The Women's Final Four and championship remained exclusive to ESPN. As the season progressed, however, the team quickly found its rhythm, beating ranked teams like Baylor, Notre Dame and Maryland, and showcasing a talented core of young players. NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics, 1995 national championship: undefeated (350), 2002 national championship: undefeated (390), 2009 national championship: undefeated (390), 2010 national championship: undefeated (390), 2014 national championship: undefeated (400), 2016 national championship: undefeated (380), 202223 UConn Huskies women's basketball team, 199495 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year, USBWA Women's National Player of the Year, All-sports Academic All-America of the Year, 19992000 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, 200102 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, 200203 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, 200304 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, 200809 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, 200910 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, 201011 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, 201213 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, 201314 UConn Huskies women's basketball team, 201415 UConn Huskies women's basketball team, 201516 UConn Huskies women's basketball team, 201617 UConn Huskies women's basketball team, 201718 UConn Huskies women's basketball team, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, United States women's national basketball team, UConn Huskies women's basketball statistical leaders, 202122 UConn Huskies women's basketball team, List of teams with the most victories in NCAA Division I women's college basketball, "UConn leaving AAC in '20, will owe $17M exit fee", "UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma passes UCLA Bruins' John Wooden for most NCAA championships", "Women's basketball: Longest active NCAA tournament streaks", "UConn Outlasts NC State in Double OT to Reach Record 14th Straight Final Four", "Morgan William steals show again, hits game winner to shock UConn", "Stanford Beats UConn to Halt Streak at 90", "Kalani Brown, No. UConn beat Toledo 8180 at Gampel Pavilion in the opening round game, with Bascom scoring a team NCAA tournament single-game record 39 points, and moved on to the regionals at The Palestra in Auriemma's hometown of Philadelphia. UConn became the first team to win a championship without a senior on their roster.[34][35]. UConn had modest success in Lobo's first 2 seasons, losing early in the NCAA Tournament in both seasons. Geno Auriemma is now the only coach in college basketball to have won 11 titles, passing UCLA legend John Wooden (who has 10) and reaching former NBA coach Phil Jackson. [58], In 2015 UConn landed another top recruit in #1 High School prospect Katie Lou Samuelson; she quickly earned a spot in the starting five alongside sophomore Kia Nurse and seniors Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck. The Lady Bears became the first team in NCAA college basketball history, for either women or men, to win 40 games in a season. Ultimately Notre Dame found its revenge with an upset win in the NCAA Tournament Final Four, ending the season with a 31 record against the Huskies, a record that would be repeated the following year. The first regular season game, a 2-point win against #12 Florida State, seemed to confirm the expectations, with coach Auriemma predicting "a good beat" ahead. Notably, Louisiana Tech went 405 during the 197980 season. She achieved legendary status among UConn fans, and is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time.[37]. While other #1 seeds Notre Dame, South Carolina and Baylor suffered early upsets in the NCAA Tournament, UConn easily advanced to the Final Four where they defeated Oregon State 8051 and then old Big East rival Syracuse 8251 in the Championship Game. In the NCAA tournament UConn key-players Stewart, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Stefanie Dolson and senior Kelly Faris raised their level of play, and UConn easily advanced to the Final Four; in the semifinals they handily beat Notre Dame and in the finals they obtained a 9360 win over Louisville, who had earlier upset Baylor, for a record tying eighth national championship. Under coach Geno Auriemma, Connecticut has been seeded #1 a record 22 times. UConn was a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but eventually lost to LSU in the regional final to end the season with a 324 record. Relative to their high standards, UConn struggled during the first two years following Taurasi's graduation in 2004. Rallying from a 14-point deficit in the NCAA regional final they beat conference rival Rutgers and advanced to their first Final Four since Taurasi graduated. In her amazing college career Maya Moore won 150 games and only lost 4, amassing a total 3036 points (1st Husky ever and 4th all-time in NCAA division I women's basketball), 1276 rebounds (2nd Husky ever), 310 steals (3rd Husky ever), 544 assists (6th Husky ever) and 204 blocks (4th Husky ever); she is the only women's basketball player in Division I history to record 2500 points, 1000 rebounds, 500 assists, 250 steals and 150 blocked shots. Their 89th win came at home against #20 Florida State to set the college basketball record for most consecutive wins, previously held by the UCLA men's team. UConn started the game with its worst first half in school history by scoring only 12 points; only 11 teams in tournament history have been held to 12 points or less in the first half: three of them were against UConn teams, and two of them (Southern and Temple) just days earlier in the 2010 Tournament. [3], After losing the stellar trio of Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck, many predicted a sub-par season for UConn standards; the AP Poll ranked the team third in the nation, and coach Auriemma had designed a very tough non-conference calendar to test the strength of his young team. 2 Southern Cal. Notre Dame, led by junior star Skylar Diggins, beat the Huskies twice in the regular season, but UConn was able to reverse the roles in the Big East tournament Championship Game; the win was the school's 15th conference title, as well as the 800th career win for coach Geno Auriemma. Basketball was one of 12 women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 198182 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with the AIAW for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. In 1996, seeds were assigned on a national basis using an "S-Curve" format[clarification needed] similar to the process used in selecting the field for the men's tournament. In the Championship Game UConn defeated Louisville 7654 behind Charles' 25 points and 19 boards, ending the season with a perfect 390 record (with every victory by at least 10 points, a record of its own) and sixth national title.[46]. The Huskies advanced to their first Final Four since 1996 and beat Penn State in the semifinals, reaching the Lady Vols for the championship game in Auriemma's hometown of Philadelphia. [33], In the NCAA Tournament UConn easily advanced to the Final Four at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. In 1980 the university hired Jean Balthaser, who had coached at the University of Pittsburgh. Auriemma's training skills had an immediate impact and the team showed steady signs of progress: after going 1215 in his first season in 198586, Auriemma led UConn to winning seasons in 198687 and 198788. Since 2017 the Ivy League conducts its own post-season tournament. Players expected to be active in 202223 are in bold. First Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame defected to the Atlantic Coast Conference, with Louisville announcing later they would follow in 2014. [4] As of 2022, they have also appeared in a record 14 consecutive Final Fours. Like the men's version, the women's First Four involves the four lowest-ranked conference champions playing for 16 seeds in the round of 64, and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams playing for their own spots in the round of 64.[5]. Seven UConn players received this award since its induction in 1982: Rebecca Lobo (1995), Shea Ralph (2000), Swin Cash (2002), Diana Taurasi (2003 and 2004), Tina Charles (2009), Maya Moore (2010), and Breanna Stewart for a record 4 times (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016). The women's basketball players list includes guards Sue Bird, Bria Hartley, Moriah Jefferson, Renee Montgomery, Shea Ralph, Jennifer Rizzotti, Nykesha Sales, and Diana Taurasi; forwards Svetlana Abrosimova, Swin Cash, Napheesa Collier, Maya Moore, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Katie Lou Samuelson, Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck, and Gabby Williams; centers Kerry Bascom, Tina Charles, Stefanie Dolson, Rebecca Lobo, and Kara Wolters. 2023 NCAA | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Watch the final seconds from every title game, Schools with most players selected in single WNBA draft, The colleges (and conferences) with the most players taken in the 2023 WNBA draft, Every WNBA draft No. With Bascom and teammates Laura Lishness, Megan Pattyson, Wendy Davis and Debbie Baer, UConn reached the NCAA Tournament again in 1990, losing 6159 to Clemson in the second round after a first-round bye. National champion In 1997, UConn entered the tournament 300, but lost in the Midwest Regional Final to Tennessee. 3 Baylor 76 | Watch highlights No. In 2010 Lobo became the first Connecticut player inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, among a class of six inductees,[19] followed by teammate Jennifer Rizzotti in the class of 2013.