantic Sun Florida Gulf Coast 2 2012
Big 12 Baylor 13 2013
Big East DePaul 19 2013
Big Sky North Dakota 1Never
Big South Winthrop 1Never
Big Ten Nebraska 12 2013
Big West Cal State Northridge 2 1999
Colonial James Madison 10 2011
C-USA Middle Tennessee 17 2013
Horizon Wright State 1Never
Ivy League Penn 3 2004
MAAC Marist 10 2013
MAC Akron 1Never
MEAC Hampton 8 2013
Missouri Valley Wichita State 2 2013
Mountain West Fresno State 7 2013
Northeast Robert Morris 3 2008
Ohio Valley Tennessee-Martin 4 2013
Pac-12 USC 16 2006
Patriot Army 2 2006
SEC Tennessee 33 2013
Southern Chattanooga 12 2013
Southland Northwestern State 3 2004
SWAC Prairie View A&M 6 2013
Summit South Dakota 1Never
Sun Belt Western Kentucky 17 2008
West Coast Gonzaga 7 2013
WAC Idaho 3 2013

Tournament seeds

Lincoln Regional Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1ConnecticutAmerican34–0Automatic
2DukeACC27–6At-large
3Texas A&MSEC24–8At-large
4NebraskaBig Ten25–6Automatic
5NC StateACC25–7At-large
6GonzagaWest Coast29–4Automatic
7DePaulBig East27–6Automatic
8GeorgiaSEC20–11At-large
9St. Joseph'sAtlantic 1022–9At-large
10OklahomaBig 1218–14At-large
11James MadisonColonial28–5Automatic
12BYUWest Coast26–6At-large
13Fresno StateMountain West22–10Automatic
14North DakotaBig Sky22–9Automatic
15WinthropBig South24–8Automatic
16Prairie View A&MSWAC14–17Automatic
Stanford Regional Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1South CarolinaSEC27–4At-large
2StanfordPac-1229–3At-large
3Penn StateBig Ten22–7At-large
4North CarolinaACC24–9At-large
5Michigan StateBig Ten22–9At-large
6DaytonAtlantic 1023–7At-large
7Iowa StateBig 1220–10At-large
8Middle Tennessee StateConference USA29–4Automatic
9Oregon StatePac-1223–10At-large
10Florida StateACC20–11At-large
11FloridaSEC19–12At-large
12HamptonMEAC28–4Automatic
13Tennessee-MartinOhio Valley24–7Automatic
14Wichita StateMissouri Valley26–6Automatic
15South DakotaSummit19–13Automatic
16Cal State NorthridgeBig West18–14Automatic
South Bend Regional Joyce Center, Notre Dame, Indiana
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1Notre DameACC32–0Automatic
2BaylorBig 1229–4Automatic
3KentuckySEC24–8At-large
4PurdueBig Ten21–8At-large
5Oklahoma StateBig 1223–8At-large
6SyracuseACC22–9At-large
7CaliforniaPac-1221–9At-large
8VanderbiltSEC18–12At-large
9Arizona StatePac-1222–9At-large
10FordhamAtlantic 1025–7Automatic
11ChattanoogaSouthern29–3Automatic
12Florida Gulf CoastAtlantic Sun26–7Automatic
13AkronMid-American23–9Automatic
14Wright StateHorizon26–8Automatic
15Western KentuckySun Belt24–8Automatic
16Robert MorrisNortheast21–11Automatic
Louisville Regional KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1TennesseeSEC27–5Automatic
2West VirginiaBig 1229–4At-large
3LouisvilleAmerican30–4At-large
4MarylandACC24–6At-large
5TexasBig 1221–11At-large
6IowaBig Ten26–8At-large
7LSUSEC19–12At-large
8St. John'sBig East22–10At-large
9USCPac-1222–12Automatic
10Georgia TechACC20–11At-large
11MaristMAAC27–6Automatic
12PennIvy22–6Automatic
13ArmyPatriot25–7Automatic
14IdahoWAC25–8Automatic
15AlbanyAmerica East28–4Automatic
16Northwestern StateSouthland21–12Automatic

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

Lincoln Regional

In their first-round match, DePaul and Oklahoma scored a combined 204 points, setting a tournament record for most points in a non-overtime game. Oklahoma's 66 second-half points was also a record a team in a single half. [13]

Connecticut vs. Prairie View A&M aired nationwide on ESPN. Connecticut vs. Saint Joseph's aired nationwide on ESPNU. All other games aired with whip-around or regional coverage on ESPN or ESPN2.

First round Second round Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 UConn 87
16 Prairie View A&M 44
1 UConn91
Storrs, Connecticut – Sun/Tue
9 St. Joseph's 52
8 Georgia 57
9 St. Joseph's 67
1 UConn 70
12 BYU 51
5 NC State 57
12 BYU 72
12 BYU80
Los Angeles – Sat/Mon
4 Nebraska 76
4 Nebraska 74
13 Fresno State 55
1 UConn69
3 Texas A&M 54
6 Gonzaga 63
11 James Madison72
11 James Madison 69
College Station, Texas – Sun/Tue
3 Texas A&M85
3 Texas A&M 70
14 North Dakota 55
3 Texas A&M84
7 DePaul 65
7 DePaul 104
10 Oklahoma 100
7 DePaul74
Durham, North Carolina – Sat/Mon
2 Duke 65
2 Duke 87
15 Winthrop 45

Notre Dame Regional

Notre Dame vs. Robert Morris aired nationwide on ESPN. Notre Dame vs. Arizona State aired nationwide on ESPNews. All other games aired with whip-around or regional coverage on ESPN or ESPN2.

