NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship
 | |
| Sport | College basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| No. of teams | 64 |
| Country | NCAA Division III (U.S.) |
| Most recent champion(s) | Thomas More |
| 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 has been held annually since 1982, when the NCAA began to sponsor women's sports at all three levels.
Washington–St. Louis are the most successful program, with five national titles. The current champions are Thomas More, who won their second consecutive national title in 2016.
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 Greensboro (North Carolina), 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 College and easily cruised to a 71-51 victory. In the second game of the Final Four, Pomona College took the lead early in the game but North Carolina Greensboro battled back to tie the game at 56 with six minutes to play. Greensboro then went on a run and pulled away for a 77-66 win. Elizabethtown and Greensboro turned the championship game into an epic battle of lead changes and shifts in momentum. Last second heroics by 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 College '83) and James Timmerman (Pomona College '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 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Finals Site | Arena | Championship | |||||||
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | ||||||||
| 1982 Details |
Elizabethtown, PA | Thompson Gymnasium | Elizabethtown | 67–66 (OT) |
UNC Greensboro | |||||
| 1983 Details |
Worcester, MA | Kneller Athletics Center | North Central (IL) | 83–71 | Elizabethtown | |||||
| 1984 Details |
Scranton, PA | John Long Center | Rust | 51–49 | Elizabethtown | |||||
| 1985 Details |
DePere, WI | Schuldes Sports Center | Scranton | 68–59 | New Rochelle | |||||
| 1986 Details |
Salem, MA | Twohig Gymnasium | Salem State | 89–85 | Bishop (TX) | |||||
| 1987 Details |
Scranton, PA | John Long Center | UW–Stevens Point | 81–74 | Concordia–Moorhead | |||||
| 1988 Details |
Moorhead, MN | Memorial Auditorium | Concordia–Moorhead | 65–57 | St. John Fisher | |||||
| 1989 Details |
Danville, KY | Alumni Gymnasium | Elizabethtown | 66–65 | Cal State Stanislaus | |||||
| 1990 Details |
Holland, MI | Dow Center | Hope | 65–63 | St. John Fisher | |||||
| 1991 Details |
St. Paul, MN | Schoenecker Arena | St. Thomas (MN) | 73–55 | Muskingum | |||||
| 1992 Details |
Bethlehem, PA | Johnston Hall | Alma | 79–75 | Moravian | |||||
| 1993 Details |
Pella, IA | Kuyper Gymnasium | Central (IA) | 71–63 | Capital | |||||
| 1994 Details |
Eau Claire, WI | W.L. Zorn Arena | Capital | 82–63 | Washington (MO) | |||||
| 1995 Details |
Columbus, OH | Alumni Gymnasium | Capital | 59–55 | UW–Oshkosh | |||||
| 1996 Details |
Oshkosh, WI | Albee Hall | UW–Oshkosh | 66–50 | Mount Union | |||||
| 1997 Details |
New York City, NY | Coles Sports Center | NYU | 72–70 | UW–Eau Claire | |||||
| 1998 Details |
Gorham, ME | Warren Hill Gymnasium | Washington (MO) | 77–69 | Southern Maine | |||||
| 1999 Details |
Danbury, CT | Stephen Feldman Arena | Washington (MO) | 74–65 | St. Benedict | |||||
| 2000 Details |
Washington (MO) | 79–33 | Southern Maine | |||||||
| 2001 Details |
Washington (MO) | 67–45 | Messiah | |||||||
| 2002 Details |
Terre Haute, IN | Hulbert Arena | UW–Stevens Point | 67–65 | St. Lawrence | |||||
| 2003 Details |
Trinity (TX) | 60–58[1] | Eastern Connecticut State | |||||||
| 2004 Details |
Norfolk, VA | Jane P. Batten Student Center | Wilmington (OH) | 59–53[2] | Bowdoin | |||||
