2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

2021 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament

Season	2020–21
Teams	64
Finals site	Alamodome San Antonio, Texas
Champions	Stanford Cardinal (3rd title, 5th title game, 14th Final Four)
Runner-up	Arizona Wildcats (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	South Carolina Gamecocks (3rd Final Four) UConn Huskies (21st Final Four)
Winning coach	Tara VanDerveer (3rd title)
MOP	Haley Jones (Stanford)
NCAA Division I Women's Tournaments « 2020 2022 »

The 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 39th edition of the tournament began on March 21, 2021, in sites around San Antonio, Texas, and concluded with the championship game on April 4 at the Alamodome, with the Stanford Cardinal defeating the Arizona Wildcats 54–53 to win their third NCAA title.

Due to logistical considerations surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (which resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 tournament), and mirroring a similar decision by the men's tournament, the entire tournament was played in the San Antonio area rather than at sites across the country, with some first and second round games played in nearby San Marcos and Austin. The Alamodome hosted all games from the regional semifinals onward, including the originally-awarded Final Four and championship game.

Four schools, America East champion Stony Brook, Big South champion High Point, Missouri Valley champion Bradley and Utah Valley from the WAC (California Baptist won the WAC tournament, but was ineligible for the NCAA tournament because it is in the third year of a four-year transition from Division II), made their first appearance in the tournament.

Additionally, Tennessee continued its record streak of making every edition of the tournament. Arizona made its first-ever appearance in the Final Four. UConn extended its record streak of 13 consecutive Final Four appearances. Wake Forest and Washington State made their first appearances since 1988 and 1991, respectively.

Tournament procedure

Further information: NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament § Current tournament format

The tournament's 64 teams consisted of the 31 conference champions (down from 32, due to the Ivy League having cancelled all winter athletics due to COVID-19), ^[1] and 33 "at-large" bids extended by the Selection Committee.

This tournament was the first since 1983 in which the RPI was not used in the selection process. On May 4, 2020, the NCAA announced that it would replace the RPI with the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool), a metric that has been used in the selection process for the men's tournament since 2019. The women's version of the NET uses input data specific to the women's game but is otherwise functionally identical to the men's version. ^[2]

Schedule and venues

On February 5, 2021, the NCAA announced that due to logistical considerations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (which prompted the cancellation of the 2020 tournament), the entirety of the tournament would be conducted at sites in and around San Antonio and Austin (mirroring a similar decision for the men's tournament, which would similarly use venues in and around its Final Four host city of Indianapolis), rather than across the country; ^[3]

San Antonio

Austin

San Marcos

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2021 NCAA tournament venues

First and second round (March 21–22, 23–24)

• Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of the Incarnate Word)
• Bill Greehey Arena, San Antonio (Hosts: University of Houston and St. Mary's University)
• Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin)
• Strahan Arena, San Marcos, Texas (Host: Texas State University)
• UTSA Convocation Center, San Antonio (Host: the University of Texas at San Antonio)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) (March 27–30)

• Alamodome, San Antonio (Hosts: the University of the Incarnate Word and the University of Texas at San Antonio)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) (April 2 and 4)

• Alamodome, San Antonio (Hosts: the University of the Incarnate Word, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and San Antonio Sports)

The Alamodome had two courts for first- and second-round games, and was converted to a single court for later rounds. Practices were held at the Alamodome and the Henry B. González Convention Center. ^[4] The regions were named after famous sites in San Antonio: the Alamo, the HemisFair, the Mercado, and the River Walk. ^[5]

All games were played behind closed doors (with only friends and family present) until the Sweet Sixteen at the Alamodome, which operated at 17% capacity (10,880) for the remainder of the tournament. ^[6]

Facilities inequality

Concerns over gender inequality were raised prior to the tournament, citing differences in the quality of facilities and amenities between the women's and men's tournament; among other examples, Arizona coach Adia Barnes criticized the lack of weight training equipment in the workout room (consisting of only a single tower of weights, in comparison to the larger weight room of the men's tournament). A video by Oregon forward Sedona Prince showing the aforementioned weight room drew wider attention to the disparity on social media. ^[7] Other forms of disparities were noted, including differing COVID-19 testing protocols, smaller "swag bags", and different food options. ^{[8] [9]}