First round Second round Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Notre Dame 93
16 Robert Morris 42
1 Notre Dame84
Toledo, Ohio – Sat/Mon
9 Arizona State 67
8 Vanderbilt 61
9 Arizona State 69
1 Notre Dame89
5 Oklahoma State 72
5 Oklahoma State 61*
12 Florida Gulf Coast 60
5 Oklahoma State73
West Lafayette, Indiana – Sat/Mon
4 Purdue 66
4 Purdue 84
13 Akron 55
1 Notre Dame88
2 Baylor 69
6 Syracuse 59
11 Chattanooga 53
6 Syracuse 59
Lexington, Kentucky – Sat/Mon
3 Kentucky64
3 Kentucky 106
14 Wright State 60
3 Kentucky 72
2 Baylor90
7 California 64
10 Fordham 63
7 California 56
Waco, Texas – Sat/Mon
2 Baylor75
2 Baylor 87
15 Western Kentucky 74

Louisville Regional

First round Second round Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Tennessee 70
16 Northwestern State 46
1 Tennessee67
Knoxville, Tennessee – Sat/Mon
8 St. John's 51
8 St. John's 71
9 USC 68
1 Tennessee 62
4 Maryland73
5 Texas 79
12 Pennsylvania 61
5 Texas 64
College Park, Maryland – Sun/Tue
4 Maryland69
4 Maryland 90
13 Army 52
4 Maryland76
3 Louisville 73
6 Iowa 87
11 Marist 65
6 Iowa 53
Iowa City, Iowa – Sun/Tue
3 Louisville83
3 Louisville 88
14 Idaho 42
3 Louisville73
7 LSU 47
7 LSU 98
10 Georgia Tech 78
7 LSU76
Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Sun/Tue
2 West Virginia 67
2 West Virginia 76
15 Albany 61

Stanford Regional

First round Second round Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 South Carolina 73
16 Cal. State Northridge 58
1 South Carolina78
Seattle, Washington – Sun/Tue
9 Oregon State 69
8 Middle Tennessee 36
9 Oregon State 55
1 South Carolina 58
4 North Carolina65
5 Michigan State 91
12 Hampton 61
5 Michigan State 53
Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Sun/Tue
4 North Carolina62
4 North Carolina 60
13 Tennessee-Martin 58
4 North Carolina 65
2 Stanford74
6 Dayton 69
11 Florida 83
11 Florida 61
University Park, Pennsylvania – Sun/Tue
3 Penn State83
3 Penn State 62
14 Wichita State 56
3 Penn State 57
2 Stanford82
7 Iowa State 44
10 Florida State 55
10 Florida State 44
Ames, Iowa – Sat/Mon
2 Stanford63
2 Stanford 81
15 South Dakota 62

Final Four – Nashville, Tennessee

National semifinals
April 6
National championship game
April 8
      
LI1 UConn75
S2 Stanford 56
LI1 UConn79
ND1 Notre Dame 58
ND1 Notre Dame 87
LO4 Maryland 61

Final Four summaries

ESPN
April 6, 2014
5:30 pm CDT
#4 Maryland Terrapins 61, #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish87
Scoring by half: 31-48, 30-39
Pts: Brionna Jones 16
Rebs: Alyssa Thomas 6
Asts: Lexie Brown 8
Pts: Kayla McBride 28
Rebs: Jewell Loyd, Markisha Wright 9
Asts: Lindsay Allen 5
Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 17,548
Referees: Scott Yarbrough, Cameron Inouye, Mike Price
ESPN
April 6, 2014
8:00 pm CDT
#2 Stanford Cardinal 56, #1 Connecticut Huskies75
Scoring by half: 24-28, 32-47
Pts: Amber Orrange 16
Rebs: Chiney Ogwumike 10
Asts: Amber Orrange 5
Pts: Breanna Stewart 18
Rebs: Breanna Stewart, Stefanie Dolson 7
Asts: Moriah Jefferson, Bria Hartley 4
Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 17,548
Referees: Tina Napier, Joe Vaszily, Chuck Gonzales

National championship

ESPN
April 8, 2014
7:30 pm CDT
#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 58, #1 Connecticut Huskies79
Scoring by half: 38-45, 20-34
Pts: Kayla McBride 21
Rebs: Jewell Loyd 6
Asts: Lindsay Allen 5
Pts: Breanna Stewart 21
Rebs: Stefanie Dolson 16
Asts: Stefanie Dolson, Moriah Jefferson 7
Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 17,570
Referees: Dee Kantner, Lisa Mattingly, Denise Brooks
Final Four in Nashville 2014 NCAA women's basketball tournament Final Four Nashville.jpg
Final Four in Nashville

