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1994 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

American college basketball tournament

Field	Value
Gender	Women's
Year	1994
Image	1994WomensFinalFourLogo.jpg
ImageSize	150px
Teams	64
FinalFourArena	Richmond Coliseum
FinalFourCity	Richmond, Virginia
Champions	[North Carolina Tar Heels](1993-94-north-carolina-tar-heels-women-s-basketball-team)
TitleCount	1st
ChampGameCount	1st
ChampFFCount	1st
RunnerUp	[Louisiana Tech Techsters](1993-94-louisiana-tech-lady-techsters-basketball-team)
GameCount	5th
RunnerFFCount	8th
Semifinal1	[Purdue Boilermakers](1993-94-purdue-boilermakers-women-s-basketball-team)
FinalFourCount	1st
Semifinal2	[Alabama Crimson Tide](1993-94-alabama-crimson-tide-women-s-basketball-team)
FinalFourCount2	1st
Coach	Sylvia Hatchell
CoachCount	1st
MOP	Charlotte Smith
MOPTeam	North Carolina

The 1994 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament featured 64 teams for the first time ever. The Final Four consisted of North Carolina, Purdue, Louisiana Tech, and Alabama, with North Carolina defeating Louisiana Tech 60–59 to win its first NCAA title on a 3-point shot by Charlotte Smith as time expired. The ball was inbounded with only 00:00.7 left on the clock, making it one of the most exciting finishes in tournament history.

Notable events

The Alabama team was a six seed in the Midwest region. After beating the 11 seed Oregon State, they faced a higher seed, Iowa, who were seeded third in the region. Alabama won that game, and went on to face another higher seed in Texas Tech, the defending national champions. Alabama won again, and went on to face Penn State, the top seed in the region. Alabama won yet again, this time by 14 points, to advance to their first final Four.

In the semi-final game of the Final Four, they faced Louisiana Tech, a team they had played earlier in the year. In their December match-up, Alabama had beaten the Lady Techsters by 22 points, 99–77. In this game La tech opened up a six-point lead at the half. Alabama's All-American guard Niesa Johnson cut her hand on a locker room sink, which required seven stitches. Because it was such an important game, Johnson was bandaged and medicated and returned to the game. The Alabama team fought back from an eleven-point deficit and cut the margin to two points with seconds to play. The plan was to get the ball to Betsy Harris to attempt a three-point play, but Harris stepped out of bounds. After a made free throw, they had one more chance with a three-point attempt but it failed, and La Tech moved on to the championship game.

In the other semifinal game, the North Carolina team faced Purdue. North Carolina's Charlotte Smith was expected to be an important key to the game, and the Purdue coach, Lin Dunn, tried to prepare the team to handle Smith. That planning was ineffective, as Smith scored 23 points, and set a personal career records for assists with eight. The Purdue team was down 13 points in the first half, but fought back and managed to take a two-point lead in the second half. However, the Tar Heels switched to a zone defense after made baskets, and retook the lead, ending up with an 89–74 victory, and the first North Carolina team to make it to the Championship game.

In addition to Charlotte Smith, North Carolina had a freshman guard Marion Jones who would later be known for world class performances in track and field. Jones picked up her third foul only six minutes in the game and had to sit. This "rattled" the North Carolina team but they kept the game close. When the game drew to a close, the La Tech team had a two-point advantage with less than a second on the clock, but North Carolina had the ball. With 0.7 seconds left, there was just enough time to catch and shoot. The ball was inbounded to Charlotte Smith who had made only eight three-pointers on 31 attempts during the season. Smith launched the ball, but never saw what happened as her vision was blocked. Her teammates mobbed her, and she realized she had hit the shot to complete one of the most dramatic finishes in NCAA Championship history. North Carolina won the Championship 60–59.

Tournament records

Rebounds - Charlotte Smith recorded 23 rebounds in the championship game between North Carolina and Louisiana Tech, the most number of rebounds recorded in a Final Four game. The result is also a tie for the most number of rebounds in an NCAA tournament game.
Winning Margin - Tennessee beat North Carolina A&T by a score of 111–37. The 74 point margin is the largest ever record in an NCAA tournament game.
Three-point field goals - Betsy Harris scored 20 three-point attempts in the tournament, tied for the most ever scored in a complete tournament. Harris scored the baskets in five games, while the two other record holders, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, accomplished the feat in six games.

Qualifying teams – automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 1994 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-two conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1994 NCAA tournament.

Automatic bids
season	Conference	Seed
Bowling Green State University	MAC		7
Brown University	Ivy League		16
University of Connecticut	Big East		1
Florida International University	Trans America		8
Fordham University	Patriot League		16
Georgia Southern University	Southern Conference		14
Grambling State University	SWAC		15
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay	Mid-Continent		15
Louisiana Tech University	Sun Belt Conference		4
Loyola University Maryland	MAAC		14
University of Missouri	Big Eight		15
Missouri State University	Missouri Valley Conference		6
University of Montana	Big Sky Conference		7
Mount St. Mary's University	Northeast Conference		14
NC A&T	MEAC		16
University of North Carolina	ACC		3
University of Notre Dame	Midwestern Collegiate		7
Old Dominion University	Colonial		6
Pennsylvania State University	Big Ten		1
University of Portland	West Coast Conference		15
Radford University	Big South Conference		16
Rutgers University	Atlantic 10		5
San Diego State University	WAC		5
University of Southern California	Pac-10		2
Stephen F. Austin State University	Southland		8
University of Tennessee	SEC		1
Tennessee State University	Ohio Valley Conference		13
University of Texas at Austin	Southwest		5
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Great Midwest		10
University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Big West Conference		10
University of Vermont	North Atlantic Conference		13
Virginia Tech	Metro		8

Qualifying teams – at-large

Thirty-two additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.