The NCAA had originally planned for the full weight room to only become available for the Sweet Sixteen round. ^[7] Vice President of Women's Basketball Lynn Holzman stated that the NCAA had planned to expand the facilities in the workout room over the course of the tournament due to space constraints, but were "actively working to enhance existing resources at practice courts, including additional weight training equipment." Barnes stated that the Henry B. González Convention Center had "plenty of open areas" that could have been used, and that "it takes people like me that were pro players being a voice for things to change. There's a lot of voices out there. People care now. The fact that the NCAA responded so fast, I think that's good. That's meaningful." ^{[10] [11] [7]}

In a letter obtained by tournament broadcaster ESPN on March 22, NCAA president Mark Emmert stated that "much has been resolved", but that he would investigate "exactly how we found ourselves in this situation", and "directed our leadership team and appropriate staff to assess all the services, resources, and facilities provided to both the men's and women's teams so that we have a completely clear comparison". ^[12] The America East Conference and Ivy League sent a letter to Emmert, arguing that the incident "warrants a comprehensive discussion once the tournaments conclude about how we—national office staff and membership—can protect and ensure equity across all championships in the future, but especially in the sport of basketball." ^[9]

The incident led to discussions surrounding other forms of inequalities between the men's and women's tournaments, including their difference in budget, no revenue bonuses awarded to schools for winning the tournament, NCAA marketing of "March Madness" having focused almost exclusively on the men's tournament (without the women's tournament having ever officially used the name; and tournament branding often used generic "NCAA Women's Basketball" logos instead), ^[13] and the men's tournament often being referred to as "the NCAA tournament" by media and the general public with no disambiguation. ^[9] In a Sportico op-ed, America East commissioner Amy Huchthausen accused the NCAA of "restricting women’s basketball from taking advantage of an emerging market", noting that the NCAA's official sponsorships are managed by the CBS Sports/Turner Sports consortium that broadcasts the men's tournament, and that the ESPN contract to televise the women's tournament (which is bundled with those of other NCAA championships) "provides a measure of financial certainty, but it does not provide women's basketball (or any of the other sports, for that matter) an incentive to grow". ^{[14] [15]}

The NCAA commissioned an independent review of gender equality among all of its championships ^[8] by the law firm by Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP; the first phase, focusing specifically on NCAA basketball championships, was published on August 3, 2021. The review concluded that the structure of the NCAA's operations were designed to "maximize the value of and support to the Division I Men's Basketball Championship as the primary source of funding for the NCAA and its membership"; it found that the CBS/Turner sponsorship contracts require advertisers to pay for marketing rights across all of the NCAA's championships (including the men's tournament, which can be costly), and that advertisers also had to separately pay ESPN for airtime during the women's tournament's telecasts. The review included several recommendations, including that: ^{[16] [17] [9]}

• The media rights for the women's Division I basketball tournament be sold separately from other NCAA championships. It was estimated that media rights to the women's tournament could be worth at least $81 million per-season (in comparison to the $34 million total of the current ESPN contract).
• The women's tournament be expanded to 68 teams, as with the men's tournament.
• The women's tournament adopt the same revenue distribution framework as the men's tournament.
• The NCAA's contracts be renegotiated to provide more opportunities for entities who wish to sponsor specific NCAA championships other than the men's basketball tournament.
• The "March Madness" branding be extended to the women's tournament.
• The men's and women's Final Four be hosted together in the same venue.