[20]. UConn went unbeaten through the Conference regular season and Tournament and easily advanced into the NCAA Tournament; in the regional final against Virginia a 4-points win in their closest game of the year opened the doors of the Final Four at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The LSU Tigers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 Sunday to win the programs first NCAA womens basketball national championship in Dallas, Texas. The championship consisted of 32 teams from 1982 to 1985 (in 1983, 36), 40 teams from 1986 to 1988, and 48 teams from 1989 to 1993. 5 Saint Mary's 55 | Watch highlights No. The #8 seed is 5355 against the #9 seed (.491). Despite the two regular season meetings being close battles, UConn used tenacious defense and backdoor cuts to overwhelm Tennessee 7152 for their second national championship. They powered their way through 8 more consecutive wins for their 88th straight victory, beating #10 Ohio State at Madison Square Garden. [52] Notre Dame went on to the National Championship Game, but were defeated by the Texas A&M Aggies. On February 28 she was enshrined in the Huskies of Honor (3rd time ever for an active player). The results for all years are shown in this table below.[7]. [22][23] Based on average viewership, Emily Caron and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico estimated that the women's tournament could fetch at least $20 million per-year if its media rights were sold separately. [16], The 199495 UConn team was widely credited with increasing interest in women's basketball. Rebecca Lobo was part of the 1997 inaugural draft, with the top players allocated to founding teams without any particular order; similarly Nykesha Sales was part of the 1998 WNBA expansion players allocation. In the 1999 meeting at Gampel Pavilion, Tennessee prevailed again. With the Hawkeyes' Caitlin Clark and the Tigers' Angel Reese leading the way, count them as favorites to get to Cleveland in 2024 as both teams open as No. 2 South Carolina. Below are the teams most likely to win the 2023 NCAA Women's Tournament (as of Friday, March 10), via They dominated the Big East tournament, winning the championship game 6032. Two of the seasons (200102 and 200809) resulted in perfect 390 records. UConn won by a score of 6353 to achieve their third straight national championship and tenth total, with coach Auriemma tying a record set by John Wooden in college basketball. Together with sophomore Katie Lou Samuelson and junior Kia Nurse, the only returning starters, the duo of sophomore Napheesa Collier and junior Gabby Williams quickly rose to national attention; even senior Saniya Chong, who had played few minutes in her first three seasons, showed great improvements, leading the nation in assists-to-turnovers ratio. The first season for the highly ranked class in 199899 was up and down and featured many injuries: Sue Bird tore her ACL and was lost for the season after only 10 games. After the end of the NCAA tournament, the Associated Press selects a Most Outstanding Player. In the NCAA tournament, UConn lost to Stanford in the Sweet Sixteen. Because of the automatic bids, only 36 teams (the at-large bids) rely on the selection committee to secure them a spot in the tournament. From 1994 to 2021, 64 teams competed in each tournament. In 2022 NCAA tournament, in the Bridgeport Region UConn beat the 15th seed Mercer, 7th seed UCF, 3rd seed Indiana and the 1st seed, Nc State to reach the final four for the 14th consecutive year. [13][14], In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press on the day of the 2023 national championship, new NCAA president Charlie Baker implicated that the media rights to the women's basketball tournament may be sold separately in the next rights cycle, stating that "we do have an opportunity to put it out separately, and we're going to work really hard to make sure that those student-athletes, those schools, those programs get what I describe as what they should get. The only team to play on its home court was Texas in 1987, which lost its semifinal game at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center. [31] The championship game that year shattered ratings for ESPN and at the time was the highest rated college basketball game to air on the network, men's or women's. The Huskies won 18 tournaments in 31 years. Two other teams have played the Final Four in their home cities, and seven others have played the Final Four in their home states. [28], Auriemma pulled off another huge recruiting coup when he convinced All-American guard Diana Taurasi to travel across country to attend Connecticut. Auriemma found himself in a national debate following a decision he made during the 199798 season. In 1990, Louisiana Tech entered the tournament 290, but lost in the Final Four to Auburn. Smallest margin of victory in a championship game: 1 point, North Carolina 60, Louisiana Tech 59 (1994), Biggest margin of victory in a championship game: 33 points. Auriemma signed his best recruiting class to date in 1998 when he signed five top-15 nationally ranked players. Connecticut defeated Maryland 8158, while Notre Dame narrowly beat South Carolina, 6665, in the semifinals. Of the other teams to play in their home states, Stanford (1992) won the national title; Notre Dame (2011) lost in the