At-large bids
season	Conference	Seed
University of Alabama	Southeastern		6
Auburn University	Southeastern		9
Boise State University	Big Sky		9
Clemson University	Atlantic Coast		9
University of Colorado at Boulder	Big Eight		3
Creighton University	Missouri Valley		10
University of Florida	Southeastern		4
The George Washington University	Atlantic 10		7
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	Big West		12
Indiana University	Big Ten		12
University of Iowa	Big Ten		3
University of Kansas	Big Eight		9
Marquette University	Great Midwest		14
University of Minnesota	Big Ten		10
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)	Southeastern		5
Northern Illinois University	Mid-Continent		11
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater	Big Eight		12
University of Oregon	Pacific-10		6
Oregon State University	Pacific-10		11
Purdue University	Big Ten		1
Santa Clara University	West Coast		11
Seton Hall University	Big East		4
Southern Methodist University	Southwest		13
University of Southern Mississippi	Metro		4
Saint Joseph's University	Atlantic 10		11
Stanford University	Pacific-10		2
Texas A&M University	Southwest		13
Texas Tech University	Southwest		2
Vanderbilt University	Southeastern		2
University of Virginia	Atlantic Coast		3
University of Washington	Pacific-10		8
Western Kentucky University	Sun Belt		12

Bids by conference

Thirty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In sixteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-two additional at-large teams were selected from sixteen of the conferences.

1	Western Athletic	San Diego St.

Bids by state

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

NCAA women's basketball tournament invitations by state 1994

Bids	State	Teams
5	Texas	Stephen F. Austin, Texas, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
4	California	San Diego State, Southern California, Santa Clara, Stanford
4	Virginia	Old Dominion, Radford, Virginia, Virginia Tech
3	Alabama	UAB, Alabama, Auburn
3	Indiana	Notre Dame, Indiana, Purdue
3	Oregon	Portland, Oregon, Oregon State
3	Tennessee	Tennessee, Tennessee State, Vanderbilt
2	Florida	Florida, Florida International
2	Louisiana	Grambling, Louisiana Tech
2	Maryland	Loyola Md., Mount St. Mary's
2	Mississippi	Ole Miss, Southern Mississippi
2	Missouri	Missouri, Missouri State
2	New Jersey	Rutgers, Seton Hall
2	North Carolina	North Carolina A&T, North Carolina
2	Pennsylvania	Penn State, St. Joseph's
2	Wisconsin	Green Bay, Marquette
1	Colorado	Colorado
1	Connecticut	Connecticut
1	District of Columbia	George Washington
1	Georgia	Georgia Southern
1	Hawaii	Hawaii
1	Idaho	Boise State
1	Illinois	Northern Illinois
1	Iowa	Iowa
1	Kansas	Kansas
1	Kentucky	Western Kentucky
1	Minnesota	Minnesota
1	Montana	Montana
1	Nebraska	Creighton
1	Nevada	UNLV
1	New York	Fordham
1	Ohio	Bowling Green
1	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State
1	Rhode Island	Brown
1	South Carolina	Clemson
1	Vermont	Vermont
1	Washington	Washington

Brackets

First- and second-round games played at higher seed except where noted.

East Region

Mideast Region

Midwest Region

West Region

Final Four – Richmond, Virginia

E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West.

Record by conference

Eighteen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play:

Conference	# of Bids	Win %	Round
of 32	Sweet
Sixteen	Elite
Eight	Final
Four	Championship
Game
Southeastern	6	.625	5	3	1	1	–
Big Ten	5	.643	4	2	2	1	–
Pacific-10	5	.615	4	2	2	–	–
Southwest	4	.556	3	2	–	–	–
Big Eight	4	.429	2	1	–	–	–
Atlantic Coast	3	.818	3	2	1	1	1
Atlantic 10	3	.250	1	–	–	–	–
Sun Belt	2	.750	2	1	1	1	1
Big East	2	.714	2	2	1	–	–
Metro	2	.500	1	1	–	–	–
Missouri Valley	2	.500	2	–	–	–	–
Big Sky	2	.333	1	–	–	–	–
Big West	2	–	–	–	–	–	–
Great Midwest	2	–	–	–	–	–	–
Mid-Continent	2	–	–	–	–	–	–
West Coast	2	–	–	–	–	–	–
Colonial	1	.500	1	–	–	–	–
Western Athletic	1	.500	1	–	–	–	–

Fourteen conferences went 0-1: Big South Conference, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Midwestern Collegiate, North Atlantic Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, and Trans America.

All-Tournament team

Charlotte Smith, North Carolina
Tonya Sampson, North Carolina
Vickie Johnson, Louisiana Tech
Pam Thomas, Louisiana Tech
Betsy Harris, Alabama

Game officials

Dee Kantner (semifinal)
Violet Palmer (semifinal)
Sally Bell (semifinal)
Sidney Bunch (semifinal)
June Courteau (final)
John Morningstar (final)

References

Gregory Cooper. "1994 NCAA National Championship Tournament".
Deardorff, Julie. (April 3, 1994). "La. Tech Has Overcome A Cold, Gloomy December". Chicago Tribune.
Kent, Milton. (April 3, 1994). "North Carolina races past Purdue to final". Baltimore Sun.
Anderson, Kelli. (April 11, 1994). "Beat The Clock". Sports Illustrated.
Anderson, Kelli. (November 28, 1994). "A Key Performer". Sports Illustrated.
Nixon, Rick. "Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book". NCAA.
"Championship records remembered". NCAA.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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