The NCAA implemented two of these recommendations—the expansion to a 68-team format, and use of the "March Madness" branding—for the 2022 tournament. ^{[18] [13]}

Original 2021 NCAA tournament schedule and venues

Albany

Cedar Park

Cincinnati

Spokane

San Antonio

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2021 NCAA regional (blue) and Final Four (red) locations as originally selected

The tournament's first two rounds were originally scheduled to be hosted by the top sixteen seeds. The following were the sites initially selected to host the later rounds of the 2021 tournament: ^{[19] [20] [21]}

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) (March 26–29)

• Times Union Center, Albany, New York (Hosts: Siena College and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
• H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, Cedar Park, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin)
• Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (Hosts: Xavier University and Cincinnati USA Sports Commission)
• Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (Host: University of Idaho)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) (April 2 and 4)

• Alamodome, San Antonio (Hosts: the University of the Incarnate Word, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and San Antonio Sports)

This is the third time the women's Final Four will be played in San Antonio, having previously been played in the city in 2002 and 2010.

Qualification and selection

Further information: 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament qualifying teams

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams automatically qualified for the 2021 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament. ^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Conference	Team	Record	Appearance	Last bid
ACC	NC State	20–2	26th	2019
America East	Stony Brook	15–5	1st	Never
American	South Florida	18–3	7th	2018
ASUN	Florida Gulf Coast	26–2	7th	2019
Atlantic 10	VCU	16–10	2nd	2009
Big 12	Baylor	25–2	19th	2019
Big East	UConn	24–1	32nd	2019
Big Sky	Idaho State	22–3	4th	2012
Big South	High Point	22–6	1st	Never
Big Ten	Maryland	24–2	28th	2019
Big West	UC Davis	13–2	3rd	2019
Colonial	Drexel	14–8	2nd	2009
C-USA	Middle Tennessee	17–7	19th	2016
Horizon	Wright State	18–7	3rd	2019
Ivy League	Ivy League season canceled
MAAC	Marist	18–3	11th	2014
MAC	Central Michigan	18–8	6th	2019
MEAC	North Carolina A&T	14–2	5th	2018
Missouri Valley	Bradley	17–11	1st	Never
Mountain West	Wyoming	14–9	2nd	2008
Northeast	Mount St. Mary's	17–6	3rd	1995
Ohio Valley	Belmont	20–5	6th	2019
Pac-12	Stanford	25–2	34th	2019
Patriot	Lehigh	10–5	4th	2010
SEC	South Carolina	22–4	17th	2019
Southern	Mercer	19–6	3rd	2019
Southland	Stephen F. Austin	24–2	17th	2006
SWAC	Jackson State	18–5	5th	2008
Summit League	South Dakota	19–5	3rd	2019
Sun Belt	Troy	22–5	4th	2017
West Coast	Gonzaga	23–3	12th	2019
WAC	Utah Valley [lower-alpha 1]	13–6	1st	Never

1. California Baptist won the WAC tournament, but was ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to its transition from Division II and instead played in the WNIT. Utah Valley received the WAC's bid by finishing in second place behind California Baptist in the regular season.

Tournament seeds

Alamo regional – Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas Seed School Conference Record NET Berth type 1 Stanford Pac-12 25–2 1 Automatic 2 Louisville ACC 23–3 6 At-Large 3 Georgia SEC 20–6 13 At-Large 4 Arkansas SEC 19–8 17 At-Large 5 Missouri State Missouri Valley 21–2 20 At-Large 6 Oregon Pac-12 13–8 10 At-Large 7 Northwestern Big Ten 15–8 31 At-Large 8 Oklahoma State Big 12 18–8 27 At-Large 9 Wake Forest ACC 12–12 47 At-Large 10 UCF American 16–4 38 At-Large 11 South Dakota Summit 19–5 32 Automatic 12 UC Davis Big West 13–2 71 Automatic 13 Wright State Horizon 18–7 80 Automatic 14 Drexel Colonial 14–8 106 Automatic 15 Marist MAAC 18–3 103 Automatic 16 Utah Valley WAC 13–6 216 Automatic

