2008 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

2008 NCAA Women's Division I
Basketball Tournament

2008 Women's Final Four logo
Teams 64
Finals site St. Pete Times Forum
Tampa, Florida
Champions Tennessee (8th title)
Runner-up Stanford (3rd title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Pat Summitt (8th title)
MOP Candace Parker
Top scorer Candice Wiggins Stanford
(151 points)
NCAA Women's Division I Tournaments
«2007 2009»

The 2008 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the 2007–08 national champion of women's NCAA Division I college basketball. It commenced on March 22, 2008, and concluded when the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers defeated the Stanford University Cardinal 64–48 on April 8, 2008 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now known as the Tampa Bay Times Forum) in Tampa, Florida.[1]

Notable events

The preliminary rounds largely followed the seeding, with every number one and number two seed advancing to the regional finals. In the Greensboro and Oklahoma City Regionals, the top seeds Connecticut and Tennessee won respectively to head to the Final Four. Connecticut had to beat Big East rival Rutgers to make the advance. Tennessee' Candace Parker was injured in the game against Texas A&M and had to leave twice, and be fitted with a sleeve to stabilize her shoulder. She still scored 26 points in a game which was won by only eight.[2]

In the other two regionals, the two seeds prevailed. In the New Orleans Regional, LSU beat North Carolina to reach the Final Four for the fifth consecutive time, tying a record set by Connecticut between 2000 and 2004. In the Spokane Regional, Stanford beat the top seed Maryland to go to their first Final Four since 1997, but one that would be the first of a five-year string of consecutive Final Four appearances.

Connecticut and Stanford met in one semifinal. They had played each other earlier in the season at the Paradise Jam held in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands in November. The Huskies had won that game 66–54, but the team had been at full strength. Subsequent to that game Mel Thomas and Kalana Greene both starters, had season ending injuries. Connecticut cut a Stanford lead to a single point, 47–46 when Candice Wiggins hit two three-pointers to start a 10–0 run. Wiggins would go on to score 25 points in the game and would be named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association national player of the year. The Cardinal went on to win the game, and advance to the national championship.[3]

The game between SEC foes Tennessee and LSU didn't win style points, and was described by the New York Times as "one of the ugliest games played this or any season". Tennessee led early opening up a ten-point lead at 37–27, but LSU responded with a 10–0 run to tie the game. With seconds left in the game LSU hit two free throws to take a one-point lead. Tennessee inbounded the ball to Candace Parker who passed it inside to Nicky Anosike, but her shot was deflected to Alexis Hornbuckle, who had missed seven of her field goal attempts. With under one second remaining, Hornhuckle caught the deflection and hit the winning basket. The Lady Vols won 47–46, as the two teams combined scores set an NCAA record for the fewest points scored in a semifinal game.[4]

After the drama of a one-point game in the semifinal, the final game was anti-climactic. The Lady Vols pulled out to a 30–19 lead, and the Stanford Cardinal were unable to close the gap. The win gave Tennessee their second consecutive national championship and a career total of 982 wins, the most of any coach in basketball, men's or women's, along with eight national championships for coach Pat Summitt.[5]

Subregionals

Albuquerque
Baton Rouge
Bridgeport
College Park
Des Moines
Norfolk
Stanford
West Lafayette
2008 NCAA subregionals

Once again, the system was the same as the Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, with the exception that only 64 teams received bids, and there was no play-in game. Automatic bids were secured by 31 conference champions and 33 at-large bids.

The subregionals, which once again used the "pod system", keeping most teams at or close to the home cities, were held from March 22 to March 25 at these locations:[1]

The University of Connecticut Huskies play the University of Texas Longhorns in the second round at Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

This was the fourth and final year that eight sites hosted subregional games. The committee, in September 2007, voted to return to the 16-site format for the early rounds starting with the 2009 tournament.

