The NCAA tournament has undergone dramatic expansion since its first edition in 1982, and only one unbeaten team has failed to qualify for the tournamentCalifornia Baptist in 2021, which was 240 after winning the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. UConn was found to have committed a secondary violation (involving a tour of the ESPN campus) and no punishment was handed out.[42][43]. 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. The #2 & #3 seeds are 1080 against the #15 & #14 seeds, respectively (1.000). As with the 2000 champions, who had also come off a disappointing loss the year before, UConn returned hungrier than ever in 200102. The women's tournament championship game had 9.9 million views, becoming the most-watched women's basketball game in history. The following table shows the UConn players recipients of the major individual awards in women's college basketball. UConn defeated Tennessee 7766 in front of a sold-out crowd in a game televised on ESPN and soon afterwards was ranked No. Final championship game: Monday, June 26 The road to the national championship starts with a 64-team bracket spread among 16 regional locations, announced May 29. These are the highest FCS first-round NFL draft picks ever - 7 championship games have featured two teams from the same conference (winner listed first and bolded): Broadcast rights to the NCAA women's basketball tournament are included in a larger package covering most NCAA Division I championships,[13][14] outside of men's basketball (which is held by CBS and Warner Bros. As of 2022, the tournament follows the same format and selection process as its men's counterpart, with 32 automatic bids awarded to the champions of the Division I conferences, and 36 "at-large bids" extended by the NCAA Selection Committee, which are placed into four regional divisions and seeded from 1 to 16. [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. The #5 seed is 8523 against the #12 seed (.787). In 1993, all teams except for the top four were explicitly unseeded. 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. ESPN announced the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball national championship averaged 9.9 million viewers, becoming the most-watched women's 5 Saint Mary's 55 | Watch highlights No. Under coach Geno Auriemma, Connecticut has been seeded #1 a record 22 times. The 201213 season began with high hopes having UConn landed three highly ranked recruits: #1 overall Breanna Stewart from Cicero North Syracuse High School, forward Morgan Tuck and guard Moriah Jefferson. 2 Southern Cal. This is the case for California Baptist, which began a transition from Division II in 2018 and thus cannot play in the NCAA tournament until 2023. Old Dominion enjoyed nearly as large an advantage in 1983 when the Final Four was played at the Norfolk Scope in its home city of Norfolk, Virginia, but also lost its semifinal. Notably, the first two times this occurred were at the hands of the same school: Lowest seeds to reach each round since the expansion to 64 teams: Unlike in the men's tournament, no #14 seed has beaten a #3 and no #15 seed has beaten a #2 seed, but they have come close. UConn rallied from a 9-point deficit to beat Texas in the semifinals and, aided by Taurasi's 28 points in the finals, defeated rival Tennessee for UConn's fourth national championship. The class renewed hope of bringing more championships to Storrs after watching archrival Tennessee win three in a row. 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. 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 the 1999 meeting at Gampel Pavilion, Tennessee prevailed again. Even if the Huskies were still a strong national contender, they were no longer viewed as a favorite to win it all. With the TASS force in their senior season and Taurasi emerging as a star in her sophomore year, UConn rolled through its opponents throughout the year. [40], In the 200607 season, the team improved with the additions of Renee Montgomery, Mel Thomas, Ketia Swanier, and the #1 ranked high school player Tina Charles, helping UConn emerge as a contender again. The team won the Team of the Year Award at the ESPN ESPY awards that year, and Lobo became a popular symbol of the sport. In 1993, Vermont entered the tournament 280, but lost in the first round to Rutgers. Since the women's tournament began in 1982, 19 teams have entered the tournament ranked #1 in at least 1 poll and gone on to win the tournament: Only once has the reigning champion (the previous year's winner) not made it to the tournament the next year. 2023 college baseball conference tournaments: Schedules - [20] In 2023, the national championship game aired on ABC for the first time. Connecticut defeated Maryland 8158, while Notre Dame narrowly beat South Carolina, 6665, in the semifinals. [4] As of 2022, they have also appeared in a record 14 consecutive Final Fours. She was also named the 2000 Naismith and Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year. The stage appeared set for a rematch with Mississippi State in the championship game, but historic rival Notre Dame beat UConn in the semifinal with another overtime last second shot by Arike Ogunbowale. The #7 seed is 7137 against the #10 seed (.657). [48] It was the only game in the Huskies' 78-game winning streak that was won by fewer than 10 points. The remaining teams were then seeded based on their geographic region. For each season, the 4 teams seeded No. 