2002 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament


The 2002 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament concluded on March 31, 2002 when Connecticut won the national title. The Final Four was held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on March 29–31, 2002. UConn, coached by Geno Auriemma, defeated Oklahoma 82-70 in the championship game.

Notable events

After wins in the first three rounds, Connecticut faced Old Dominion in the Mideast Regional Finals. The opening 16 minutes were described as "near-perfect", as the Huskies hit over 90% of their shots and too a 49–28 lead. That 21 point margin would match the final margin, as the Huskies would move on to the Final Four. Sue Bird scored 26 points, a career high, and eleven assist. The team recorded 25 assists, which brought their season total to 811, a new NCAA season record.
In the other three regions all the number one seeds, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Duke all advanced to the Final Four. A dozen years earlier, Oklahoma attempted to eliminate the women's basketball program, but now the program had advanced to their first final four, and faced Duke in one semifinal game. Duke opened the game with a 13–7 run, but the Sooners responded with 12 consecutive points. Oklahoma managed to get to a 17-point lead in the second half, but Duke cut the lead to only two points with just under eight minutes to go. Oklahoma responded with a 16–3 run to take a decisive lead, and won the game 86–71 to head to the National Championship game.
In the other semifinal, UConn faced Tennessee. Although Tennessee scored first, but that would be the last time they would lead. The Huskies responded, opened up an early lead, and extended it to 13 points at halftime. Connecticut extended the lead in the beginning of the second half, with a 24–11 run, and went on to hold the Lady Vols to 31% shooting. No Tennessee player scored in double digits; Kara Lawson led the team with nine points. The win extended the perfect season by Connecticut to 38 games, while marking the fourth time in the last five meetings that the Huskies had beaten the Lady Vols.
In the championship game, the Sooners were out rebounded and outshot, but did not give up. Oklahoma did not give up a single three point shot, the first time that has occurred in an NCAA title game, and the last time that would happen to the Connecticut team in any game for over a decade. With a minute and a half to go, the Huskies held a lead, but only six points. UConn had the ball, and despite having four seniors on the floor who would go 1,2 4 and 6 in the 2002 WNBA Draft, gave the ball to sophomore Diana Taurasi, who backed down Oklahoma's Stacy Dales then took a turn around jumper than went in, while Dales fouled Taurasi to foul out of the game. Taurasi hit the foul shot to extend the lead to nine points, and the Huskies would go on to be the first team in history to record two undefeated seasons, winning their third National Championship.

Tournament records

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA tournament.

Qualifying teams - at-large

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

Bids by conference

Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In twenty-one cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from ten of the conferences.
BidsConferenceTeams
8SoutheasternVanderbilt, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi St., South Carolina, Tennessee
7Big 12Oklahoma, Baylor, Colorado, Iowa St., Kansas St., Texas, Texas Tech
6Big TenIndiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn St., Purdue, Wisconsin
5Big EastConnecticut, Boston College, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Villanova
4Atlantic CoastDuke, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia
4Mountain WestBYU, Colorado St., New Mexico, UNLV
3Conference USACincinnati, TCU, Tulane
2Missouri ValleyCreighton, Drake
2Pacific-10Arizona St., Stanford
2West CoastPepperdine, Santa Clara
1America EastHartford
1Atlantic 10Temple
1Atlantic SunGeorgia St.
1Big SkyWeber St..
1Big SouthLiberty
1Big WestUC Santa Barb.
1ColonialOld Dominion
1HorizonGreen Bay
1IvyHarvard
1Metro AtlanticSt. Peter’s.
1Mid-AmericanKent St.
1Mid-ContinentOakland
1Mid-EasternNorfolk St.
1NortheastSt. Francis Pa.
1Ohio ValleyAustin Peay
1PatriotBucknell
1SouthernChattanooga
1SouthlandStephen F. Austin
1SouthwesternSouthern U.
1Sun BeltFIU
1Western AthleticLouisiana Tech

