The 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship was held on March 17–25, 1978. Sixteen teams were invited, and the UCLA Bruins led by Ann Meyers were crowned national champions. In the national championship game, the Bruins defeated the Maryland Terrapins 90–74, in front of a record crowd of 9,351 at Pauley Pavilion.Baccellieri, Emma - This Isn’t UCLA’s First Women’s Final Four. Sports Illustrated, April 5, 2025. 'It may not be in the NCAA record books, but the 1978 AIAW championship is a big part of the Bruins’ storied program history'Sports Illustrated, April 3, 1978Huff, Donald - Slow Start Sinks Terps In Title Loss to UCLA. Washington Post, March 27, 1978

This was the first AIAW Tournament to divide the first two rounds into four regional sites, and also the first to be held over the course of two weekends. Th previous tournament in 1977 was held as a sixteen-team single-site event over in one week in Minneapolis.Douchant, Mike. Tourney Time. United States: Masters Press, 1993. The host site for the Final Four was UCLA in Los Angeles. The championship game was televised nationally for the first time, by NBC. The 1978 national championship represented a shift from the smaller schools to larger schools with larger athletic budgets such as UCLA and MarylandHerman, Robin - Women's Basketball Arrives. New York Times, March 20, 1978 It was pivotal in terms of hosting, organization, format, television rights, and attendance.Nelson, Murry R.. American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas [4 Volumes]. United States: ABC-CLIO, 2013. pg 140Feinberg, Paul - Title I Members of UCLA’s champion 1978 women’s basketball team recall what basketball was like then, and how the game has changed.. UCLA Magazine, January 1, 2018 The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, which was first played at the end of the 1981-82 women's basketball season, would prevail as the season-completing tournament for women's college basketball.Bechtel, Mark - AIAW vs. NCAA: When Women’s College Basketball Had to Choose. Sports Illustrated, June 14, 2022 Ann Meyers being the first woman to receive a four-year athletic scholarship is regarded as one of the defining moments in the history of women's sports.Kuwana, Claire - 50 Years of Title IX: The Defining Moments of Women’s Sports. Sports Illustrated, June 9, 2022 Opening rounds East Regional – New Brunswick, NJ

West Regional – Long Beach, CA

South Regional – Cleveland, MS

Central Regional – Denton, TX

Final Four – Los Angeles, CA

† Overtime

See also 1978 AIAW National Small College Basketball Championship

References