HemisFair regional – Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas Seed School Conference Record NET Berth type 1 South Carolina SEC 22–4 4 Automatic 2 Maryland Big Ten 24–2 5 Automatic 3 UCLA Pac-12 16–5 8 At-Large 4 West Virginia Big 12 21–6 24 At-Large 5 Georgia Tech ACC 15–8 30 At-Large 6 Texas Big 12 18–9 29 At-Large 7 Alabama SEC 16–9 33 At-Large 8 Oregon State Pac-12 11–7 36 At-Large 9 Florida State ACC 10–8 48 At-Large 10 North Carolina ACC 13–10 35 At-Large 11 Bradley Missouri Valley 17–11 79 Automatic 12 Stephen F. Austin Southland 24–2 19 Automatic 13 Lehigh Patriot 10–5 75 Automatic 14 Wyoming Mountain West 14–9 99 Automatic 15 Mount St. Mary's Northeast 17–6 114 Automatic 16 Mercer Southern 19–6 146 Automatic

Mercado regional – Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas Seed School Conference Record NET Berth type 1 NC State ACC 20–2 7 Automatic 2 Texas A&M SEC 23–2 11 At-Large 3 Arizona Pac-12 16–5 15 At-Large 4 Indiana Big Ten 18–5 9 At-Large 5 Gonzaga WCC 23–3 16 Automatic 6 Rutgers Big Ten 14–4 12 At-Large 7 Iowa State Big 12 16–10 26 At-Large 8 South Florida American 18–3 25 Automatic 9 Washington State Pac-12 12–11 45 At-Large 10 Michigan State Big Ten 15–8 40 At-Large 11 BYU WCC 18–5 50 At-Large 12 Belmont Ohio Valley 20–5 63 Automatic 13 VCU Atlantic 10 16–10 105 Automatic 14 Stony Brook America East 15–5 100 Automatic 15 Troy Sun Belt 22–5 115 Automatic 16 North Carolina A&T MEAC 14–2 123 Automatic

River Walk regional – Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas Seed School Conference Record NET Berth type 1 UConn Big East 24–1 2 Automatic 2 Baylor Big 12 25–2 3 Automatic 3 Tennessee SEC 16–7 14 At-Large 4 Kentucky SEC 17–8 18 At-Large 5 Iowa Big Ten 18–9 23 At-Large 6 Michigan Big Ten 14–5 22 At-Large 7 Virginia Tech ACC 14–9 28 At-Large 8 Syracuse ACC 14–8 43 At-Large 9 South Dakota State Summit 21–3 46 At-Large 10 Marquette Big East 19–6 34 At-Large 11 Florida Gulf Coast ASUN 26–2 41 Automatic 12 Central Michigan MAC 18–8 90 Automatic 13 Idaho State Big Sky 22–3 84 Automatic 14 Middle Tennessee C-USA 17–7 107 Automatic 15 Jackson State SWAC 18–5 111 Automatic 16 High Point Big South 22–6 180 Automatic

Bracket

All times are listed as Central Daylight Time (UTC−5)
* – Denotes overtime period

Alamo regional – San Antonio, Texas

	First round Round of 64 March 21–22					Second round Round of 32 March 23–24					Regional semifinals Sweet Sixteen March 28					Regional final Elite Eight March 30
	1	Stanford	87
	16	Utah Valley	44
						1	Stanford	73
	Alamodome (March 21) Bill Greehey Arena (March 21)
						8	Oklahoma State	62
	8	Oklahoma State	84
	9	Wake Forest	61
											1	Stanford	89
	Convocation Center (March 23) Convocation Center (March 24)
											5	Missouri State	62
	5	Missouri State	70
	12	UC Davis	51
						5	Missouri State	64
	Bill Greehey Arena (March 22) Frank Erwin Center (March 22)
						13	Wright State	39
	4	Arkansas	62
	13	Wright State	66
																1	Stanford	78
																2	Louisville	63
	6	Oregon	67
	11	South Dakota	47
						6	Oregon	57
	Alamodome (March 22) Bill Greehey Arena (March 22)
						3	Georgia	50
	3	Georgia	67
	14	Drexel	53
											6	Oregon	42
	Alamodome (March 24) Alamodome (March 24)
											2	Louisville	60
	7	Northwestern	62
	10	UCF	51
						7	Northwestern	53
	Bill Greehey Arena (March 22) Alamodome (March 22)
						2	Louisville	62
	2	Louisville	74
	15	Marist	43