First and second rounds

In 2002, the field remained at 64 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-16 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 1 and 16 faced each other, as well as seeds 2 and 15, seeds 3 and 14, seeds 4 and 13, seeds 5 and 12, seeds 6 and 11, seeds 7 and 10, and seeds 8 and 9. In the first two rounds, the top four seeds were given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In all cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity.
The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations:
RegionRndHostVenueCityState
East1&2University of TexasFrank Erwin CenterAustinTexas
East1&2Duke UniversityCameron Indoor StadiumDurhamNorth Carolina
East1&2Baylor UniversityFerrell CenterWacoTexas
East1&2University of South CarolinaCarolina ColiseumColumbiaSouth Carolina
Mideast1&2Purdue UniversityMackey ArenaWest LafayetteIndiana
Mideast1&2University of ConnecticutHarry A. Gampel PavilionStorrsConnecticut
Mideast1&2Pennsylvania State UniversityBryce Jordan CenterUniversity ParkPennsylvania
Mideast1&2Kansas State UniversityBramlage ColiseumManhattanKansas
Midwest1&2University of North CarolinaCarmichael AuditoriumChapel HillNorth Carolina
Midwest1&2University of TennesseeThompson-Boling ArenaKnoxvilleTennessee
Midwest1&2Vanderbilt UniversityMemorial Gymnasium NashvilleTennessee
Midwest1&2Iowa State UniversityHilton ColiseumAmesIowa
West1&2University of OklahomaLloyd Noble CenterNormanOklahoma
West1&2University of ColoradoCU Events Center BoulderColorado
West1&2Stanford UniversityMaples PavilionStanfordCalifornia
West1&2Texas Tech UniversityUnited Spirit ArenaLubbockTexas

Regionals and Final Four

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 23 to March 25 at these sites:
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held March 29 and March 31 in San Antonio, Texas at the Alamodome,

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from thirty states. Texas had the most teams with five bids. Twenty states did not have any teams receiving bids.
BidsStateTeams
5TexasStephen F. Austin, Baylor, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech
4CaliforniaPepperdine, UC Santa Barb., Santa Clara, Stanford
4LouisianaLouisiana Tech, Southern U., LSU, Tulane
4PennsylvaniaBucknell, Temple, Penn St., Villanova
4TennesseeAustin Peay, Chattanooga, Vanderbilt, Tennessee
4VirginiaLiberty, Norfolk St., Old Dominion, Virginia
3IndianaIndiana, Notre Dame, Purdue
3IowaDrake, Iowa, Iowa St.
2ColoradoColorado, Colorado St.
2ConnecticutConnecticut, Hartford
2FloridaFIU, Florida
2GeorgiaGeorgia St., Georgia
2MassachusettsHarvard, Boston College
2New YorkSt. Francis Pa., Syracuse
2North CarolinaDuke, North Carolina
2OhioCincinnati, Kent St.
2South CarolinaClemson, South Carolina
2UtahBYU, Weber St..
2WisconsinGreen Bay, Wisconsin
1ArizonaArizona St.
1ArkansasArkansas
1KansasKansas St.
1MichiganOakland
1MinnesotaMinnesota
1MississippiMississippi St.
1NebraskaCreighton
1NevadaUNLV
1New JerseySt. Peter’s.
1New MexicoNew Mexico
1OklahomaOklahoma

Brackets

Data Source

Mideast Region - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Midwest Region - Ames, Iowa

West Region - Boise, Idaho

East Region - Raleigh, North Carolina

Final Four - San Antonio, Texas

E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West
Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Round
of 32		Sweet
Sixteen		Elite
Eight		Final
Four		Championship
Game
Southeastern813–8.61963310
Big 12716–7.69675211
Big Ten65–6.45541000
Big East58–4.66731111
Atlantic Coast46–4.60022110
Mountain West42–4.33311000
Conference USA33–3.50030000
Pacific-1023–2.60021000
Missouri Valley22–2.50011000
West Coast20–2.00000000
Colonial13–1.75011100
Big West11–1.50010000
Sun Belt11–1.50010000

Eighteen conferences went 0-1: America East, Atlantic 10, Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, and WAC

All-Tournament Team