| 2005 Details |
Millikin | 70–50[3] | Randolph–Macon | |||||||
| 2006 Details |
Springfield, MA | Springfield Civic Center | Hope | 69–56 | Southern Maine | |||||
| 2007 Details |
DePauw | 55–52 | Washington (MO) | |||||||
| 2008 Details |
Holland, MI | Holland Civic Center | Howard Payne | 68–54 | Messiah | |||||
| 2009 Details |
George Fox | 60–53[4] | Washington (MO) | |||||||
| 2010 Details |
Bloomington, IL | Shirk Center | Washington (MO) | 65–59[5] | Hope | |||||
| 2011 Details |
Amherst | 64–55 | Washington (MO) | |||||||
| 2012 Details |
Holland, MI | DeVos Fieldhouse | Illinois Wesleyan | 57–48[6] | George Fox | |||||
| 2013 Details |
DePauw | 69-51 | UW–Whitewater | |||||||
| 2014 Details |
Gorham, ME | Warren Hill Gymnasium | FDU–Florham | 80-72[7] | Whitman | |||||
| 2015 Details |
Grand Rapids, MI | Van Noord Arena | Thomas More | 83-63[8] | George Fox | |||||
| 2016 Details |
Indianapolis, IN[n 1] | Bankers Life Fieldhouse[n 1] | Thomas More | 63-51[10] | Tufts | |||||
| 2017 Details |
Grand Rapids, MI | Van Noord Arena | ||||||||
| 2018 Details |
Rochester, MN | Mayo Civic Center | ||||||||
Championships
| School | Titles | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Washington (MO) | 5 | 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010 |
| Thomas More | 2 | 2015, 2016 |
| DePauw | 2 | 2007, 2013 |
| Hope | 2 | 1990, 2006 |
| Wisconsin-Stevens Point | 2 | 1987, 2002 |
| Capital | 2 | 1994, 1995 |
| Elizabethtown | 2 | 1982, 1989 |
| Farleigh Dickinson-Florham | 1 | 2014 |
| Illinois Wesleyan | 1 | 2012 |
| Amherst | 1 | 2011 |
| George Fox | 1 | 2009 |
| Howard Payne | 1 | 2008 |
| Millikin | 1 | 2005 |
| Wilmington (OH) | 1 | 2004 |
| Trinity (TX) | 1 | 2003 |
| NYU | 1 | 1997 |
| Wisconsin–Oshkosh | 1 | 1996 |
| Central (IA) | 1 | 1993 |
| Alma | 1 | 1992 |
| St. Thomas (MN) | 1 | 1991 |
| Concordia (Moorhead) | 1 | 1988 |
| Salem State | 1 | 1986 |
| Scranton | 1 | 1985 |
| Rust | 1 | 1984 |
| North Central | 1 | 1983 |
See also
- NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
- NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship
- NAIA Women's Basketball Championships
Footnotes
- 1 2 Only the final game was held in Indianapolis. The semifinals were held at Performance Arena at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.[9]
References
- ↑ Wooley's jump shot proves to be game-winner - Women's College Basketball - ESPN
- ↑ Lady Quakers win first national title - Women's College Basketball - ESPN
- ↑ Ippel leads Millikin with 25 points - Women's College Basketball - ESPN
- ↑ George Fox earns first NCAA Division III title - ESPN
- ↑ Washington University wins fifth Division III title since 1998 - ESPN
- ↑ Amherst College women lose consolation - Boston Colleges Blog - ESPN Boston
- ↑ Bates, Greg (March 22, 2014). "Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham wins NCAA Division 3 women's national championship". Retrieved 2 Apr 2014.
- ↑ "Thomas More College vs. George Fox U. | Box Score | 3/21/2015 - D3hoops". www.d3hoops.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
- ↑ "Women’s basketball championship play dates decided" (Press release). NCAA. December 15, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
- ↑ "Thomas More caps off second-straight undefeated season with second-straight title". NCAA.com. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
External links
- NCAA Women's Basketball History, retrieved on April 17, 2008.
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