The 2012 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began March 17 and concluded April 3, 2012. The Final Four was played at Pepsi Center in Denver. For only the second time in history, and the first time since 1989, all four of the number one seeds made it to the Final Four. Baylor won its second national championship, defeating Notre Dame 80–61 in the championship game. They were the only team to win 40 straight games in a season until Connecticut matched it in 2014.
Tournament procedure
Pending any changes to the format, a total of 64 teams will enter the 2012 tournament. 32 automatic bids shall be awarded to each program that wins their conference's tournament. The remaining 36 bids are "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The tournament is split into four regional tournaments, and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16, with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible. The top-seeded team in each region plays the #16 team, the #2 team plays the #15, etc. (meaning where the two seeds add up to 17, that team will be assigned to play another).
The basis for the subregionals returned to the approach used between 1982 and 2002; the top sixteen teams, as chosen in the bracket selection process, hosted the first two rounds on campus.
The Selection Committee will also seed the entire field from 1 to 64.
Automatically qualified teams
Team Conference How qualified Last appearance # of appearances ACC Tournament Winner 2011 20 America East Tournament Winner Never 1 Atlantic 10 Tournament Winner 2011 3 Atlantic Sun Tournament Winner Never 1 Baylor Big 12 Tournament Winner 2011 11 Connecticut Big East Tournament Winner 2011 24 Big Sky Tournament Winner 2007 3 Big South Tournament Winner 2010 14 Big Ten Tournament Winner 2011 22 Big West Tournament Winner 2009 14 C-USA Tournament Winner 2008 2 Delaware CAA Tournament Winner 2007 3 Horizon League Tournament Winner 2011 13 Ivy League Regular-season champion 2011 3 MAAC Tournament Winner 2011 8 MAC Tournament Winner 2004 2 MEAC Tournament Winner 2011 6 Missouri Valley Tournament Winner 2002 4 Mountain West Tournament Winner 2010 9 Northeast Tournament Winner 2009 3 Ohio Valley Tournament Winner 2011 2 Stanford Pac-12 Tournament Winner 2011 26 Patriot Tournament Winner 2011 2 SEC Tournament Winner 2011 31 SoCon Tournament Winner 2011 2 Southland Tournament Winner 2011 2 Summit Tournament Winner 2011 4 Sun Belt Tournament Winner 2011 2 SWAC Tournament Winner 2011 4 WAC Tournament Winner 2011 4 BYU WCC Tournament Winner 2007 9
Tournament seeds +Des Moines Regional+Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IowaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1BaylorBig 1234–0Automatic2TennesseeSEC24–8Automatic3DelawareColonial30–1Automatic4Georgia TechACC24–8At-large5GeorgetownBig East22–8At-large6NebraskaBig Ten24–8At-large7DePaulBig East22–10At-large8Ohio StateBig Ten25–6At-large9FloridaSEC19–12At-large10BYUWest Coast26–6Automatic11KansasBig 1219–12At-large12Fresno StateWAC28–5Automatic13Sacred HeartNortheast25–7Automatic14UALRSun Belt20–13Automatic15Tennessee-MartinOhio Valley23–8Automatic16UC Santa BarbaraBig West17–15Automatic+Fresno Regional+Save Mart Center, Fresno, CaliforniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1StanfordPac-1231–1Automatic2DukeACC24–5At-large3St. John'sBig East22–9At-large4PurdueBig Ten24–8Automatic5South CarolinaSEC23–9At-large6OklahomaBig 1220–12At-large7VanderbiltSEC22–9At-large8West VirginiaBig East23–9At-large9TexasBig 1218–13At-large10Middle TennesseeSun Belt26–6At-large11MichiganBig Ten20–11At-large12Eastern MichiganMid-American23–8Automatic13South Dakota StateSummit24–8Automatic14CreightonMissouri Valley20–12Automatic15SamfordSouthern20–12Automatic16HamptonMEAC26–4Automatic+Raleigh Regional+PNC Arena, Raleigh, North CarolinaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1Notre DameBig East30–3At-large2MarylandACC28–4Automatic3Texas A&MBig 1222–10At-large4GeorgiaSEC22–8At-large5St. BonaventureAtlantic 1029–3At-large6ArkansasSEC23–8At-large7LouisvilleBig East22–9At-large8CaliforniaPac-1224–9At-large9IowaBig Ten19–11At-large10Michigan StateBig Ten20–11At-large11DaytonAtlantic 1023–6Automatic12Florida Gulf CoastAtlantic Sun29–2Automatic13MaristMAAC25–7Automatic14AlbanyAmerica East23–9Automatic15NavyPatriot18–13Automatic16LibertyBig South24–8Automatic+Kingston Regional+Ryan Center, Kingston, Rhode IslandSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1ConnecticutBig East29–4Automatic2KentuckySEC25–6At-large3Miami (FL)ACC25–5At-large4Penn StateBig Ten24–6At-large5LSUSEC22–10At-large6RutgersBig East22–9At-large7Green BayHorizon30–1Automatic8Kansas StateBig 1219–13At-large9PrincetonIvy24–4Automatic10Iowa StateBig 1218–12At-large11GonzagaWest Coast26–5At-large12San Diego StateMountain West25–6Automatic13UTEPConference USA29–3Automatic14Idaho StateBig Sky24–7Automatic15McNeese StateSouthland26–7Automatic16Prairie View A&MSWAC17–15Automatic
Schedule and venues
The format is similar to the men's tournament, except that there are 64 teams; this in turn means there is no "First Four" round. Thirty-one automatic bids for conference champions and 33 at-large bids were available.
