NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament

Last updated
NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament
Current season, competition or edition:
Sports current event.svg 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament
NCAA logo.svg
Sport College basketball
Founded1982
No. of teams64
Country NCAA Division III (U.S.)
Most recent
champion(s)
Hope College (2022)
Official website NCAA.com

The NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship is the annual tournament to determine the national champions of women's NCAA Division III collegiate basketball in the United States. It was held annually from 1982, when the NCAA began to sponsor women's sports at all three levels, through 2019. No championship was held in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19 issues.

Contents

Washington–St. Louis is the most successful program with five national titles. The most recent champion is Hope College.

History

1982 Final Four

Held in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, the 1982 Women's Final Four Basketball Tournament was the first sponsored by the NCAA. Featuring host Elizabethtown College, Clark College (Massachusetts), Pomona College (California) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the tournament was played in a classic field house over a three-day period. In the first game of the National Semi-Final Elizabethtown took control right from the tip-off against Clark and easily cruised to a 71–51 victory. In the second game of the Final Four Pomona took the lead early in the game, but UNC Greensboro battled back to tie the game at 56 with six minutes to play. UNC Greensboro then went on a run and pulled away for a 77–66 win. Elizabethtown and UNC Greensboro turned the championship game into an epic battle of lead changes and shifts in momentum. Last second heroics by UNC Greensboro sent the game into overtime, but Elizabethtown came up with the final stop in overtime to win 67–66 in overtime. Television coverage was provided by a fledgling ESPN while exclusive radio coverage was provided by KSPC Radio - Pomona College's tiny KSPC sports broadcasting group with Geoff Willis (Pomona '83) and James Timmerman (Pomona '82) providing the play by play and color. ESPN was so embryonic that the game was broadcast multiple times during the following two weeks and ESPN hired the KSPC Radio staff to help with background and color research about the players and the teams.

Results

NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship
YearFinals SiteArenaChampionship GameSemifinalists
WinnerScoreRunner-up
1982
Details
Elizabethtown, PA Thompson Gymnasium Elizabethtown 67–66
(OT)
UNC Greensboro Pomona-Pitzer, Clark
1983
Details
Worcester, MA Kneller Athletics Center North Central (IL) 83–71ElizabethtownKnoxville, Clark
1984
Details
Scranton, PA John Long Center Rust 51–49ElizabethtownSalem St, North Central
1985
Details
De Pere, WI Schuldes Sports Center Scranton 68–59 New Rochelle Millikin, St. Norbert
1986
Details
Salem, MA Twohig Gymnasium Salem State 89–85 Bishop (TX) Capital, Rust
1987
Details
Scranton, PAJohn Long Center UW–Stevens Point 81–74 Concordia–Moorhead Scranton, Kean
1988
Details
Moorhead, MN Memorial AuditoriumConcordia–Moorhead65–57 St. John Fisher UNC-Greensboro, Southern Maine
1989
Details
Danville, KY Alumni GymnasiumElizabethtown66–65 Cal State Stanislaus Centre, Clarkson
1990
Details
Holland, MI Holland Civic Center Hope 65–63St. John FisherHeidelberg, Centre
1991
Details
St. Paul, MN Schoenecker Arena St. Thomas (MN) 73–55 Muskingum Eastern Connecticut, Washington (MO)
1992
Details
Bethlehem, PA Johnston Hall Alma 79–75 Moravian Luther, Eastern Connecticut St
1993
Details
Pella, IA Kuyper Gymnasium Central (IA) 71–63 Capital Scranton, St. Benedict
1994
Details
Eau Claire, WI W.L. Zorn ArenaCapital82–63 Washington (MO) UW-Eau Claire, Wheaton (MA)
1995
Details
Columbus, OH Alumni GymnasiumCapital59–55 UW–Oshkosh St. Thomas, Salem State
1996
Details
Oshkosh, WI Kolf Sports CenterUW–Oshkosh66–50 Mount Union St. Thomas, New York University
1997
Details
New York City, NY Coles Sports Center NYU 72–70 UW–Eau Claire Capital, Scranton
1998
Details
Gorham, ME Warren Hill GymnasiumWashington (MO)77–69 Southern Maine Mount Union, Rowan
1999
Details
Danbury, CT Stephen Feldman ArenaWashington (MO)74–65 St. Benedict Salem State, Scranton
2000
Details
Washington (MO)79–33Southern MaineSt. Thomas, Scranton
2001
Details
Washington (MO)67–45 Messiah Ohio Wesleyan, Emmanuel
2002
Details
Terre Haute, IN Hulbert ArenaUW–Stevens Point67–65 St. Lawrence DePauw, Marymount
2003
Details
Trinity (TX) 60–58 [1] Eastern Connecticut State UW-Eau Claire, Rochester
2004
Details
Virginia Beach, VA Jane P. Batten Student Center Wilmington (OH) 59–53 [2] Bowdoin Rochester, UW–Stevens Point
2005
Details
Millikin 70–50 [3] Randolph–Macon Southern Maine, Scranton
2006
Details
Springfield, MA Springfield Civic Center Hope69–56Southern MaineScranton, Hardin–Simmons
2007
Details
DePauw 55–52Washington (MO)Mary Washington, NYU
2008
Details
Holland, MIDeVos Fieldhouse Howard Payne 68–54MessiahUW–Whitewater, Oglethorpe
2009
Details
George Fox 60–53 [4] Washington (MO)TCNJ, Amherst
2010
Details
Bloomington, IL Shirk CenterWashington (MO)65–59 [5] HopeAmherst, Rochester
2011
Details
Amherst 64–55Washington (MO)Christopher Newport, Illinois Wesleyan
2012
Details
Holland, MIDeVos Fieldhouse Illinois Wesleyan 57–48 [6] George FoxSt. Thomas, Amherst
2013
Details
DePauw69–51 UW–Whitewater Williams, Amherst
2014
Details
Stevens Point, WIBennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse FDU–Florham 80–72 [7] Whitman UW-Whitewater, Tufts
2015
Details
Grand Rapids, MI Van Noord Arena Thomas More (vacated) [8] 83–63 [9] George FoxMontclair State, Tufts
2016
Details
Indianapolis, IN [n 1] Bankers Life Fieldhouse [n 1] Thomas More 63–51 [11] Tufts Amherst, Wartburg
2017
Details
Grand Rapids, MIVan Noord Arena Amherst 52–29 Tufts Christopher Newport, St Thomas
2018
Details
Rochester, MN Mayo Civic Center Amherst [12] [13] 65–45Bowdoin Thomas More, Wartburg
2019 [14]