* – Denotes overtime period

Alamo regional final

ESPN

March 30 8:00pm

#2 Louisville Cardinals 63, #1 Stanford Cardinal78
Scoring by quarter: 21–13, 17–13, 12–22, 13–30
Pts: D. Evans, 24 Rebs: M. Robinson, 8 Asts: D. Evans, K. Smith, M. Robinson, 3		Pts: Le. Hull, 21 Rebs: H. Jones, 10 Asts: K. Williams, 5

Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 1,463 Referees: Katie Lukanich, Michael Price, Cheryl Flores

HemisFair regional – San Antonio, Texas

	First round Round of 64 March 21–22					Second round Round of 32 March 23–24					Regional semifinals Sweet Sixteen March 28					Regional final Elite Eight March 30
	1	South Carolina	79
	16	Mercer	53
						1	South Carolina	59
	Alamodome (March 21) Strahan Arena (March 21)
						8	Oregon State	42
	8	Oregon State	83
	9	Florida State	59
											1	South Carolina	76
	Alamodome (March 23) Convocation Center (March 23)
											5	Georgia Tech	65
	5	Georgia Tech	54*
	12	Stephen F. Austin	52
						5	Georgia Tech	73
	Bill Greehey Arena (March 21) Bill Greehey Arena (March 21)
						4	West Virginia	56
	4	West Virginia	77
	13	Lehigh	53
																1	South Carolina	62
																6	Texas	34
	6	Texas	81
	11	Bradley	62
						6	Texas	71
	Strahan Arena (March 22) Frank Erwin Center (March 22)
						3	UCLA	62
	3	UCLA	69
	14	Wyoming	48
											6	Texas	64
	Alamodome (March 24) Bill Greehey Arena (March 24)
											2	Maryland	61
	7	Alabama	80
	10	North Carolina	71
						7	Alabama	64
	Alamodome (March 22) Alamodome (March 22)
						2	Maryland	100
	2	Maryland	98
	15	Mount St. Mary's	45

* – Denotes overtime period

HemisFair regional final

ESPN

March 30 6:00pm

#6 Texas Longhorns 34, #1 South Carolina Gamecocks62
Scoring by quarter: 7–18, 15–19, 12–15, 0–10
Pts: A. Warren, 13 Rebs: C. Taylor, L. Ebo, 7 Asts: J. Allen-Taylor, 3		Pts: Z. Cooke, 16 Rebs: A. Boston, B. Beal, L. Amihere, V. Saxton, 8 Asts: D. Henderson, 7

Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 0 Referees: Joseph Vaszily, Infini Robinson, Pualani Spurlock

Mercado regional – San Antonio, Texas

	First round Round of 64 March 21–22					Second round Round of 32 March 23–24					Regional semifinals Sweet Sixteen March 27					Regional final Elite Eight March 29
	1	NC State	79
	16	North Carolina A&T	58
						1	NC State	79
	Strahan Arena (March 21) Frank Erwin Center (March 21)
						8	South Florida	67
	8	South Florida	57
	9	Washington State	53
											1	NC State	70
	Alamodome (March 23) Bill Greehey Arena (March 24)
											4	Indiana	73
	5	Gonzaga	59
	12	Belmont	64
						12	Belmont	48
	Strahan Arena (March 22) Convocation Center (March 22)
						4	Indiana	70
	4	Indiana	63
	13	VCU	32
																4	Indiana	53
																3	Arizona	66
	6	Rutgers	66
	11	BYU	69
						11	BYU	46
	Strahan Arena (March 22) Alamodome (March 22)
						3	Arizona	52
	3	Arizona	79
	14	Stony Brook	44
											3	Arizona	74
	Convocation Center (March 24) Alamodome (March 24)
											2	Texas A&M	59
	7	Iowa State	79
	10	Michigan State	75
						7	Iowa State	82
	Alamodome (March 22) Frank Erwin Center (March 22)
						2	Texas A&M	84*
	2	Texas A&M	84
	15	Troy	80