Regionals

Greensboro
New Orleans
Oklahoma City
Spokane
Tampa
2008 NCAA Regionals and Final Four

The regions (once again named after the host cities, a practice begun in 2005) were held from March 29 to April 1 in the following regions:[1]

The regional winners advanced to the Final Four, held April 6 and 8, 2008 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, in Tampa, Florida, hosted by the University of South Florida.[1] USF and the Tampa Bay Times Forum also hosted a first and second round Men's Tournament subregional on March 21 and 23. Also, akin to the men's tournament, at the regional sites, the NCAA installed floors that were custom made for the first time.

Tournament records

Qualifying teams - automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA tournament.[6] Of these thirty-one automatic bids, a total of 30 teams receive automatic bids for winning their conference tournament championship. The Ivy League does not hold a tournament, so its regular season champion receives the automatic bid. Because Cornell, Dartmouth, and Harvard finished in a tie for first place, Ivy League rules called for a two-game stepladder playoff. Dartmouth defeated Harvard in the first game and went on to face Cornell for the automatic bid, which Cornell won 64-47.

Automatic Bids
    Record  
Qualifying School Conference Regular
Season		 Conference Seed
Bucknell University Patriot League[7] 16–15 8–6 16
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Southern Conference[8] 29–3 18–0 12
Cleveland State University Horizon League 19–13 10–8 15
University of Connecticut Big East[9] 32–1 15–1 1
Coppin State University MEAC 22–11 13–3 16
Cornell University Ivy League 20–8 11–3 16
East Tennessee State University Atlantic Sun Conference[10] 21–11 14–2 14
California State University, Fresno WAC 22–10 14–2 14
University of Hartford America East 27–5 14–2 10
Illinois State University Missouri Valley Conference 26–6 13–5 13
Jackson State University SWAC 18–13 13–5 15
Liberty University Big South Conference 28–3 11–1 12
Marist College MAAC[11] 31–2 18–0 7
Miami University MAC 23–10 12–4 13
University of Montana Big Sky Conference 25–6 13–3 13
Murray State University Ohio Valley Conference[12] 24–7 15–5 14
University of New Mexico Mountain West 20–12 9–7 12
University of North Carolina ACC[13] 30–2 14–0 1
Old Dominion University Colonial 29–4 17–1 5
Oral Roberts University SWAC[14] 19–13 10–8 16
Purdue University Big Ten[15] 18–14 11–7 9
Robert Morris University Northeast Conference 23–9 16–2 15
University of San Diego West Coast Conference[16] 19–12 7–7 14
Southern Methodist University Conference USA[17] 24–8 11–5 12
Stanford University Pac-10[18] 30–3 16–2 2
University of Tennessee SEC[19] 30–2 13–1 1
Texas A&M University Big XII Conference 26–7 11–5 2
University of California, Santa Barbara Big West Conference 23–7 15–1 13
University of Texas at San Antonio Southland 23–9 12–4 15
Western Kentucky University Sun Belt Conference[20] 26–7 16–2 10
Xavier University Atlantic 10[21] 24–8 11–3 9

Qualifying teams - at-large

Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.[6]

