1996 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

The 1996 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament took place from March 15–31, 1996. The Final Four consisted of Connecticut, Georgia, Stanford, and Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Georgia 83–65 in the championship game.

Tournament records Three-point field goal percentage – Nykesha Sales, Connecticut, hit four of five three-point field goal attempts (80%) in the semi-final game against Tennessee, tying a record for three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game, held by four other players. Three-point field goal percentage – Abby Conklin, Tennessee hit four of five three-point field goal attempts (80%) in the championship game against Georgia, tying a record for three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game, held by four other players. Three-point field goals – Harvard hit 16 three-point field goals in a Mideast first-round game, setting the record for most three-point field goals in an NCAA tournament game, subsequently tied by two other teams.

Qualifying teams – automatic Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid.

Automatic bids     Record   Qualifying School Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Appalachian State University Southern Conference 13 Austin Peay State University Ohio Valley Conference 14 Butler University Midwestern Collegiate 15 Clemson University ACC 3 University of Colorado at Boulder Big Eight 3 Colorado State University WAC 8 University of Connecticut Big East 1 The George Washington University Atlantic 10 6 Grambling State University SWAC 16 Harvard University Ivy League 14 University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Big West Conference 11 College of the Holy Cross Patriot League 15 Howard University MEAC 16 Louisiana Tech University Sun Belt Conference 1 University of Maine North Atlantic Conference 11 Manhattan College MAAC 14 University of Memphis Conference USA 8 Missouri State University Missouri Valley Conference 12 University of Montana Big Sky Conference 12 Old Dominion University Colonial 2 Pennsylvania State University Big Ten 2 Radford University Big South Conference 16 University of San Francisco West Coast Conference 12 St. Francis (PA) Northeast Conference 15 Stanford University Pac-10 1 Stephen F. Austin State University Southland 11 University of Tennessee SEC 1 Texas A&M University Southwest 7 University of Toledo MAC 10 University of Central Florida Trans America 16 Youngstown State University Mid-Continent 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 University of Alabama Southeastern 4 Auburn University Southeastern 6 DePaul University Conference USA 7 Duke University Atlantic Coast 4 University of Florida Southeastern 5 University of Georgia Southeastern 2 University of Iowa Big Ten 2 James Madison University Colonial 13 University of Kansas Big Eight 4 Kent State University Mid-American 10 University of Massachusetts Atlantic 10 8 Michigan State University Big Ten 9 Middle Tennessee State University Ohio Valley 13 University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Southeastern 7 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Big Eight 9 North Carolina State University Atlantic Coast 5 University of Notre Dame Big East 12 Ohio State University Big Ten 9 Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Big Eight 7 University of Oregon Pacific-10 11 Oregon State University Pacific-10 6 University of Portland West Coast 13 Purdue University Big Ten 5 University of Rhode Island Atlantic 10 10 Southern Methodist University Southwest 10 University of Southern Mississippi Conference USA 9 University of Texas at Austin Southwest 5 Texas Tech University Southwest 4 Tulane University Conference USA 14 University of Utah Western Athletic 8 Vanderbilt University Southeastern 3 University of Virginia Atlantic Coast 3 University of Wisconsin–Madison Big Ten 6

Bids by conference Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In seventeen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from fourteen of the conferences.

Bids Conference Teams 7

Southeastern

Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt 6

Big Ten

Penn St., Iowa, Michigan St., Ohio St., Purdue, Wisconsin 4

Atlantic Coast

Clemson, Duke, North Carolina St., Virginia 4

Big Eight

Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma St. 4

Conference USA

Memphis, DePaul, Southern Miss., Tulane 4

Southwest

Texas A&M, SMU, Texas, Texas Tech 3

Atlantic 10

George Washington, Massachusetts, Rhode Island 3

Pacific-10

Stanford, Oregon, Oregon St. 2

Big East

Connecticut, Notre Dame 2

Colonial

Old Dominion, James Madison 2

Mid-American

Toledo, Kent St. 2

Ohio Valley

Austin Peay, Middle Tenn. 2

West Coast

San Francisco, Portland 2

Western Athletic

Colorado St., Utah 1

Big Sky

Montana 1

Big South

Radford 1

Big West

Hawaii 1

Ivy

Harvard 1

Metro Atlantic

Manhattan 1

Mid-Continent

Youngstown St. 1

Mid-Eastern

Howard 1

Midwestern Collegiate

Butler 1

Missouri Valley

Missouri St. 1

North Atlantic

Maine 1

Northeast

St. Francis (PA) 1

Patriot

Holy Cross 1

Southern

Appalachian St. 1

Southland

Stephen F. Austin 1

Southwestern

Grambling State 1

Sun Belt

Louisiana Tech 1

Trans-America

UCF

First and second rounds

In 1996, 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: Region RndHostVenue City State East

1&2

Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University Fieldhouse

Norfolk

Virginia East

1&2

University of Virginia

University Hall (University of Virginia)