* – Denotes overtime period

Mercado regional final

ESPN

March 29 8:00pm

#4 Indiana Hoosiers 53, #3 Arizona Wildcats66
Scoring by quarter: 11–14, 12–13, 21–19, 9–20
Pts: M. Holmes, 20 Rebs: A. Gulbe, 9 Asts: G. Berger, 4		Pts: A. McDonald, 33 Rebs: A. McDonald, 11 Asts: A. McDonald, 4

Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 0 Referees: Felicia Grinter, Tiara Cruse, Tiffany Bird

River Walk regional – San Antonio, Texas

	First round Round of 64 March 21					Second round Round of 32 March 23					Regional semifinals Sweet Sixteen March 27					Regional final Elite Eight March 29
	1	UConn	102
	16	High Point	59
						1	UConn	83
	Alamodome (March 21) Frank Erwin Center (March 21)
						8	Syracuse	47
	8	Syracuse	72
	9	South Dakota State	55
											1	UConn	92
	Alamodome (March 23) Bill Greehey Arena (March 23)
											5	Iowa	72
	5	Iowa	87
	12	Central Michigan	72
						5	Iowa	86
	Alamodome (March 21) Alamodome (March 21)
						4	Kentucky	72
	4	Kentucky	71
	13	Idaho State	63
																1	UConn	69
																2	Baylor	67
	6	Michigan	87
	11	Florida Gulf Coast	66
						6	Michigan	70
	Convocation Center (March 21) Frank Erwin Center (March 21)
						3	Tennessee	55
	3	Tennessee	87
	14	Middle Tennessee	62
											6	Michigan	75
	Alamodome (March 23) Bill Greehey Arena (March 23)
											2	Baylor	78*
	7	Virginia Tech	70
	10	Marquette	63
						7	Virginia Tech	48
	Strahan Arena (March 21) Alamodome (March 21)
						2	Baylor	90
	2	Baylor	101
	15	Jackson State	52

* – Denotes overtime period

River Walk regional final

ESPN

March 29 6:00pm

#2 Baylor Lady Bears 67, #1 UConn Huskies69
Scoring by quarter: 24–26, 15–11, 16–16, 12–16
Pts: D. Carrington, 22 Rebs: N. Smith, 13 Asts: N. Smith, M. Ursin, D. Carrington, 3		Pts: P. Bueckers, 28 Rebs: O. Nelson-Ododa, 8 Asts: O. Nelson-Ododa, 4

Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 3,377 Referees: Lisa Jones, Brian Hall, Karen Preato

Final Four

During the Final Four round, Stanford, the winner of the Alamo Regional defeated South Carolina, the winner of the HemisFair Regional. Arizona, the winner of the Mercado Regional defeated UConn, the winner of the River Walk Regional. In the championship game, Stanford defeated Arizona by a score of 54–53 to take the 2021 title.

Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas

	National semifinals Final Four April 2					National championship game April 4
	A1	Stanford	66
	H1	South Carolina	65
						A1	Stanford	54
						M3	Arizona	53
	M3	Arizona	69
	RW1	UConn	59

National semifinals

ESPN

April 2 5:00 pm

A1 Stanford Cardinal66, H1 South Carolina Gamecocks 65
Scoring by quarter: 15–15, 16–10, 21–24, 14–16
Pts: H. Jones, 24 Rebs: Le. Hull, 13 Asts: Le. Hull, 4		Pts: Z. Cooke, 25 Rebs: A. Boston, 16 Asts: D. Henderson, 3

Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 0 Referees: Eric Brewton, Brenda Pantoja, Gina Cross

ESPN

April 2 8:30 pm

M3 Arizona Wildcats69, RW1 UConn Huskies 59
Scoring by quarter: 16–10, 16–12, 16–17, 21–20
Pts: A. McDonald, 26 Rebs: H. Pueyo, 8 Asts: B. Yeaney, 4		Pts: C. Williams, 20 Rebs: A. Edwards, 7 Asts: P. Bueckers, 4

Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 4,793 Referees: Chuck Gonzalez, Dee Kantner, Pualani Spurlock-Welsh