At-large Bids
    Record  
Qualifying School Conference Regular
Season		 Conference Seed
Arizona State University Pacific-10 21–10 14–4 6
Auburn University Southeastern 20–11 7–7 11
Baylor University Big 12 24–6 12–4 3
University of California, Berkeley Pacific-10 26–6 15–3 3
DePaul University Big East 20–11 8–8 10
Duke University Atlantic Coast 23–9 10–4 3
Florida State University Atlantic Coast 18–13 7–7 11
The George Washington University Atlantic 10 25–6 12–2 6
University of Georgia Southeastern 22–9 8–6 8
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlantic Coast 22–9 7–7 10
University of Iowa Big Ten 21–10 13–5 9
Iowa State University Big 12 20–12 7–9 7
Kansas State University Big 12 21–9 13–3 5
University of Louisville Big East 24–9 10–6 4
Louisiana State University Southeastern 27–5 14–0 2
University of Maryland, Baltimore County Atlantic Coast 30–3 13–1 1
University of Minnesota Big Ten 20–11 11–7 9
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Big 12 20–11 9–7 8
University of Notre Dame Big East 23–8 11–5 5
Ohio State University Big Ten 22–8 13–5 6
University of Oklahoma Big 12 21–8 11–5 4
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Big 12 25–7 11–5 3
University of Pittsburgh Big East 22–10 10–6 6
Rutgers University Big East 24–6 14–2 2
Syracuse University Big East 22–8 10–6 7
Temple University Atlantic 10 21–12 12–2 11
University of Texas at Austin Big 12 21–12 7–9 8
University of Utah Mountain West 27–4 16–0 8
Utah Valley University Conference USA 27–3 16–0 7
Vanderbilt University Southeastern 23–8 11–3 4
University of Virginia Atlantic Coast 23–9 10–4 4
West Virginia University Big East 24–7 12–4 5
University of Wyoming Mountain West 24–6 12–4 11

Bids by conference

Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In twenty-two cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from nine of the conferences.[6]

Bids Conference Teams
8 Big 12 Texas A&M, Baylor, Iowa St., Kansas St., Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Texas
8 Big East Connecticut, DePaul, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, West Virginia
6 Atlantic Coast North Carolina, Duke, Florida St., Georgia Tech, Maryland., Virginia
5 Southeastern Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Vanderbilt
4 Big Ten Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio St.
3 Atlantic 10 Xavier, George Washington, Temple
3 Mountain West New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
3 Pacific-10 Stanford, Arizona St., California
2 Conference USA SMU, UTEP
1 America East Hartford
1 Atlantic Sun East Tenn. St.
1 Big Sky Montana
1 Big South Liberty
1 Big West UC Santa Barb.
1 Colonial Old Dominion
1 Horizon Cleveland St.
1 Ivy Cornell
1 Metro Atlantic Marist
1 Mid-American Miami Ohio
1 Mid-Eastern Coppin St.
1 Missouri Valley Illinois St.
1 Northeast Robert Morris
1 Ohio Valley Murray St.
1 Patriot Bucknell
1 Southern Chattanooga
1 Southland UTSA
1 Southwestern Jackson St.
1 Summit Oral Roberts
1 Sun Belt Western Ky.
1 West Coast San Diego
1 Western Athletic Fresno St.

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from thirty states, plus Washington, D.C. Texas had the most teams with six bids. Twenty states did not have any teams receiving bids.[6]

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 2008
Bids State Teams
6 Texas SMU, Texas A&M, UTSA, Baylor, Texas, UTEP
5 California Fresno St., San Diego, Stanford, UC Santa Barb., California
4 Ohio Cleveland St., Miami Ohio, Xavier, Ohio St.
4 Pennsylvania Bucknell, Robert Morris, Pittsburgh, Temple
4 Tennessee Chattanooga, East Tenn. St., Tennessee, Vanderbilt
3 Kentucky Murray St., Western Ky., Louisville
3 New York Cornell, Marist, Syracuse
3 Oklahoma Oral Roberts, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St.
3 Virginia Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia
2 Connecticut Connecticut, Hartford
2 Georgia Georgia, Georgia Tech
2 Illinois Illinois St., DePaul
2 Indiana Purdue, Notre Dame
2 Iowa Iowa, Iowa St.
2 Maryland Coppin St., Maryland.
2 North Carolina North Carolina, Duke
1 Utah Utah
1 Alabama Auburn
1 Arizona Arizona St.
1 District of Columbia George Washington
1 Florida Florida St.
1 Kansas Kansas St.
1 Louisiana LSU
1 Minnesota Minnesota
1 Mississippi Jackson St.
1 Montana Montana
1 Nebraska Nebraska
1 New Jersey Rutgers
1 New Mexico New Mexico
1 West Virginia West Virginia
1 Wyoming Wyoming

Bracket

Data source[22]
NOTE: All initials used are the same in the official NCAA Bracket in External Links listed below.