Subregionals were played from March 17 through March 20.
First and Second rounds (Subregionals)
The following 16 sites were used for first- and second-round games: Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Stroh Center, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut, (Host: Fairfield University) Carmichael Arena, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois (Chicago), (Host: DePaul University) Comcast Center, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland Reed Arena, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas Jack Stephens Center, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas Memorial Gymnasium, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee Ted Constant Convocation Center, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia Lloyd Noble Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma Edmund P. Joyce Center, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana McCarthey Athletic Center, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Florida, (Host: Florida State University) Mackey Arena, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
The Regionals, named for the city rather than the region of geographic importance since 2005, were held from March 24 to March 27 at these sites:
Des Moines Regional, Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa (Host: University of Northern Iowa) Fresno Regional, Save Mart Center, Fresno, California (Host: California State University, Fresno) Kingston Regional, Ryan Center, Kingston, Rhode Island (Host: University of Rhode Island) Raleigh Regional, PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina, (Host: North Carolina State University)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) April 1 and 3 Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado (Hosts: Mountain West Conference and Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis)
It was the first time that Denver had hosted a Women's Final Four Basketball tournament.
Tournament records Most three-point field goals—Courtney Moses hit nine three-point field goals for Purdue against South Dakota, the most three-pointers scored in an NCAA tournament game. Sydney Wallace hit eight three-point field goals for Georgia Tech in a game against Baylor, tied for the second most in an NCAA tournament game. Most free throws—Natalie Novosel hit 18 free throws for Notre Dame in a game against California, the most free throws recorded in an NCAA tournament game. Fewest points–Connecticut held Kansas State to 26 points, the fewest recorded in an NCAA tournament game.
Game summaries
Des Moines Region
First round BYU held a small, two-point lead at half-time, which evaporated when DePaul opened the second half with a 14–0 run. BYU chipped at the lead, and cut the lead to three points late in the game. With one second left in the game, the lead was three, and Haley Steed launched a three-point attempt that many, including BYU coach Jeff Judkins, thought it was going in. It did not, and DePaul secured the round, and hit a final foul shot to win the game, 59–55.
The last time Tennessee-Martin beat Tennessee, Pat Summitt, then Pat Head, was playing for the Tennessee-Martin team. Tennessee held Heather Butler to 14 points, almost ten points below her usual average, which made her the third leading scorer in the nation. Tennessee-Martin was held to under 30% shooting, and Tennessee won the opening round game 72–49.
Florida opened the game with a 9–0 run and lead 12–2 early in the game. Ohio State would play roughly even with Florida the rest of the way, occasionally cutting the margin, once to two points, but never taking the lead. Florida won in the match up between eight and nine seeds, 70–65.
Georgetown extended a ten-point halftime lead to 17, but gave most of the lead back. Fresno State cut the lead to three, and had possession of the ball with a chance to tie the game. Fresno State turned the ball over on several of their final possessions, while Georgetown missed free throws to keep the outcome in doubt until the final seconds. The Hoyas hung on to win 61–56.
Brittney Griner only played 22 minutes, but she wasn't needed in an easy win against UC Santa Barbara. The Bears cruised to a 30 points margin in the first half and Baylor easily beat the Gauchos 81–40.
Sydney Wallace, a freshman at Georgia Tech, scored 28 points, in a match up against Sacred Heart. The Yellow Jackets build a large lead early, and were never threatened again by the Pioneers, who were playing in their third NCAA tournament since 2006 but still looking for their first won. The final score was 76–50.
In her first NCAA appearance, Elena Delle Donne had 39 points when she was removed from the game by her coach. At the time, the opposing team, Arkansas, Little Rock, had not yet scored 39 points. They would go on to score a total of 42, but the Fightin' Blue Hens of Delaware scored 73, to win their first ever NCAA tournament game.
Kansas hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 1999. They narrowly made the field, but were going through a rough patch, losing all but two of their final eight games, and losing their leading scorer, Carolyn Davis, to a season-ending knee injury. Despite facing a higher seeded team in Nebraska, they managed to outscore their opponents and beat the Huskers 57–49.
Second round The game between Tennessee and DePaul was a rematch of an earlier season game played at the Maggie Dixon Classic, won by Tennessee 84–61. In that game, starting point guard Ariel Massengale was not available due to injury, while DePaul's Keisha Hampton scored 14 for DePaul. Since that match up, Massengale returned from injury, and Hampton was lost to a season-ending injury. Despite the changes in available players, DePaul stayed close to the Volunteers in the first half, ending the half with a five-point deficit. Tennessee's Glory Johnson had a career-high 21 rebounds to help Tennessee pull away in the second half, and the Volunteers won, 63–48.
Brittney Griner went almost twelve minutes before scoring, but ended up with 25 points. She only had eight points in the first half, when Baylor pulled to a nine-point margin over Florida. The Lady Bears extended the margin to 13 in the opening minutes of the second half, and the Gators were never close again. The final score was in favor of Baylor, 76–57.