1983 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

The 1983 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 18 and concluded on April 3 with USC winning the title. The tournament consisted of 36 teams. The Final Four was held in Norfolk, Virginia and consisted of USC, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, and Georgia. USC's Cheryl Miller was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

Notable events

Neither semifinal game in the final four turned out to be close. Defending national champion Louisiana Tech beat long time powerhouse Old Dominion by sixteen points, handing them their 30th consecutive victory. In the other semifinal, Southern California had an easier time, beating Georgia by 24 points. This set up the championship game between the only two top seeds to advance to the Final Four.

The two teams had met twice before in regular season, both coming away with a win, but in both cases, on the opponent's home court. USC beat the Lady Techsters in Louisiana, 64–58, giving the La Tech team their only loss for the year. La Tech turned around and beat USC in Los Angeles by two points in January, one of only two losses suffered by the USC team all season.

The game came down to the final seconds. USC had a two-point lead with six seconds left in the game, and freshman star Cheryl Miller at the line for a one-and-one attempt. In the era before the three point shot, simply making the foul shot would virtually guarantee the win. But Miller missed the free throw, and the Techsters grabbed the rebound. The Lady Techsters ran up the court, where Kim Mulkey took the final shot, but it failed to go in, and USC won their first national championship.

Records

In the National championship game, Jennifer White hit eight of nine free throw attempts to set a championship game record for free throw percentage.

In the same game, Cheryl Miller attempted 14 free throws, a national championship record.

The NCAA did not officially start keeping track of blocked shots in women's basketball until 1998 (it had begun doing so in the men's game in 1986). However, Anne Donovan of Old Dominion had twelve blocked shot in a regional game, two more than the official record of ten.

Qualifying teams – automatic Thirty-six teams were selected to participate in the 1983 NCAA Tournament. Fourteen conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1983 NCAA tournament. (Not all conference records are available for 1983)

Automatic bids     Record   Qualifying school Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Central Michigan MAC 6 Georgia SEC 2 Illinois State GatewayIn the NCAA record books, Illinois State is officially recognized as having been a member of both the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (Gateway) and the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) in 1983, although the latter did not sponsor women's sports until the 1992–93 school year. The 1982–83 school year was the first for the Gateway, founded as a women's-only parallel to the MVC. In 1985, the Gateway added football as its only men's sport. After the women's side of the Gateway merged into the MVC in 1992, the football side remained in operation, and is now the Missouri Valley Football Conference. 6 Indiana Big Ten 6 Louisville MetroThe NCAA recognized a Metro Conference champion, although that league would not sponsor women's sports until the 1983–84 school year. 7 Maryland ACC 3 Missouri Big Eight 4 Old Dominion Sun Belt 2 Oregon State Northern Pacific 3 Penn State Atlantic 10 5 USC Western Collegiate 1 St. John's Big East 7 Texas Southwest 2 Utah High Country 5

Qualifying teams – at-large Twenty-two additional teams were selected to complete the thirty-six invitations. (Not all conference records are available for 1983) OR - Opening Round

At-large bids     Record   Qualifying school Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Arizona State Western Collegiate Auburn SEC Cheyney State Independent Dartmouth Ivy League Florida State Metro Jackson State SWAC Kansas State Big Eight Kentucky SEC La Salle East Coast Long Beach State Independent Louisiana Tech Independent Middle Tennessee State Ohio Valley Ole Miss SEC Monmouth Cosmopolitan Montana Mountain West Athletic North Carolina ACC North Carolina State ACC Northeast Louisiana Southland South Carolina State MEAC Stephen F. Austin Southland Tennessee SEC UCLA Western Collegiate

Bids by conference Twenty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In sixteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirteen at-large teams were selected from six of the conferences. In addition, three independent (not associated with an athletic conference) teams earned at-large bids.

Bids Conference Teams 5 SEC Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee 3

ACC

Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State 3

Independent

Cheyney, Long Beach State, Louisiana Tech 3

Western Collegiate

Arizona State, UCLA, USC 2

Big 8

Kansas State, Missouri 2

Metro

Florida State, Louisville 2

Southland

Northeast Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin 1

Atlantic 10

Penn State 1

Big East

St. John's 1

Big Ten

Indiana 1

Cosmopolitan

Monmouth 1

East Coast

La Salle 1

Gateway

Illinois State 1

High Country

Utah 1

Ivy League

Dartmouth 1

MAC

Central Michigan 1

MEAC

South Carolina State 1

Mountain West Athletic

Montana 1

Northern Pacific

Oregon State 1

OVC

Middle Tennessee State 1

Southwest

Texas 1

Sun Belt

Old Dominion 1

SWAC

Jackson State

Bids by state

The thirty-six teams represented twenty-four states, plus Washington, D.C. California and Pennsylvania had the most teams with three each. Twenty-six states did not have any teams receiving bids.