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. They completed a seven-season tenure in the American Athletic Conference in 201920, and came back to the Big East Conference for the 202021 season. In 2016, UConn entered the tournament 320, beat Syracuse for the national title, ending the season 380. [57] Breanna Stewart was named the AP Player of the year, only the third time in history a sophomore has won the honor. note: The #9 vs. #16 game was Arkansas over Harvard in 1998. In the National Tournament, both Connecticut and Notre Dame were seeded first in their respective playoff brackets; each advanced to the Final Four held in Tampa, Florida. 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. During the game there was a scuffle involving Tennessee's Semeka Randall and Connecticut's Svetlana Abrosimova where Randall threw the ball down, hitting Abrosimova's head. WebAnnual Team Champions 36 Miscellaneous Team Leaders 42 Statistical Trends History 44 Division I Winningest Teams 45 Winning and Losing Streaks 49 National Polls 53 UConn completed their sixth undefeated season winning the 11th overall Championship (all-time record for both men's and women's college basketball) and 4th in a row (also a record for women's college basketball). [16] ESPN has held exclusive rights to the tournament since 1996; beginning with an 11-year, $200 million contract renewal in 2003, ESPN would televise all 63 games in the tournament on television (increasing from 23), with games in the first and second rounds airing regionally on ESPN and ESPN2. Under his watch, UConn has become the winningest team in women's college basketball, and he has made a strong case as one of the best coaches ever. Conference tournament champion, UConn played in the Big East Conference from the 198283 season, the first in which the league sponsored women's basketball and held a tournament, until the conference split in 2013. Some exceptions. After the 1995 Championship title, UConn rose to national prominence as one of the powerhouses in women's college basketball, giving coach Auriemma the chance to recruit star talents from high school like Shea Ralph in 1996 and Svetlana Abrosimova in 1997. Tennessee defeated Connecticut again in the 199798 regular season. She achieved legendary status among UConn fans, and is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time.[37]. Relative to their high standards, UConn struggled during the first two years following Taurasi's graduation in 2004. The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness,[1] is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship. The national championship game against Stanford was a completely different story. Geno Auriemma jokingly once referred to Pat Summitt and Tennessee as the "evil empire", like Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino said of the Yankees. The tournament bracket is made up of champions from each Division I conference, which rre somatic bid]]s. The remaining slots are at-large bids, with teams chosen by an NCAA selection committee. The only close game the Huskies played all year long was a win at Virginia Tech. 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. Women's NCAA Division I basketball champions. In 2012, Baylor entered the tournament 340, beat Notre Dame for the national title, and ended the season 400. The move to The team is serving a postseason ban due to NCAA sanctions. [45] Despite losing Delle Donne the Huskies were ranked No. Prior to 1996, seeding was conducted on a regional basis. UConn became the first team to win a championship without a senior on their roster.[34][35]. America East Conference commissioner Amy Huchthausen argued that the ESPN contract "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". Jasmine Carson #2 and Angel Reese #10 of the Louisiana State Tigers celebrate a three-point goal against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the 2023 NCAA This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 05:31. In 1986, Texas entered the tournament 300, beat USC for the national title, and ended the season 340. Since 2017 the Ivy League conducts its own post-season tournament. Division I The Orange fell short in their NCAA tournament bid, falling to NC State 83-58 in the ACC Tournament, but they received a bid for this years Womens National The Huskies found their rhythm during the NCAA Tournament, in which they were a #2 seed; in the Elite Eight they beat top-seeded Penn State to advance to the Final Four at the New Orleans Arena. UConn defeated 7958 Notre Dame (hindered by the loss of one of their stars, Natalie Achonwa, who had torn her ACL in the Elite Eight), to finish the season 400, tying Baylor for the most wins in a season and setting the new record for Championship with nine. The remaining teams are granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. [24] With Shea Ralph and senior Nykesha Sales out for the entire season, freshman Svetlana Abrosimova led a young UConn team to the NCAA Tournament Regional Final where they eventually lost to North Carolina State 6052. 