Undefeated Connecticut faced undefeated Notre Dame in the championship game, the first ever to feature two undefeated teams. [14] After a hard-fought first half, the Connecticut Huskies pulled away in the second for a 79–58 victory. National Player of the Year Breanna Stewart scored 21 points for Connecticut. Stefanie Dolson added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the victors. Kayla McBride had 21 points for the Notre Dame Irish. Connecticut won the rebound battle 54–31 and held Notre Dame to a season low in points. After the game, Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said "I thought we were playing the Miami Heat for a while [Connecticut is] just that good." [6]

By winning, Connecticut moved to 40–0 on the season and claimed their ninth title, surpassing Tennessee's eight titles for the most all-time. Coach Geno Auriemma said he was "flattered and grateful and all the things that come with this kind of accomplishment ... I'm more proud of the legacy that exists and what Connecticut basketball is as opposed to the number of championships." [6] All nine of the school's titles, five with unbeaten records, have come during Auriemma's twenty seasons as head coach. Connecticut became the second school to finish the year 40–0, the other being Baylor. They have now won 46 consecutive games, the third most in NCAA history, but well short of their NCAA record of 90. [6]

For Notre Dame, it was their third loss in the title game in the last four years. They were inhibited by the loss of senior starter Natalie Achonwa to injury in the Regional Final. The Irish had won seven of the previous nine meeting between the two powerhouses. However, Connecticut beat them during the tournament for the second consecutive year, having eliminated them in the Final Four in 2013. [6]

All-Tournament team

Game Officials

Record by conference

Source [15]

ConferenceBidsRecordWin %R64R32S16E8F4CGNC
American29–10.9002222111
ACC815–80.652863321
Big East23–20.600221
SEC812–80.6008651
Pac-1257–50.58354111
Big Ten56–50.545551
Big 1267–60.5386421
West Coast22–20.500211
Colonial11–10.50011
Atlantic 1031–30.25031

Media coverage

Television

ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. [16] For the first and second rounds, ESPN aired select games nationally on ESPN, ESPNU, or ESPNews. All other games aired regionally on ESPN or ESPN2 and streamed online via ESPN3. Most of the nation got whip-around coverage during this time, which allowed ESPN to rotate between the games and focus the nation on the one that has the closest score. The regional semifinals were split between ESPN and ESPN2, and ESPN aired the regional finals, national semifinals, and championship match. [17]

Studio host & analysts

Broadcast assignments

Radio

Westwood One had nationwide broadcast and streaming radio rights from the regional finals on through the championship. [18] The teams participating in the Regional Finals, Final Four, and championship were allowed to have their own local broadcasts, but were not allowed to stream their broadcast online.

See also

Notes

  1. "2014 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  2. "Nashville, Ohio Valley Conference to host 2014 NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four". Tennessee Tech Athletics. November 16, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  3. "Nashville Will Host 2014 Women's Final Four". NewsChannel 5.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  4. "NASHVILLE LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (NLOC) ANNOUNCES IT HAS REACHED HALF-WAY MARK OF FUNDRAISING GOAL". Nashville Sports Council. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "2011 Basketball Championship". Archived from the original on March 17, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Feinberg, Doug (April 8, 2014). "UConn Women's Basketball Team Routs Notre Dame To Finish 40-0 Season, Win Historic 9th Title". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  7. "Tickets & Hospitality". NCAA. Archived from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  8. "Four to Host N.C.A.A. Women's Regionals". The New York Times. October 9, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  9. "Host sites selected for preliminary rounds of the 2014 championship". NCAA. October 9, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  10. "Nashville to host 2014 Women's Final Four". WKRN.com. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  11. 1 2 3 Nixon, Rick. "2016 Women's Final Four Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  12. "NCAA Record books". NCAA.
  13. "DePaul beats Oklahoma in highest-scoring regulation tourney game". ESPN. March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  14. Climer, David (April 7, 2014). "UConn, Notre Dame set up blockbuster women's title game". USA Today . Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. For those keeping score, it is the first time in 75 years that two unbeaten teams have played for a national championship in basketball. In 1939, Long Island University defeated Loyola (Ill.) in the finals of the men's National Invitation Tournament. That was also the first year the NCAA held a men's tournament, with Oregon claiming that title. It's never happened in women's basketball – until now.
  15. "The Tournament Field" (PDF). NCAA Record books. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 29, 2022.
  16. Margolis, Rachel (December 15, 2011). "ESPN and NCAA® Extend Rights Agreement through 2023-24". ESPN. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  17. Margolis, Rachel (March 18, 2014). "ESPN Networks to Present Entire NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship". ESPN. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  18. "NCAA, Westwood One extend deal". NCAA. January 13, 2011. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
  19. 1 2 "2014 NCAA Women's Division 1 Tournament Week 2 TV & National Radio schedule". Eye on Sky and Air Sports. March 26, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  20. 1 2 "2014 NCAA Women's Division 1 Tournament Final Four/Championship TV & National Radio schedule". Eye on Sky and Air Sports. April 1, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.