Bids State Teams 3

California

Southern California, Long Beach St., UCLA 3

Pennsylvania

Penn St., Cheyney, La Salle 2

Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky 2

Louisiana

Louisiana Tech, Northeast Louisiana 2

Mississippi

Jackson St., Ole Miss 2

North Carolina

North Carolina, North Carolina St. 2

Tennessee

Middle Tenn., Tennessee 2

Texas

Texas, Stephen F. Austin 1

Alabama

Auburn 1

Arizona

Arizona St. 1 Florida Florida State 1

Georgia

Georgia 1

Illinois

Illinois St.. 1

Indiana

Indiana 1

Kansas

Kansas St. 1

Maryland

Maryland 1 Michigan Central Michigan 1

Missouri

Missouri 1

Montana

Montana 1

New Hampshire

Dartmouth 1

New Jersey

Monmouth 1

New York

St. John's NY 1

Oregon

Oregon St. 1

South Carolina

South Carolina St. 1

Utah

Utah 1

Virginia

Old Dominion

First round

In 1983, the field expanded from 32 to 36 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-9 in each region. The 8 and 9 seeds in each region played a play-in game, called the opening round (OR). In the opening round and Round 1, the higher seed was given the opportunity to host the first-round game, and all but one of the higher seeds hosted. Missouri was a 4 seed, but unable to host, so the game was played at 5 seed Auburn.

The following table lists the region, host school, venue and location. The opening round games are denoted with "OR".

RegionHostVenue City State OR West

Northeast Louisiana University

Ewing Coliseum

Monroe

Louisiana OR East

Dartmouth College

Alumni Gymnasium

Hanover

New Hampshire OR Mideast

La Salle University

Hayman Hall (Tom Gola Arena)

Philadelphia

Pennsylvania OR Midwest

Jackson State University

Williams Assembly Center

Jackson

Mississippi East

Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University Fieldhouse

Norfolk

Virginia East

University of Maryland, College Park

Cole Field House

College Park

Maryland East

Cheyney State University of Pennsylvania

Cope Hall

Cheyney

Pennsylvania East

North Carolina State University

Reynolds Coliseum

Raleigh

North Carolina Mideast

University of Tennessee

Stokely Athletic Center

Knoxville

Tennessee Mideast

University of Kentucky

Memorial Coliseum

Lexington

Kentucky Mideast

University of Mississippi

Tad Smith Coliseum

Oxford

Mississippi Mideast

University of Georgia

Georgia Coliseum (Stegeman Coliseum)

Athens

Georgia Midwest

Kansas State University

Ahearn Field House

Manhattan

Kansas Midwest

Louisiana Tech University

Thomas Assembly Center

Ruston

Louisiana Midwest

Auburn University

Memorial Coliseum (Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum)

Auburn

Alabama Midwest

University of Texas at Austin

Frank Erwin Center

Austin

Texas West

California State University, Long Beach

University Gym (Gold Mine)

Long Beach

California West

Arizona State University

University Activity Center (Wells Fargo Arena)

Tempe

Arizona West

University of Southern California

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena

Los Angeles

California West

Oregon State University

Gill Coliseum

Corvallis

Oregon

Regionals and Final Four

The regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 24 to March 27 at these sites: East Regional Recreation Building (Rec Hall), University Park, Pennsylvania (Host: Pennsylvania State University ) Midwest Regional Thomas Assembly Center, Ruston, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana Tech University) Mideast Regional Athletic & Convocation Center, Notre Dame, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame) West Regional Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: University of California, Los Angeles)

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held April 1 and 3 in Norfolk, Virginia, at the Norfolk Scope. Old Dominion University served as the host institution.

Brackets

East regional – Penn State University - University Park, PA (Rec Hall)

Midwest regional – Louisiana Tech - Ruston, LA (Thomas Assembly Center)

Mideast regional – Notre Dame - Notre Dame, IN Edmund P. Joyce Center

West regional – UCLA - Los Angeles, CA (Pauley Pavilion)

Final Four – Norfolk, Virginia

Record by conference Fifteen 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

5

.583

4

4

2

1

– Independent

3

.700

3

3

2

1

1 Western Collegiate

3

.750

2

2

1

1

1 Atlantic Coast

3

.250

1

1

–

–

– Big Eight

2

.333

1

1

–

–

– Southland

2

.333

–

–

–

–

– Metro

2

–

–

–

–

–

– Sun Belt

1

.750

1

1

1

1

– Atlantic 10

1

.667

1

1

1

–

– Southwest

1

.667

1

1

1

–

– Big Ten

1

.500

1

1

–

–

– Cosmopolitan

1

.500

–

–

–

–

– Mid-Eastern

1

.500

–

–

–

–

– Northern Pacific

1

.500

1

1

–

–

– Ohio Valley

1

.500

–

–

–

–

–

Eight conferences went 0-1: Big East, East Coast, Gateway, High Country, Ivy League, MAC, Mountain West Athletic, and SWAC

All-Tournament team

Cheryl Miller, Southern California Paula McGee, Southern California Janice Lawrence, Louisiana Tech Jennifer White, Louisiana Tech Anne Donovan, Old Dominion

Game officials

Jan Donahue (semifinal) Skip Gill (semifinal) Kit Robinson (semifinal, final) Pete Stewart (semifinal, final)

See also NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

References