National championship

Main article: 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Game

ESPN

April 4 5:00 pm

A1 Stanford Cardinal54, M3 Arizona Wildcats 53
Scoring by quarter: 16–8, 15–16, 12–16, 11–13
Pts: H. Jones, 17 Rebs: Le. Hull, 10 Asts: A. Prechtel, A. Wilson, K. Williams, 3		Pts: A. McDonald, 22 Rebs: S. Thomas, S. Pellington, 7 Asts: A. McDonald, T. Baptiste, 2

Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 4,604 Referees: Cheryl Flores, Maj Forsberg, Felicia Grinter

Final Four all-tournament team

• Haley Jones (MOP), Stanford ^[22]
• Lexie Hull, Stanford
• Aari McDonald, Arizona
• Zia Cooke, South Carolina
• Paige Bueckers, UConn

Record by conference

Conference	Bids	Record	Win %	R64	R32	S16	E8	F4	CG	NC
Pac-12	6	15–5	.750	6	5	3	2	2	2	1
Big East	2	4–2	.667	2	1	1	1	1	–	–
SEC	7	10–7	.588	7	6	2	1	1	–	–
ACC	8	9–8	.529	8	5	3	1	–	–	–
Big 12	5	9–5	.643	5	5	2	2	–	–	–
Big Ten	7	10–7	.588	7	5	4	1	–	–	–
Missouri Valley	2	2–2	.500	2	1	1	–	–	–	–
WCC	2	1–2	.333	2	1	–	–	–	–	–
American	2	1–2	.333	2	1	–	–	–	–	–
Horizon	1	1–1	.500	1	1	–	–	–	–	–
Ohio Valley	1	1–1	.500	1	1	–	–	–	–	–
Summit	2	0–2	.000	2	–	–	–	–	–	–
MAC	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Southland	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
C-USA	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
SWAC	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
MEAC	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Atlantic 10	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Mountain West	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	—	–
America East	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Atlantic Sun	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Big Sky	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Big South	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Big West	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Colonial	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
MAAC	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Patriot	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Southern	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
WAC	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Sun Belt	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Northeast	1	0–1	.000	1	–	–	–	–	–	–

• The R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.

• The American, America East, Atlantic 10, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Conference USA, Colonial, Horizon, MAAC, MEAC, Mountain West, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Sun Belt, SWAC, and WAC conferences each had one representative that was eliminated in the first round.

Media coverage

Television

ESPN served as broadcaster of the tournament, as part of its multi-year deal to broadcast NCAA national championships. Following a similar broadcast arrangement to the men's tournament under the CBS/Turner consortium, ESPN announced that all games in the tournament would be televised nationally in their entirety by either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, or, for the first time, ABC (marking the first women's tournament to include coverage on broadcast television since 1995), rather than use a mix of regional broadcasts, streaming, and "whiparound" feeds. ^[23]

Kerry Callahan became the first woman to serve as producer for ESPN's coverage of the Women's Final Four. ^[24]

Studio host and analysts

• Maria Taylor (Host) (First, Second rounds, Regionals, Final Four, and National championship game)
• Kelsey Riggs (Host) (First round)
• Andy Landers (Analyst) (First, Second rounds, Regionals, Final Four, and National championship game)
• Rebecca Lobo (Analyst) (first and second rounds)
• Carolyn Peck (Analyst) (Regionals, Final Four, and National championship game)
• Andraya Carter (Analyst) (First round)
• Monica McNutt (Analyst) (First round)

Broadcast assignments

First and Second rounds Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo & Holly Rowe (1st Round only) – Frank Erwin Center Beth Mowins, Renee Montgomery (1st & 2nd Rounds – Tuesday) & Debbie Antonelli (2nd Round – Wednesday) – Frank Erwin Center and Alamodome Courtney Lyle & Carolyn Peck – Alamodome Pam Ward & LaChina Robinson – Strahan Arena, Alamodome and Bill Greehey Arena Eric Frede & Tamika Catchings – Frank Erwin Center, Alamodome and Bill Greehey Arena Kevin Fitzgerald & Christy Thomaskutty – Frank Erwin Center, Strahan Arena and Alamodome Jenn Hildreth & Kelly Gramlich – Strahan Arena, Alamodome and UTSA Convocation Center Tiffany Greene & Steffi Sorensen – Bill Greehey Arena, Alamodome and UTSA Convocation Center Sam Ravech & Brenda VanLengen – Bill Greehey Arena and UTSA Convocation Center Roy Philpott & Brooke Weisbrod – Bill Greehey Arena and UTSA Convocation Center