championship game; and Western Kentucky (1986), Penn State (2000), Missouri State (2001), LSU (2004), and Baylor (2010) lost in the semifinals. The deal also included rights to the men's tournament outside of the United States for ESPN International. UConn defeated Tennessee 7766 in front of a sold-out crowd in a game televised on ESPN and soon afterwards was ranked No. Women's NCAA Division I basketball champions. One exception is Cal Baptist, who was excluded from the 2021 tournament as a transitional Division I member, despite a 240 record. Even if both coaches remained vague and unspecific about the reasons of the cancellation, Tennessee filed a complaint to the NCAA about UConn's recruitment of Moore. ODU has always used on-campus arenas, first the ODU Fieldhouse and since 2002 Chartway Arena. For the second consecutive year (and the sixth time in school history) UConn finished the regular season undefeated, with an average margin of victory of 35.9 points. The Huskies also became the first unbeaten team in NCAA history (all divisions, men or women) to win 35 games in a season. Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete National Letter of Intent NCAA Eligibility Center Recruiting Your Journey Balance Your Schedule Name, Image, They are one of nine ACC teams slated to be in the mix for a postseason bid in some capacity. She was also named the 2000 Naismith and Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year. With no seniors on the roster, 2003 was supposed to be a rebuilding year for UConn, but as the year progressed it became clear that Taurasi was up to the challenge of carrying a group of young players to the championship. Since 1982, at least one #1 seed has made the Final Four every year. Shortly after Moore's commitment to UConn, Tennessee announced they were cancelling the annual series with UConn, thus ending one of the biggest rivalries in the sport. UConn has won 11 NCAA womens basketball championships. Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Record p 58, Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Record p 67, Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Record p 6,7, Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Record p 9, Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Record p 75, 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, NCAA basketball tournament selection process, NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship upsets, List of NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four broadcasters, NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament, NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament, "March Madness Finals Ratings Set A Record High For Women, Record Low For Men", "DI Women's Basketball Championship History", "Greg Christopher named chair of DI Women's Basketball Committee", "Expansion of 2022 DI women's basketball tournament to 68 teams approved", "Official 2020 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book", "College basketball's only undefeated women's team isn't going to NCAA tournament", "Long-awaited NCAA gender equity review recommends combined Final Four for men's, women's basketball at same site", "NCAA External Gender Equity Review Phase I: Basketball Championships", "ESPN Sports NCAA women's basketball tourney gets new TV contract", "NCAA agrees long-term Golf Channel extension", "ESPN 'Tweets' Fans To Enhance NCAA Women's Tournament Coverage", "ESPN acquires NCAA rights for US$500 million", "2021 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships to Make Broadcast Debut on ABC", "Nearly ten million viewers for NCAA women's title game", "Women's March Madness Is Growing in Popularityand Undervalued", "Women's sports can do at least one thing men's can't, experts say: Get bigger", "March Madness Daily: The NCAA's Undervalued Women's TV Rights", "NCAA president strongly hints women's tournament will get separate media deal", "Iowa's Win Over South Carolina Was a Hit for ESPN, With 5.5 Million Viewers", NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Division I Women's Basketball Championships Records Books (Through 2020), Major women's sport leagues in North America, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=NCAA_Division_I_women%27s_basketball_tournament&oldid=1152097681, Postseason college basketball competitions in the United States, Recurring sporting events established in 1982, College women's basketball competitions in the United States, NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2009, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2009, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008, 2017, 2022, 2023, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen): #13 seed, National semifinals (Final Four): #9 seed, National Finals (Championship Game): #5 seed, Austin Peay lost to UNC in 2003 (2 points, 7270), Eastern Michigan lost to Boston College in 2004 (2 points, 5856), Creighton lost to St. John's in 2012 (2 points, 6967), Long Beach State lost to Oregon State in 2017 (1 point, 5655).