2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

The 2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was played in March and April 2014, with the Final Four played April 6–8. The Ohio Valley Conference served as the host institution. The Final Four was played at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Tennessee continued its streak of making every NCAA women's basketball tournament at 33 consecutive appearances. Connecticut (who made their seventh consecutive Final Four overall) and Notre Dame faced each other in the NCAA Final. Both were undefeated heading into the championship game, making it the first ever match up of two undefeated teams in the championship game. Connecticut prevailed, 79–58, to win their ninth national championship.

The previous day, Connecticut also won the men's tournament. It was just the second time in NCAA history the same school had won both the men's and women's tournament; UConn first accomplished that feat in 2004.

Tournament procedure

Pending any changes to the format, a total of 64 teams will enter the 2014 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.

Schedule and venues There were 64 teams in the tournament, placed in a seeded bracket with four regions. Thirty-two teams received automatic bids—31 of which were their conference tournament champions; the other was for the Ivy League regular-season champion. An additional 32 teams were given at-large bids by the selection committee on the basis of their body of work during the regular season. Unlike the men's tournament, there was no "First Four" round.

First and second rounds (Subregionals)

The subregionals were played from March 22 to March 25, 2014. Sites chosen to host first- and second-round games in 2014 were:

March 22 and 24 Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State) Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina (Host: Duke) Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: Tennessee) Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: Kentucky) Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles (Host: UCLA) Savage Arena, Toledo, Ohio (Host: Toledo) Ferrell Center, Waco, Texas (Host: Baylor) Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue) March 23 and 25 Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Host: LSU) Carmichael Arena, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina) Comcast Center, College Park, Maryland (Host: Maryland) Reed Arena, College Station, Texas (Host: Texas A&M) Carver–Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa (Host: Iowa) Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle (Host: Washington) Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut (Host: Connecticut) Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pennsylvania (Host: Penn State)

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 29 to April 1 at the following sites: March 29 and 31 Lincoln Regional, Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: Nebraska) South Bend Regional, Joyce Center, Notre Dame, Indiana (Host: Notre Dame) March 30 and April 1 Louisville Regional, KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: Louisville) Stanford Regional, Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California (Host: Stanford)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and national championship)

April 6 & 8 Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee (Hosts: Southeastern Conference/Ohio Valley Conference and Belmont University/Vanderbilt University)

It was the first time that Nashville had hosted a women's Final Four basketball tournament.

Tournament records Team rebound margin – Notre Dame out rebounded Maryland 50 to 21; the margin of 29 is the widest margin in Final Four history Assists – Connecticut recorded 25 assists in the championship game against Notre Dame, the most ever recorded in a Final Four game since the NCAA began recording assists in 1985. Oklahoma scored 66 points in the second half of a first-round game against DePaul, the most points scored in a half of an NCAA tournament game, but lost to DePaul 104–100.

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams earned automatic qualifiers for the 2014 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion receives the automatic bid):

ConferenceTeamAppearancesLast bidACCNotre Dame212013America EastAlbany32013AmericanConnecticut262013Atlantic 10Fordham21994Atlantic SunFlorida Gulf Coast22012Big 12Baylor132013Big EastDePaul192013Big SkyNorth Dakota1NeverBig SouthWinthrop1NeverBig TenNebraska122013Big WestCal State Northridge21999Colonial102011C-USAMiddle Tennessee172013Horizon1NeverIvy League32004MAAC102013MAC1NeverMEAC82013Missouri Valley22013Mountain West72013Northeast32008Ohio Valley42013Pac-12USC162006Patriot22006SECTennessee332013Southern122013SouthlandNorthwestern State32004SWACPrairie View A&M62013Summit1NeverSun Belt172008West CoastGonzaga72013WACIdaho32013