Details

Salem, VA Cregger Center Thomas More 81–67BowdoinScranton, St. Thomas (MN)
2020
Details
Columbus, OH Capital University Performance ArenaCanceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021
Details
Salem, VACregger Center
2022
Details
Pittsburgh, PA UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Hope71-58UW-WhitewaterAmherst, Trine
2023 Dallas, TX [n 2] American Airlines Center
2024 Columbus, OH Capital University Performance Arena
2025 Salem, VA Cregger Center
2026

Championships

Usa edcp relief location map.png
ButtonRed.svg
Washington
ButtonYellow.svg
Amherst
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Hope
ButtonGreen.svg
DePauw
ButtonGreen.svg
UWSP
ButtonGreen.svg
Capital
ButtonGreen.svg
Elizabethtown
ButtonGreen.svg
Thomas More
ButtonWhite.svg
FDUF
ButtonWhite.svg
IWU
ButtonWhite.svg
George Fox
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Howard Payne
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Trinity
ButtonWhite.svg
Concordia
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Rust
ButtonWhite.svg
Central
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St. Thomas
ButtonWhite.svg
UWO
ButtonWhite.svg
Salem
State
ButtonWhite.svg
NYU
ButtonWhite.svg
Millikin
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Wilmington
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Alma
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Scranton
ButtonWhite.svg
North Central
Schools that have won the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship
ButtonRed.svg 5, ButtonOrange.svg 4, ButtonYellow.svg 3, ButtonGreen.svg 2, ButtonWhite.svg 1


SchoolTitlesYears
Washington (MO) 51998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010
Amherst 32011, 2017, 2018
Hope 31990, 2006, 2022
DePauw 22007, 2013
Wisconsin–Stevens Point 21987, 2002
Capital 21994, 1995
Elizabethtown 21982, 1989
Thomas More [lower-alpha 1] 22016, 2019
Fairleigh Dickinson–Florham 12014
Illinois Wesleyan 12012
George Fox 12009
Howard Payne 12008
Millikin 12005
Wilmington (OH) 12004
Trinity (TX) 12003
NYU 11997
Wisconsin–Oshkosh 11996
Central (IA) 11993
Alma 11992
St. Thomas (MN) [lower-alpha 2] 11991
Concordia (Moorhead) 11988
Salem State 11986
Scranton 11985
Rust 11984
North Central (IL) 11983
  1. 2015 championship vacated by Thomas More, which returned to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in July 2019, but is rejoining the NCAA in July 2022, that time as a Division II provisional member, albeit on a one-year dual membership with the NAIA.
  2. St. Thomas moved to Division I in July 2021.

Final Fours

Schools in italics no longer compete in NCAA Division III.

AppearancesSchool
10Washington (MO)
8Amherst, Scranton
6St. Thomas (MN)
5Capital, Southern Maine
4Elizabethtown, Salem State, Thomas More, Tufts, UW-Whitewater
3DePauw, Eastern Connecticut, George Fox, Hope, NYU, Rochester, UW–Eau Claire, UW–Stevens Point
2Centre, Christopher Newport, Clark, Concordia–Moorhead, Illinois Wesleyan, Messiah, Millikin, Mount Union, North Central (IL), Rust, Saint Benedict, St. John Fisher, UNC Greensboro, UW–Oshkosh, Bowdoin, Wartburg

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Only the final game was held in Indianapolis. The semifinals were held at Performance Arena at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. [10]
  2. Only the final game will be held in Dallas. The semifinals will be held at Oosting Gymnasium on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. [15] [16]

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  2. "Lady Quakers win first national title". ESPN. AP. March 21, 2004. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
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  13. "No ESPN, no endorsement deals, no problem for Amherst College basketball champs". BostonGlobe.com. March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
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  16. "Future NCAA host site selections through 2026" (Press release). NCAA. October 22, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2021.