The Big East women's basketball tournament is a conference championship tournament in women's basketball. It was first held in 1983, at the end of the 1982–83 college basketball season that was the first in which the Big East Conference sponsored women's basketball. Following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines, the women's basketball history of the original conference has been maintained by the non-football league that assumed the Big East name. The tournament determines the conference's champion, which receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

From 2004 through 2013, the tournament was held in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the XL Center (formerly known as the Hartford Civic Center). The first three tournaments after the relaunch of the Big East in 2013 were hosted by DePaul University. In 2014, opening-round games were played at McGrath–Phillips Arena on the school's Chicago campus and all other games played at Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont. All games in the 2015 tournament were held at Allstate Arena, and all 2016 tournament games were held at McGrath–Phillips Arena. The 2017 tournament was the first since the relaunch to be held outside the Chicago area, with all games being played at Al McGuire Center on the Marquette University campus in Milwaukee. From 2018 until 2020, the tournament was held at Wintrust Arena at the McCormick Place convention center on Chicago’s Near South Side.

Starting in 2009, the tournament expanded to include all 16 of the conference's teams at that time. The teams finishing 9 through 16 in the regular season standings played first round games, while teams 5 through 8 receive a bye to the second round. The top 4 teams during the regular season receive a double-bye to the quarterfinals. The 2013 tournament, the final one under the original Big East structure, saw 15 teams participate, following West Virginia's 2012 move to the Big 12 Conference. The tournament now features all 11 members of the reconfigured conference.

In June 2020, it was reported that the tournament will return to Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Arena moving forward with the return of UConn.

History of the tournament finals

Year (Seed) Champion Score (Seed) Runner-up Location1983 (2) St. John's 74–63(1) Providence Alumni Hall (Providence, Rhode Island) 1984(3) St. John's 66–46 (4) Seton Hall Alumni Hall (now Carnesecca Arena) (Queens, New York)1985(5) Syracuse 57–56(2) Villanova Manley Field House (Syracuse NY)1986(2) Villanova 71–60(1) Providence Roberts Center (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts)1987(1) Villanova 60–45(6) Boston College The Pavilion (Villanova, Pennsylvania)1988(3) St. John's 74–72 OT(1) Syracuse Fitzgerald Field House (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)1989(1) UConn 84–65(3) Providence Walsh Gymnasium (South Orange, New Jersey)1990(2) Providence 82–61(1) Connecticut Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)1991(1) Connecticut 79–74(2) Providence McDonough Gymnasium (Washington, D.C.)1992(1) Miami (FL) 56–47(2) Connecticut Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)1993(1) Miami (FL) 77–56(7) Providence Alumni Hall (Providence, Rhode Island) 1994(1) Connecticut 77–51(2) Seton Hall Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)1995(1) Connecticut 85–49(3) Seton Hall Walsh Gymnasium (South Orange, New Jersey)1996(1) Connecticut 71–54(3) Notre Dame Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)1997(1) Connecticut 86–77(3) Notre Dame Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)1998(1) Connecticut 67–58(2) Rutgers Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey)1999(1) Connecticut 96–75(3) Notre Dame Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey)2000(1) Connecticut 79–59(3) Rutgers Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)2001(2) Connecticut 78–76 (1) Notre Dame Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)2002(1) Connecticut 96–54(3) Boston College Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey)2003(3) Villanova 52–48(1) Connecticut Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey)2004(5) Boston College 75–57(7) Rutgers Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut)2005(3) Connecticut 67–51(1) Rutgers 2006(2) Connecticut 50–44(12) West Virginia 2007(2) Rutgers 55–47(1) Connecticut 2008(1) Connecticut 65–59(7) Louisville XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut)2009(1) Connecticut 75–36(2) Louisville 2010(1) Connecticut 60–32(2) West Virginia 2011(1) Connecticut 73–64(3) Notre Dame 2012(3) Connecticut 63–54(1) Notre Dame 2013(2) Notre Dame 61–59(3) Connecticut 2014 (1) DePaul 65–57 (2) St. John's Allstate Arena (Rosemont, Illinois)(Opening round: McGrath–Phillips Arena, Chicago) 2015 (2) DePaul 78–68 (1) Seton Hall Allstate Arena (Rosemont, Illinois) 2016 (4) St. John's50–37 (7) Creighton McGrath–Phillips Arena (Chicago) 2017 (3) Marquette 86–78 (1) DePaul Al McGuire Center (Milwaukee) 2018 (2) DePaul 98–63 (1) Marquette Wintrust Arena (Chicago) 2019 (2) DePaul 74–73 (1) Marquette 2020 (1) DePaul 88–74 (2) Marquette 2021 (1) UConn 73–39 (2) MarquetteMohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut) 2022 (1) UConn 70–40 (2) Villanova 2023 (1) UConn 67–56 (2) Villanova 2024 (1) UConn 78–42 (6) Georgetown 2025 (1) UConn 70–50 (2) Creighton 2026 (1) UConn 90–51 (2) Villanova 2027 2028 2029

Notes

Performance by school Club Winners Winning years UConnFollowing the 2013 split of the original Big East, Connecticut and Rutgers remained in the football-sponsoring portion now known as the American Athletic Conference.Connecticut, which changed its official athletic brand to "UConn" in 2013–14, joined the current Big East in 2020.24 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2021, 2022,2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 DePaul 5 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020 St. John's 4 1983, 1984, 1988, 2016 Villanova 3 1986, 1987, 2003 Miami (FL)Miami left for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2004. 2 1992, 1993 Syracuse 1 1985 Providence 1 1990 Boston CollegeBoston College left for the ACC in 2005. 1 2004 Rutgers 1 2007 Notre DameNotre Dame and Syracuse left for the ACC in 2013. 1 2013 Marquette 1 2017 TOTAL 42   Among current schools, Butler, Creighton, Seton Hall, Georgetown, and Xavier have never won the tournament.

Most Outstanding Player

Year Most Outstanding Player School 1983 St. John's 1984 St. John's 1985 Syracuse 1986 Villanova 1987 (2) Villanova 1988 St. John's 1989 Connecticut 1990 Providence 1991 Connecticut 1992 Miami 1993 Miami 1994 Connecticut 1995 Connecticut 1996 (2) Connecticut 1997 Connecticut 1998 Connecticut 1999 Connecticut 2000 Connecticut 2001 Connecticut 2002 Connecticut 2003 Villanova 2004 Boston College 2005 Connecticut 2006 Connecticut 2007 Rutgers 2008 Connecticut 2009 Connecticut 2010 Connecticut 2011 (2) Connecticut 2012 Connecticut 2013 Notre Dame 2014 DePaul 2015 DePaul 2016 St. John's 2017 Marquette 2018 DePaul 2019 DePaul 2020 DePaul 2021 UConn 2022 UConn 2023 UConn2024 (2)UConn2025 (3)UConn2026UConn

Years Title of Award 1983–1993 Most Valuable Player 1994–1997 Most Outstanding Performer 1998–present Most Outstanding Player

References