Charlottesville

Virginia East

1&2

University of Tennessee

Thompson-Boling Arena

Knoxville

Tennessee East

1&2

University of Kansas

Allen Field House

Lawrence

Kansas Mideast

1&2

University of Iowa

Carver–Hawkeye Arena

Iowa City

Iowa Mideast

1&2

University of Connecticut

Harry A. Gampel Pavilion

Storrs

Connecticut Mideast

1&2

Vanderbilt University

Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt University)

Nashville

Tennessee Mideast

1&2

Duke University

Cameron Indoor Stadium

Durham

North Carolina Midwest

1&2

University of Georgia

Georgia Coliseum (Stegeman Coliseum)

Athens

Georgia Midwest

1&2

Louisiana Tech University

Thomas Assembly Center

Ruston

Louisiana Midwest

1&2

Clemson University

Littlejohn Coliseum

Clemson

South Carolina Midwest

1&2

Texas Tech University

Lubbock Municipal Coliseum

Lubbock

Texas West

1&2

Pennsylvania State University

Recreation Building (Rec Hall)

University Park

Pennsylvania West

1&2

University of Colorado

CU Events Center (Coors Events Center)

Boulder

Colorado West

1&2

Stanford University

Maples Pavilion

Stanford

California West

1&2

University of Alabama

Coleman Coliseum

Tuscaloosa

Alabama

Regionals and Final Four

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 23 to March 25 at these sites:

East Regional University Hall (University of Virginia), Charlottesville, Virginia (Host: University of Virginia) Midwest Regional William R. Johnson Coliseum, Nacogdoches, Texas (Host: Stephen F. Austin University) West Regional Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington) Mideast Regional Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois (Host: DePaul University)

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held on March 29 and March 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Charlotte Coliseum, (co-hosted by Davidson College and UNC Charlotte).

Bids by state

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

Bids State Teams 5

Tennessee

Austin Peay, Memphis, Tennessee, Middle Tenn., Vanderbilt 5

Texas

Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M, SMU, Texas, Texas Tech 4

Ohio

Toledo, Youngstown St., Kent St., Ohio St. 4

Virginia

Old Dominion, Radford, James Madison, Virginia 3

Indiana

Butler, Notre Dame, Purdue 3

Louisiana

Grambling State, Louisiana Tech, Tulane 3

Massachusetts

Harvard, Holy Cross, Massachusetts 3

North Carolina

Appalachian St., Duke, North Carolina St. 3

Oregon

Oregon, Oregon St., Portland 2

Alabama

Alabama, Auburn 2

California

San Francisco, Stanford 2

Colorado

Colorado, Colorado St. 2

District of Columbia

George Washington, Howard 2

Florida

UCF, Florida 2

Mississippi

Ole Miss, Southern Miss. 1

New York

Manhattan 1

Connecticut

Connecticut 1

Georgia

Georgia 1

Hawaii

Hawaii 1

Illinois

DePaul 1

Iowa

Iowa 1

Kansas

Kansas 1

Maine

Maine 1

Michigan

Michigan St. 1

Missouri

Missouri St. 1

Montana

Montana 1

Nebraska

Nebraska 1

Oklahoma

Oklahoma St. 2

Pennsylvania

Penn St., St Francis 1

Rhode Island

Rhode Island 1

South Carolina

Clemson 1

Utah

Utah 1

Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Brackets

East Region – Charlottesville, Virginia

Mideast Region – Rosemont, Illinois

Midwest Region – Nacogdoches, Texas

West Region – Seattle, Washington

Final Four – Charlotte, North Carolina

Record by conference Sixteen 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

5

5

4

2

2 Big Ten

6

.538

5

2

–

–

– Atlantic Coast

4

.600

4

1

1

–

– Big Eight

4

.500

3

1

–

–

– Southwest

4

.429

2

1

–

–

– Conference USA

4

.333

2

–

–

–

– Pacific-10

3

.571

1

1

1

1

– Atlantic 10

3

.250

1

–

–

–

– Big East

2

.714

2

1

1

1

– Colonial

2

.500

1

1

–

–

– Mid-American

2

.500

2

–

–

–

– West Coast

2

.500

1

1

–

–

– Western Athletic

2

.333

1

–

–

–

– Ohio Valley

2

–

–

–

–

–

– Sun Belt

1

.750

1

1

1

–

– Southland

1

.667

1

1

–

–

– Fifteen conferences went 0-1: Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Ivy League, MAAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Midwestern Collegiate, Missouri Valley Conference, North Atlantic Conference, Northeast Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, SWAC, and Trans America

All-Tournament team

Michelle M. Marciniak, Tennessee Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee Tiffani Johnson, Tennessee La'Keshia Frett, Georgia Saudia Roundtree, Georgia

Game officials

Art Bomegen (semifinal) Doug Cloud (semifinal) Wes Dean (semifinal) John Morningstar (semifinal) Bob Trammell (semifinal) Scott Yarborough (semifinal) Sally Bell (final) Dee Kantner (final) Violet Palmer (final) This was the first year the NCAA used three officials in tournament games, which was the standard for men's games since the 1978-79 season. Several conferences, including the SEC, assigned three officials to its regular season and conference tournament games for several seasons before the NCAA changed its rules.

See also 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 1996 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 1996 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 1996 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament