The 1997 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 14, 1997, and concluded on March 30, 1997, when Tennessee won the national title. The Final Four was held at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati on March 28–30, 1997. Tennessee, Old Dominion, Stanford, and Notre Dame qualified for the Final Four. Tennessee and Old Dominion won their semi-final Final Four matchups and continued on to the championship. Tennessee defeated Old Dominion 68–59 for their fifth national title.

Tournament records Field goal percentage – Kristin Folkl, Stanford, hit all eight field goal attempts in the semi-final game against Old Dominion, setting the record for field goal percentage in a Final Four game. Assists – Kellie Jolly, Tennessee, recorded eleven assists in the championship game against Old Dominion, setting the record for most assists in a Final Four game. Field goal percentage – Tennessee hit 29 of 49 field goals attempts (59.2%) in the championship game against Old Dominion, setting the record for the field goal percentage in a Final Four game.

Qualifying teams – automatic Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. Thirty conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament.

Automatic bids     Record   Qualifying School Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Auburn University SEC 7 University of Colorado at Boulder Big 12 2 University of Connecticut Big East 1 University of Detroit Mercy Midwestern Collegiate 14 Drake University Missouri Valley Conference 13 Eastern Kentucky University Ohio Valley Conference 15 Florida International University Trans America 14 Grambling State University SWAC 14 Harvard University Ivy League 16 Howard University MEAC 16 University of Iowa Big Ten 9 Lehigh University Patriot League 16 Liberty University Big South Conference 16 Louisiana Tech University Sun Belt Conference 2 University of Maine America East 13 Marshall University Southern Conference 15 University of Montana Big Sky Conference 9 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ACC 1 Old Dominion University Colonial 1 San Diego State University WAC 11 University of San Francisco West Coast Conference 11 St. Francis (PA) Northeast Conference 15 Saint Joseph's University Atlantic 10 7 Saint Peter's College MAAC 15 Stanford University Pac-10 1 Texas State University Southland 14 University of Toledo MAC 10 Troy University Mid-Continent 13 Tulane University Conference USA 4 University of California, Santa Barbara Big West Conference 13

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

At-large Bids     Record   Qualifying School Conference Regular Season Conference Seed University of Alabama Southeastern 2 University of Arizona Pacific-10 7 Clemson University Atlantic Coast 5 DePaul University Conference USA 12 Duke University Atlantic Coast 5 University of Florida Southeastern 3 The George Washington University Atlantic 10 5 University of Georgia Southeastern 2 University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Big Ten 4 Iowa State University Big 12 12 University of Kansas Big 12 3 Kansas State University Big 12 10 University of Louisville Conference USA 10 Louisiana State University Southeastern 4 Marquette University Conference USA 12 University of Maryland, College Park Atlantic Coast 9 University of Memphis Conference USA 11 Michigan State University Big Ten 8 North Carolina State University Atlantic Coast 8 Northwestern University Big Ten 12 University of Notre Dame Big East 6 University of Oregon Pacific-10 6 University of Portland West Coast 9 Purdue University Big Ten 8 University of Southern California Pacific-10 6 Stephen F. Austin State University Southland 7 University of Tennessee Southeastern 3 University of Texas at Austin Big 12 3 Texas Tech University Big 12 8 University of Utah Western Athletic 5 Vanderbilt University Southeastern 6 University of Virginia Atlantic Coast 4 University of Washington Pacific-10 11 Western Kentucky University Sun Belt 10

Bids by conference Thirty conferences earned an automatic bid. In eighteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-four additional at-large teams were selected from twelve of the conferences.

Bids Conference Teams 7

Southeastern

Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Vanderbilt 6

Atlantic Coast

North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina St., Virginia 6

Big 12

Colorado, Iowa St., Kansas, Kansas St., Texas, Texas Tech 5

Big Ten

Iowa, Illinois, Michigan St., Northwestern, Purdue 5

Conference USA

Tulane, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis 5

Pacific-10

Stanford, Arizona, Oregon, Southern California, Washington 2

Atlantic 10

St. Joseph's, George Washington 2

Big East

Connecticut, Notre Dame 2

Southland

Texas St., Stephen F. Austin 2

Sun Belt

Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky 2

West Coast

San Francisco, Portland 2

Western Athletic

San Diego St., Utah 1

America East

Maine 1

Big Sky

Montana 1

Big South

Liberty 1

Big West

UC Santa Barb. 1

Colonial

Old Dominion 1

Ivy

Harvard 1

Metro Atlantic

St. Peter's 1

Mid-American

Toledo 1

Mid-Continent

Troy 1

Mid-Eastern

Howard 1

Midwestern

Detroit 1

Missouri Valley

Drake 1

Northeast

St. Francis (PA) 1

Ohio Valley

Eastern Kentucky 1

Patriot

Lehigh 1

Southern

Marshall 1

Southwestern

Grambling State 1

Trans America

FIU

First and second rounds

In 1997, 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 most cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity. The exception: Fourth seeded Tulane was unable to host due to a "facility/hotel availability conflict", so fifth seeded George Washington hosted three first and second-round games Michigan State was involved in two overtime games, winning in  the first round against Portland then losing in overtime in the second round against North Carolina. Old Dominion was also involved in two overtime games, winning in the second round against Purdue, then winning in the national semifinal game against Stanford.