Regionals Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo & Holly Rowe – Alamodome Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli & LaChina Robinson – Alamodome Final Four Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, Holly Rowe & LaChina Robinson – Alamodome

Radio

Westwood One has exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament. ^{[25] [26]} Teams participating in the Elite Eight, Final Four, and Championship will be allowed to have their own local broadcasts, but they won’t be allowed to stream those broadcasts online.

Regional finals

• Ted Emrich (Monday), Patrick Kinas (Tuesday) & Krista Blunk – Alamodome
• Roxy Bernstein & Kristen Kozlowski – Alamodome

Final Four and Championship

• Ryan Radtke & Debbie Antonelli – Alamodome

See also

• 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

References

1. "What the Ivy League's canceling its seasons means for college basketball, other sports". ESPN.com. 2020-11-13. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
2. Voepel, Mechelle (May 4, 2020). "Women's Div. I hoop switching from RPI to NET to assess teams". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
3. Voepel, Mechelle (February 5, 2021). "Entire NCAA women's basketball tournament to be held in San Antonio area". ESPN. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
4. "San Antonio region to host 2021 Division I Women's Basketball Championship | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
5. Voepel, Mechelle (February 28, 2021). "UConn, Stanford, Texas A&M, South Carolina top four in early peek at NCAA women's basketball tournament seeding". ESPN. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
6. Nixon, Rick. "NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship to allow limited fan attendance". NCAA.org. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
7. "'Is that the best we can do?' Inside an overdue reckoning in NCAA basketball". ESPN.com. 2021-04-03. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
8. "NCAA hires firm for review after tourney issues". ESPN.com. 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
9. "'Is that the best we can do?' Inside an overdue reckoning in NCAA basketball". ESPN.com. 2021-04-03. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
10. "NCAA admits women's tourney facilities lacking". ESPN.com. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
11. Brown, PJ. "NCAA Tournament notebook: Adia Barnes 'embarrassed' by weight-room inequalities between men, women". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2021-03-21. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
12. "Emmert vows review of NCAA facility 'blunders'". ESPN.com. 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
13. "NCAA: March Madness branding will be used for women's tournament". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
14. Novy-Williams, Emily Caron,Eben (2021-04-04). "March Madness Daily: The NCAA's Undervalued Women's TV Rights". Sportico.com. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
15. Huchthausen, Amy (2021-04-02). "NCAA's Weighty Gender Inequities Hurt College Sports' Bottom Line". Sportico.com. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
16. "Long-awaited NCAA gender equity review recommends combined Final Four for men's, women's basketball at same site". ESPN.com. Associated Press. August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
17. "NCAA External Gender Equity Review — Phase I: Basketball Championships". Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP. August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
18. "Expansion of 2022 DI women's basketball tournament to 68 teams approved" (Press release). NCAA. November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
19. "Women's regional sites announced for '21-22". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
20. "4 cities chosen as future NCAA Women's Final Four hosts". NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
21. Nixon, Rick (March 27, 2019). "Regional sites named for 2021 and 2022 DI women's basketball championship". NCAA. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
22. "Stanford's Haley Jones named MOP of 2021 NCAA Tournament". 4 April 2021.
23. "2021 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships to Make Broadcast Debut on ABC". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2021-03-16. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
24. Digital, Brandon Costa, Director of (2 April 2021). "NCAA Women's Final Four: RailCam, Aerial SupraCam Add Glitz to Star-Powered Weekend in San Antonio". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
25. "NCAA, Westwood One extend deal". NCAA. January 13, 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-05-16. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
26. "WO Sports to Air NCAA Women's Basketball". Radio Online. March 6, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015.

External links

• NCAA Women's Basketball Division I