Greensboro Regional

First round
March 22–23 		Second round
March 24–25 		Regional semifinals
March 30 		Regional finals
April 1
            
1 Connecticut 89
16 Cornell 47
1 Connecticut 89
Bridgeport, CT
8 Texas 55
8 Texas 72
9 Minnesota 55
1 Connecticut 78
5 Old Dominion 63
5 Old Dominion 82
12 Liberty 62
5 Old Dominion 88*
Norfolk, VA
4 Virginia 85
4 Virginia 86
13 UC Santa Barbara 52
1 Connecticut 66
2 Rutgers 56
6 George Washington 66
11 Auburn 56
6 George Washington 55
Stanford, CA
3 California 53
3 California 77
14 San Diego 60
6 George Washington 42
2 Rutgers 53
7 Iowa St. 58
10 Georgia Tech 55
7 Iowa St. 58
Des Moines, IA
2 Rutgers 69
2 Rutgers 85
15 Robert Morris 42

Spokane Regional

First round
March 22–23 		Second round
March 24–25 		Regional semifinals
March 29 		Regional finals
March 31
            
1 Maryland 80
16 Coppin St. 66
1 Maryland 76
College Park, MD
8 Nebraska 64
8 Nebraska 61
9 Xavier 58
1 Maryland 80
4 Vanderbilt 66
5 West Virginia 61
12 New Mexico 60
5 West Virginia 46
Albuquerque, NM
4 Vanderbilt 64
4 Vanderbilt 75
13 Montana 62
1 Maryland 87
2 Stanford 98
6 Pittsburgh 63
11 Wyoming 58
6 Pittsburgh 67
Albuquerque, NM
3 Baylor 59
3 Baylor 88
14 Fresno St. 67
6 Pittsburgh 53
2 Stanford 72
7 UTEP 92
10 Western Ky. 60
7 UTEP 54
Stanford, CA
2 Stanford 88
2 Stanford 85
15 Cleveland St. 47

New Orleans Regional

First round
March 22–23 		Second round
March 24–25 		Regional semifinals
March 29 		Regional finals
March 31
            
1 North Carolina 85
16 Bucknell 50
1 North Carolina 80
Norfolk, VA
8 Georgia 66
8 Georgia 67
9 Iowa 61
1 North Carolina 78
4 Louisville 74
5 Kansas St. 69
12 Chattanooga 59
5 Kansas St. 63
Bridgeport, CT
4 Louisville 80
4 Louisville 81
13 Miami (Ohio) 67
1 North Carolina 50
2 LSU 56
6 Ohio St. 49
11 Florida St. 60
11 Florida St. 72
Des Moines, IA
3 Oklahoma St. 73*
3 Oklahoma St. 85
14 East Tenn. St. 73
3 Oklahoma St. 52
2 LSU 67
7 Marist 76
10 DePaul 57
7 Marist 49
Baton Rouge, LA
2 LSU 68
2 LSU 66
15 Jackson St. 32

Oklahoma City Regional

First round
March 22–23 		Second round
March 24–25 		Regional semifinals
March 30 		Regional finals
April 1
            
1 Tennessee 94
16 Oral Roberts 55
1 Tennessee 78
West Lafayette, IN
9 Purdue 52
8 Utah 59
9 Purdue 66
1 Tennessee 74
5 Notre Dame 64
5 Notre Dame 75
12 Southern Methodist 62
5 Notre Dame 79*
West Lafayette, IN
4 Oklahoma 75
4 Oklahoma 69
13 Illinois State 61
1 Tennessee 53
2 Texas A&M 45
6 Arizona State 61
11 Temple 54
6 Arizona St. 59
College Park, MD
3 Duke 67
3 Duke 78
14 Murray State 57
3 Duke 63
2 Texas A&M 77
7 Syracuse 55
10 Hartford 59
10 Hartford 39
Baton Rouge, LA
2 Texas A&M 63
2 Texas A&M 91
15 Texas-San Antonio 52