The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations: Region RndHostVenue City State East

1&2

University of North Carolina

Carmichael Auditorium

Chapel Hill

North Carolina East

1&2

University of Texas

Frank Erwin Center

Austin

Texas East

1&2

University of Alabama

Coleman Coliseum

Tuscaloosa

Alabama East

1&2

George Washington University

Charles E. Smith Athletic Center

Washington

District of Columbia Mideast

1&2

Louisiana State University

LSU Assembly Center (Pete Maravich Assembly Center)

Baton Rouge

Louisiana Mideast

1&2

Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University Fieldhouse

Norfolk

Virginia Mideast

1&2

Louisiana Tech University

Thomas Assembly Center

Ruston

Louisiana Mideast

1&2

University of Florida

O'Connell Center

Gainesville

Florida Midwest

1&2

University of Tennessee

Thompson–Boling Arena

Knoxville

Tennessee Midwest

1&2

University of Colorado

CU Events Center (Coors Events Center)

Boulder

Colorado Midwest

1&2

University of Connecticut

Harry A. Gampel Pavilion

Storrs

Connecticut Midwest

1&2

University of Illinois

Assembly Hall (Champaign)

Champaign

Illinois West

1&2

University of Georgia

Georgia Coliseum (Stegeman Coliseum)

Athens

Georgia West

1&2

University of Virginia

University Hall (University of Virginia)

Charlottesville

Virginia West

1&2

Stanford University

Maples Pavilion

Stanford

California West

1&2

University of Kansas

Allen Field House

Lawrence

Kansas

Regionals and Final Four

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 22 to March 24 at these sites: East Regional Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, South Carolina (Host: University of South Carolina) Mideast Regional Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University) Midwest Regional Carver–Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa (Host: University of Iowa) West Regional Dahlberg Arena, Missoula, Montana (Host: University of Montana)

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held March 28 and March 30 in Cincinnati at the Riverfront Coliseum

Bids by state The sixty-four teams came from thirty-two states, plus Washington, D.C. California had the most teams with five bids. Eighteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.

Bids State Teams 5

California

San Diego St., San Francisco, Stanford, UC Santa Barb., Southern California 4

Louisiana

Grambling, Louisiana Tech, Tulane, LSU 4

Texas

Texas St., Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas Tech 3

Alabama

Auburn, Troy, Alabama 3

Illinois

DePaul, Illinois, Northwestern 3

Iowa

Drake, Iowa, Iowa St. 3

Kentucky

Eastern Kentucky, Louisville, Western Kentuck. 3

North Carolina

North Carolina, Duke, North Carolina St. 3

Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt 3

Virginia

Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia 2

District of Columbia

Howard, George Washington 2

Florida

FIU, Florida 2

Indiana

Notre Dame, Purdue 2

Kansas

Kansas, Kansas St. 2

Michigan

Detroit, Michigan St. 2

Oregon

Oregon, Portland 3

Pennsylvania

Lehigh, St. Joseph's, St Francis 1

Arizona

Arizona 1

Colorado

Colorado 1

Connecticut

Connecticut 1

Georgia

Georgia 1

Maine

Maine 1

Maryland

Maryland 1

Massachusetts

Harvard 1

Montana

Montana 1

New Jersey

St. Peter's 1

Ohio

Toledo 1

South Carolina

Clemson 1

Utah

Utah 1

Washington

Washington 1

West Virginia

Marshall 1

Wisconsin

Marquette

Brackets Data source

* – Denotes overtime period

East Region

† George Washington was a host as a #5 seed, as #4 seed Tulane's facility was considered inadequate by the NCAA.

Mideast Region

Midwest Region

West Region

Final Four

E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West.

Record by conference Thirteen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play: Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Round of 32Sweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourChampionship Game Southeastern

7

.760

7

6

3

1

1 Atlantic Coast

6

.455

3

2

–

–

– Big 12

6

.455

4

1

–

–

– Pacific-10

5

.583

4

1

1

1

– Big Ten

5

.500

4

1

–

–

– Conference USA

5

.286

2

–

–

–

– Big East

2

.778

2

2

2

1

– Atlantic 10

2

.667

2

1

1

–

– Sun Belt

2

.500

1

1

–

–

– Southland

2

.333

1

–

–

–

– Western Athletic

2

.333

1

–

–

–

– West Coast

2

–

–

–

–

–

– Colonial

1

.833

1

1

1

1

1 Seventeen conferences went 0-1: America East, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Midwestern Collegiate, Missouri Valley Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, SWAC, and Trans America

All-Tournament team Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee Kellie Jolly, Tennessee Ticha Penicheiro, Old Dominion Nyree Roberts, Old Dominion Clarisse Machanguana, Old Dominion

Game officials Sally Bell (semifinal) Carla Fujimoto (semifinal) Ray Bomeli (semifinal) John Morningstar (semifinal) Scott Yarbrough (semifinal) Judy Schneider (semifinal) Yvette McKinney (final) Dee Kantner (final) Violet Palmer (final)