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. On December 7, 2018, UConn announced that the #50 worn by Rebecca Lobo would be permanently retired, effective with ceremonies to be held during the Huskies' final 201819 home game on March 2, 2019. 2 and No. UConn finished the regular season undefeated for the 5th time in school history with a 300 record. When she wasn't coaching, she taught physical education at a junior high school in Manchester.[74]. [19], In the first two rounds, one channel (typically ESPN or ESPN2's high definition feed) typically aired "whiparound" coverage during each window, carrying rolling coverage of all games in progress. LSU has won its first NCAA women's basketball title, overpowering Iowa with a 102-85 victory on Sunday, scoring the most points ever in a women's title game. [83] Additionally, on November 14, 2022, UConn retired the #32 worn by Swin Cash, as she was a 2022 Naismith Hall inductee, with ceremonies held during the women's team game against Texas.[84]. The starting five of Bird, Taurasi, Cash, Jones, and Williams is widely regarded as the best starting five in women's college basketball history. [16], The 199495 UConn team was widely credited with increasing interest in women's basketball. Odds to win Women's March Madness 2023. Five of them have been first overall picks: Sue Bird (2002), Diana Taurasi (2004), Tina Charles (2010), Maya Moore (2011), and Breanna Stewart (2016). Out-of-market games were carried via pay-per-view. Discovery Sports),[15] and golf (which is held by Golf Channel). UConn finished the regular season undefeated and established a 70-game winning streak, shattering the previous mark of 54 set by Louisiana Tech; the streak ended in the Big East championship game loss to Villanova. Their combined record is 12823 .848; they have been to 22 Final Fours and are 11-time National Champions (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016). [25], Many people weighed in on the decision on both national and local levels. UConn also signed a landmark deal during the season with Connecticut Public Television to broadcast their games.[18]. The teams met again on April 7, 2015 in the national championship game. 11 Connecticut. In her career at UConn, Taurasi led the team to four consecutive Final Fours and three straight national titles. 283 teams have appeared in the NCAA tournament in at least one year starting with 1982 (the initial year that the post-season tournament was under the auspices of the NCAA). 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. Throughout the regular season and the Big East tournament, UConn's closest win was against Stanford, by 12 points. During the regular season UConn played 11 games against ranked opponents (including 6 in the top ten) with an average margin of victory of 24. In 199394, UConn had its most successful season to that point;[13] led by Lobo and teammates Jamelle Elliott, Jennifer Rizzotti, Pam Webber, Kara Wolters and Carla Berube, UConn won 30 games for the first time in program history, winning the Big East tournament and regular-season titles. During her tenure, shooting guard Karen Mullins was the first UConn woman to receive a basketball scholarship; that number had increased to 12 by 1980. Stewart finished with 2,676 points (2nd Husky ever), 1,179 rebounds (4th Husky ever), 426 assists and 414 blocked shots (1st Husky ever), and was a #1 pick in 2016 WNBA draft. WebThe UConn Huskies are the most successful women's basketball program in the nation, having won a record 11 NCAA Division I National Championships and a women's 1 in the polls for the first time in program history. Among the report's findings was that U.S. television rights for the women's tournament would be worth at least $81 million annually by the time the current broadcast contract with ESPN expires in 2024. [17] The team was honored with a parade in Hartford, CT that drew over 100,000 spectators. Top 9 largest point differentials accumulated over the entire tournament by tournament champion. The deal also included rights to the men's tournament outside of the United States for ESPN International. Connecticut's Auriemma, that's who", "Case for UConn's Geno Auriemma being best coach ever goes beyond basketball", "UConn Women's Basketball 2015-2016 Media Guide", "UConn Women's Basketball 2020-2021 Media Guide", "2021-22 Women's Basketball Schedule - University of Connecticut Athletics", "UConn Women's Basketball 2022-2023 Media Guide", "Ray Allen, Rebecca Lobo to have UConn numbers retired", "UConn women's basketball retires Swin Cash's number at Gampel Pavilion: 'I'm humbled, I'm honored', "Connecticut's Fab Four Makes Pro Basketball History", "Breanna Stewart top pick in WNBA, leading 1-2-3 UConn sweep", "March Madness 2023: Stats and reactions to Ohio State-UConn upset", "UConn Huskies' NCAA-record win streak snapped at 111 games", "Despite loss, UConn women still have incredible streak going", "St. John's women stun UConn, end 99-game