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 on March 29–31, 2002. Connecticut, 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 (19 of 21) and had 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, number one seeds Oklahoma and Duke and number two seed Tennessee 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 its 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 then 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.

The championship game attendance of 29,619 set the still-standing attendance record for an official game in women's basketball history. A 2023 exhibition between Iowa and DePaul held at Kinnick Stadium, home to Iowa football, had an attendance of 55,646.

Tournament records Fewest turnovers – Louisiana Tech committed only three turnovers in the East regional first-round game against UC Santa Barbara, setting the record for fewest turnovers in an NCAA tournament game. Unfortunately for the Lady Techsters, the low number of turnovers could not prevent UCSB from winning. Free throws – Sue Bird hit 20 free throws out of 20 attempts, one of several players to hit 100% of their free throws in an NCAA tournament; 20 is the largest such total. Assists – Connecticut recorded 128 assists, setting the record for most assists in an NCAA tournament Blocks – Connecticut recorded 53 blocks, setting the record for blocks in an NCAA tournament

Qualifying teams – automatic 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.

Automatic bids     Record   Qualifying School Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Arizona State University Pac-10 9 Austin Peay State University Ohio Valley Conference 15 Bucknell University Patriot League 15 Mountain West 11 Southern Conference 13 Conference USA 6 Big East 1 Creighton University Missouri Valley Conference 12 Duke University ACC 1 Florida International University Sun Belt Conference 5 Georgia State University Atlantic Sun Conference 15 Horizon League 13 America East 16 Harvard University Ivy League 13 Indiana University Bloomington Big Ten 9 Kent State University MAC 14 Liberty University Big South Conference 14 Louisiana Tech University WAC 5 Norfolk State University MEAC 16 Oakland University Mid-Continent 16 Big 12 1 Old Dominion University Colonial 7 Pepperdine University West Coast Conference 8 Southern University SWAC 14 Saint Francis University Northeast Conference 16 Saint Peter's College MAAC 11 Stephen F. Austin State University Southland 13 Temple University Atlantic 10 14 Big West Conference 12 Vanderbilt University SEC 1 Weber State University Big Sky Conference 15

Qualifying teams – at-large Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.

At-large Bids     Record   Qualifying School Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Southeastern 6 Baylor University Big 12 2 Boston College Big East 5 Clemson University Atlantic Coast 11 Big 12 3 Colorado State University Mountain West 7 Drake University Missouri Valley 7 Southeastern 6 Southeastern 10 Big Ten 9 Iowa State University Big 12 3 Kansas State University Big 12 3 Southeastern 6 Big Ten 5 Mississippi State University Southeastern 12 Mountain West 10 Atlantic Coast 4 Big East 7 Pennsylvania State University Big Ten 4 Purdue University Big Ten 2 Santa Clara University West Coast 11 Southeastern 3 Stanford University Pacific-10 2 Syracuse University Big East 10 Conference USA 8 Southeastern 2 Big 12 4 Texas Tech University Big 12 4 Tulane University Conference USA 10 Mountain West 12 Villanova University Big East 9 Atlantic Coast 8 Big Ten 8

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.

Bids Conference Teams 8

Southeastern

Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee 7

Big 12

Oklahoma, Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas, Texas Tech 6

Big Ten

Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin 5

Big East

Connecticut, Boston College, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Villanova 4

Atlantic Coast

Duke, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia 4

Mountain West

BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV 3

Conference USA

Cincinnati, TCU, Tulane 2

Missouri Valley

Creighton, Drake 2

Pacific-10

Arizona State, Stanford 2

West Coast

Pepperdine, Santa Clara 1

America East

Hartford 1

Atlantic 10

Temple 1

Atlantic Sun

Georgia State 1

Big Sky

Weber State 1

Big South

Liberty 1

Big West

UC Santa Barbara 1

Colonial

Old Dominion 1

Horizon

Green Bay 1

Ivy

Harvard 1

Metro Atlantic

Saint Peter’s 1

Mid-American

Kent State 1

Mid-Continent

Oakland 1

Mid-Eastern

Norfolk State 1

Northeast

Saint Francis (PA) 1

Ohio Valley

Austin Peay 1

Patriot

Bucknell 1

Southern

Chattanooga 1

Southland

Stephen F. Austin 1

Southwestern

Southern U. 1

Sun Belt

FIU 1

Western Athletic

Louisiana Tech

2002 NCAA tournament schedule and venues

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.

First and Second rounds

The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations: March 15 and 17 East Region Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin) Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina (Host: Duke University) Ferrell Center, Waco, Texas (Host: Baylor University) Mideast Region Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania (Host: Pennsylvania State University) Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kansas (Host: Kansas State University) Midwest Region Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee) West Region CU Events Center, Boulder, Colorado (Host: University of Colorado Boulder) United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas (Host: Texas Tech University) March 16 and 18 East Region Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, South Carolina (Host: University of South Carolina) Mideast Region Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University) Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut) Midwest Region Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Vanderbilt University) Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State University) West Region Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma (Host: University of Oklahoma) Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California (Host: Stanford University)

Regional semifinals and finals

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 23 to March 25 at these sites: March 23 and 25 Midwest Regional, Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State University) East Regional, Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University) Mideast Regional, U.S. Cellular Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Host: Marquette University) West Regional, BSU Pavilion, Boise, Idaho (Host: Boise State University)

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held March 29 and March 31 in San Antonio, Texas at the Alamodome, (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)

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.

Bids State Teams 5

Pennsylvania

Bucknell, Temple, Penn State, Saint Francis, Villanova 5

Texas

Stephen F. Austin, Baylor, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech 4

California

Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanford 4

Louisiana

Louisiana Tech, Southern U., LSU, Tulane 4

Tennessee

Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Vanderbilt, Tennessee 4

Virginia

Liberty, Norfolk State, Old Dominion, Virginia 3

Indiana

Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue 3

Iowa

Drake, Iowa, Iowa State 2

Colorado

Colorado, Colorado State 2

Connecticut

Connecticut, Hartford 2

Florida

FIU, Florida 2

Georgia

Georgia State, Georgia 2

Massachusetts

Harvard, Boston College 2

North Carolina

Duke, North Carolina 2

Ohio

Cincinnati, Kent State 2

South Carolina

Clemson, South Carolina 2

Utah

BYU, Weber State 2

Wisconsin

Green Bay, Wisconsin 1

Arizona

Arizona State 1

Arkansas

Arkansas 1

Kansas

Kansas State 1

Michigan

Oakland 1

Minnesota

Minnesota 1

Mississippi

Mississippi State 1

Nebraska

Creighton 1

Nevada

UNLV 1

New Jersey

Saint Peter’s 1

New Mexico

New Mexico 1

New York

Syracuse 1

Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Brackets Data Source

* Denotes overtime period

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

Record by conference

Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Round of 32Sweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourChampionship Game Southeastern