Tournament seeds +Lincoln Regional+Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, NebraskaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1ConnecticutAmerican34–0Automatic2DukeACC27–6At-large3Texas A&MSEC24–8At-large4NebraskaBig Ten25–6Automatic5NC StateACC25–7At-large6GonzagaWest Coast29–4Automatic7DePaulBig East27–6Automatic8GeorgiaSEC20–11At-large9St. Joseph'sAtlantic 1022–9At-large10OklahomaBig 1218–14At-large11James MadisonColonial28–5Automatic12BYUWest Coast26–6At-large13Fresno StateMountain West22–10Automatic14North DakotaBig Sky22–9Automatic15WinthropBig South24–8Automatic16Prairie View A&MSWAC14–17Automatic+Stanford Regional+Maples Pavilion, Stanford, CaliforniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1South CarolinaSEC27–4At-large2StanfordPac-1229–3At-large3Penn StateBig Ten22–7At-large4North CarolinaACC24–9At-large5Michigan StateBig Ten22–9At-large6DaytonAtlantic 1023–7At-large7Iowa StateBig 1220–10At-large8Middle Tennessee StateConference USA29–4Automatic9Oregon StatePac-1223–10At-large10Florida StateACC20–11At-large11FloridaSEC19–12At-large12HamptonMEAC28–4Automatic13Tennessee-MartinOhio Valley24–7Automatic14Wichita StateMissouri Valley26–6Automatic15South DakotaSummit19–13Automatic16Cal State NorthridgeBig West18–14Automatic+South Bend Regional+Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IndianaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1Notre DameACC32–0Automatic2BaylorBig 1229–4Automatic3KentuckySEC24–8At-large4PurdueBig Ten21–8At-large5Oklahoma StateBig 1223–8At-large6SyracuseACC22–9At-large7CaliforniaPac-1221–9At-large8VanderbiltSEC18–12At-large9Arizona StatePac-1222–9At-large10FordhamAtlantic 1025–7Automatic11ChattanoogaSouthern29–3Automatic12Florida Gulf CoastAtlantic Sun26–7Automatic13AkronMid-American23–9Automatic14Wright StateHorizon26–8Automatic15Western KentuckySun Belt24–8Automatic16Robert MorrisNortheast21–11Automatic+Louisville Regional+KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KentuckySeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1TennesseeSEC27–5Automatic2West VirginiaBig 1229–4At-large3LouisvilleAmerican30–4At-large4MarylandACC24–6At-large5TexasBig 1221–11At-large6IowaBig Ten26–8At-large7LSUSEC19–12At-large8St. John'sBig East22–10At-large9USCPac-1222–12Automatic10Georgia TechACC20–11At-large11MaristMAAC27–6Automatic12PennIvy22–6Automatic13ArmyPatriot25–7Automatic14IdahoWAC25–8Automatic15AlbanyAmerica East28–4Automatic16Northwestern StateSouthland21–12Automatic

Bracket * – Denotes overtime period

Lincoln Regional In their first-round match, DePaul and Oklahoma scored a combined 204 points, setting a tournament record for most points in a non-overtime game. Oklahoma's 66 second-half points was also a record a team in a single half.

Connecticut vs. Prairie View A&M aired nationwide on ESPN. Connecticut vs. Saint Joseph's aired nationwide on ESPNU. All other games aired with whip-around or regional coverage on ESPN or ESPN2.

Notre Dame Regional Notre Dame vs. Robert Morris aired nationwide on ESPN. Notre Dame vs. Arizona State aired nationwide on ESPNews. All other games aired with whip-around or regional coverage on ESPN or ESPN2.

Louisville Regional

Stanford Regional

Final Four – Nashville, Tennessee

Final Four summaries

National championship

Undefeated Connecticut faced undefeated Notre Dame in the championship game, the first ever to feature two undefeated teams. After a hard-fought first half, the Connecticut Huskies pulled away in the second for a 79–58 victory. National Player of the Year Breanna Stewart scored 21 points for Connecticut. Stefanie Dolson added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the victors. Kayla McBride had 21 points for the Notre Dame Irish. Connecticut won the rebound battle 54–31 and held Notre Dame to a season low in points. After the game, Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said "I thought we were playing the Miami Heat for a while [Connecticut is] just that good."

By winning, Connecticut moved to 40–0 on the season and claimed their ninth title, surpassing Tennessee's eight titles for the most all-time. Coach Geno Auriemma said he was "flattered and grateful and all the things that come with this kind of accomplishment ... I'm more proud of the legacy that exists and what Connecticut basketball is as opposed to the number of championships." All nine of the school's titles, five with unbeaten records, have come during Auriemma's twenty seasons as head coach. Connecticut became the second school to finish the year 40–0, the other being Baylor. They have now won 46 consecutive games, the third most in NCAA history, but well short of their NCAA record of 90.

For Notre Dame, it was their third loss in the title game in the last four years. They were inhibited by the loss of senior starter Natalie Achonwa to injury in the Regional Final. The Irish had won seven of the previous nine meeting between the two powerhouses. However, Connecticut beat them during the tournament for the second consecutive year, having eliminated them in the Final Four in 2013.

All-Tournament team Breanna Stewart, Connecticut Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Connecticut Stefanie Dolson, Connecticut Kayla McBride, Notre Dame Jewell Loyd, Notre Dame

Game Officials Chuck Gonzalez (semifinal) Cameron Inouye (semifinal) Tina Napier (semifinal) Mike Price (semifinal) Joe Vaszily (semifinal) Scott Yarbrough (semifinal) Denise Brooks (final) Dee Kanter (final) Joe Vasily (Standby) Lisa Mattingly (final)

Record by conference Source

ConferenceBidsRecordWin %R64R32S16E8F4CGNCAmerican29–10.9002222111ACC815–80.652863321–Big East23–20.600221––––SEC812–80.6008651–––Pac-1257–50.58354111––Big Ten56–50.545551––––Big 1267–60.5386421–––West Coast22–20.500211––––Colonial11–10.50011–––––Atlantic 1031–30.25031––––– The R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively. The America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Conference USA, Horizon, Ivy, MEAC, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American (MAC), Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Sun Belt, SWAC, and WAC conferences each had one representative that was eliminated in the first round.

Media coverage

Television