streak", Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=UConn_Huskies_women%27s_basketball&oldid=1152671077, Articles containing potentially dated statements from April 2022, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 11 NCAA Tournament Championships (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016), 27 Conference tournament Championships: 19 Big East Conference (1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2021, 2022) and 7 American Athletic Conference (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), 28 Conference regular season Championships: 20 Big East Conference (1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2021, 2022) and 7 American Athletic Conference (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), Most NCAA Championships, any Division, men's or women's (11), Most NCAA Division I Final Fours, men's or women's (22), Most NCAA Division I tournament #1 seeds, men's or women's (22), Most NCAA Division I undefeated seasons, men's or women's (6), Most NCAA Division I 30-win seasons, men's or women's (25), Most NCAA Division I weeks ranked No. The final, since 2023, is played the Sunday afternoon following the Men's Final Four; from 2017 to 2019, 2021 and 2022, Sunday evening. In 2017, UConn entered the tournament 320, but lost in the Final Four to. They have taken part in every NCAA tournament since 1989; as of the end of the 201819 season, this is the third-longest active streak in Division I. [75][76][77] In his astonishing career Auriemma has won more than 25 different national Coach of the Year awards and was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. 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. They then beat long-time rival and defending national champions Stanford to reach the National Championship game for the first time since 2016. Teams were allowed to play at home, if hosting. 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. [85], In the 2016 WNBA draft UConn performed even better, with the three seniors Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck sweeping the first three picks for the first time in the history of any major sport.[86]. [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. First Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame defected to the Atlantic Coast Conference, with Louisville announcing later they would follow in 2014. "[36], Taurasi received many personal accolades at UConn including the 2003 and 2004 Naismith College Player of the Year awards, the 2003 Wade Trophy, the 2003 Associated Press Women's College Basketball Player of the Year award, the 2003 USBWA Women's National Player of the Year award and the 2004 Best Female Athlete ESPY Award. 1 in the preseason polls, having returned 10 players from the 2008 Final Four team (including All-Americans Maya Moore, Renee Montgomery and Tina Charles), in addition to Kalana Greene who recovered from her knee injury. After graduating from college in California, Wanda Flora went to graduate school at Indiana University, where she was an assistant coach for the women's basketball team and coached the junior varsity team. 4 are shown with .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}dotted underline. [65] The loss ended the streak at 111 consecutive wins, an all-time record not only for college basketball games, but also for any team sport played at college level. The national semi-finals, branded as the Women's Final Four, are traditionally scheduled on the same weekend as the men's Final Four, but in a different host city. In its announcement, UConn stated that going forward, number retirement would be reserved for former Huskies players inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as Lobo was in 2017. The team gave up large leads against Duke and suffered losses to Notre Dame and Villanova, also losing to Boston College in the semifinals of the Big East tournament. Starting with their two meetings in 1995, the rivalry between the Tennessee Lady Vols and UConn escalated through the late 1990s and into the 2000s, becoming the marquee matchup in all women's sports, and taking on parallels to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry in Major League Baseball. Notably, Louisiana Tech's differential is prior to the expansion of 64 teams and the addition of one more round of play. 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. Bascom was hit with early foul trouble and Virginia held off a late UConn rally. In the Final Four UConn was finally challenged by Baylor and the 6-foot-8 freshman Brittney Griner;[47] Baylor trailed 3926 at halftime, cut the deficit to 4138 with 15 minutes remaining in the game, but UConn finally pulled away for a final score of 7050. UConn trailed for the entire game and lost for the first time since their April 6, 2008 Final Four appearance (also against the Cardinal). WebThis is a list of top Women's Division I college basketball teams ranked by the number of wins through the end of the 202122 season (minimum of 10 years as a Division I The end of 201213 season saw the breakup of the Big East Conference. Note: Conferences are listed by all champions' affiliations at that time; these do not necessarily match current affiliations.