Final Four – St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida

Tournament Most Outstanding Player Tennessee forward Candace Parker shoots over LSU center Sylvia Fowles in the national semifinals.
National Semifinals
April 6 		National Championship
April 8
      
GRE1 Connecticut 73
SPO2 Stanford 82
SPO2 Stanford 48
OKC1 Tennessee 64
NOR2 LSU 46
OKC1 Tennessee 47

Initials: GRE-Greensboro; SPO-Spokane; NOR-New Orleans; OKC-Oklahoma City.

* - Denotes overtime period

Record by conference

The University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers, winners of the national championship and one of two Southeastern Conference teams to reach the Final Four, are honored at the White House by President of the United States George W. Bush.
Conference # of
Bids		 Record Win % Sweet
Sixteen		 Elite
Eight		 Final
Four		 Championship
Game
Colonial 1 2-1 0.667 1 - - -
Big East 8 14-8 0.636 5 2 1 -
SEC 5 13-4 0.765 3 2 2 1
ACC 6 10-6 0.625 3 2 - -
Pac-10 3 7-3 0.700 1 1 1 1
Big 12 8 11-8 0.579 2 1 - -
Atlantic 10 3 2-3 0.400 1 - - -
MAAC 1 1-1 0.500 - - - -
America East 1 1-1 0.500 - - - -
Big Ten 4 1-4 0.200 - - - -
Mountain West 3 0-3 0.000 - - - -
Conference USA 2 1-2 0.500 - - - -

Nineteen conferences — Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAC, MEAC, Missouri Valley Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt Conference, Summit League, WAC and West Coast Conference — went 0-1.

All-Tournament Team

Game Officials

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Information". Archived from the original on 16 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-28.
  2. ↑ "Injured Parker carries Tennessee past Texas A&M". ESPN. April 1, 2008. Retrieved 3 Jun 2013.
  3. ↑ Longman, JERÉ (April 7, 2008). "Stanford Finds Openings, Closing UConn’s Season". New York Times. Retrieved 3 Jun 2013.
  4. ↑ LONGMAN, JERÉ (April 7, 2008). "Last-Second Score Lifts Tennessee to Title Game". New York Times. Retrieved 3 Jun 2013.
  5. ↑ LONGMAN, JERÉ (April 9, 2008). "Summitt and Tennessee Roll to Another Title". New York Times. Retrieved 3 Jun 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Nixon, Rick. "Official 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  7. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-12). "Bucknell earns second NCAA automatic bid". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  8. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-10). "Lady Mocs win third straight league championship". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  9. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-11). "Huskies win 14th Big East tournament title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  10. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-08). "ETSU dumps Jacksonville for Atlantic Sun tournament crown". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  11. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-09). "Fitz carries Marist to MAAC title, NCAA tourney bid". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  12. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-08). "MVP Guffey leads Murray State to OVC tournament title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  13. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-09). "Tar Heels drop Blue Devils for another ACC tournament title". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  14. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-11). "Oral Roberts beats IUPUI to reach second straight NCAA tourney". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  15. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-09). "Freeman's buzzer-beater lifts Purdue over Illinois". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  16. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-09). "Henderson's 20 lead San Diego's upset of top-seeded Gonzaga". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  17. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-09). "Gilliam, Shepherd spark SMU to Conference USA tournament title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  18. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-10). "Wiggins' 30 power Stanford past Cal for Pac-10 tourney crown". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  19. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-09). "Lady Vols avenge Valentine's Day loss, take home another championship". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  20. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-11). "Western Kentucky earns first NCAA tournament bid since '03". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  21. ↑ Associated Press (2008-03-10). "Taylor helps Xavier win league title, earn NCAA berth". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  22. ↑ "Official 2011 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book". NCAA. February 2009. p. 188. Retrieved 2012-02-17.

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