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2003 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

American college basketball tournament

Field	Value
Gender	Women's
Year	2003
Image	2003 NCAA Women's Final Four logo.svg
ImageSize	125px
Caption	2003 Women's Final Four logo
Teams	64
FinalFourArena	Georgia Dome
FinalFourCity	Atlanta, Georgia
Champions	[Connecticut Huskies](2002-03-connecticut-huskies-women-s-basketball-team)
TitleCount	4th
ChampGameCount	4th
ChampFFCount	7th
RunnerUp	[Tennessee Volunteers](2002-03-tennessee-lady-volunteers-basketball-team)
GameCount	10th
RunnerFFCount	14th
Semifinal1	[Texas Longhorns](2002-03-texas-longhorns-women-s-basketball-team)
FinalFourCount	3rd
Semifinal2	[Duke Blue Devils](2002-03-duke-blue-devils-women-s-basketball-team)
FinalFourCount2	3rd
Coach	Geno Auriemma
CoachCount	4th
MOP	Diana Taurasi
MOPTeam	Connecticut
Attendance	334,587

The 2003 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 22, 2003, and concluded on April 8, 2003, when the Connecticut Huskies (UConn) won their second straight national title. The Final Four was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia on April 6–8, 2003. UConn, coached by Geno Auriemma, defeated archrival Tennessee, coached by Pat Summitt, 73–68 in the championship game. UConn's Diana Taurasi was named Most Outstanding Player.

This was the first year of a new format, in which the final game is held on the Tuesday following the men's championship, in contrast to prior years, when it was held on Sunday evening, between the men's semi-final and final. The game now is the final game of the Division 1 collegiate basketball season.

Tournament records

Rebounds – Connecticut recorded 22 rebounds in the Championship game against Tennessee, setting the record for fewest rebounds in an NCAA tournament Championship game.
Free throws – Villanova attempted zero free throws in the Mideast Regional final game against Tennessee, one of only two times a team has attempted zero free throws in an NCAA Regional game
Three-point field goals made – Diana Taurasi made 20 three-point field goals, tying the record for most three-point field goals in an NCAA tournament
Free throws – Tennessee completed 128 free throws, setting the record for made free throws in an NCAA tournament

Qualifying teams – automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA tournament.

Automatic bids
Season	Conference	Seed
Alabama State University	SWAC		16
Austin Peay State University	Ohio Valley Conference		14
Boston University	America East		16
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	Southern Conference		12
Duke University	ACC		1
The George Washington University	Atlantic 10		7
Georgia State University	Atlantic Sun Conference		16
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay	Horizon League		8
Hampton University	MEAC		15
Harvard University	Ivy League		14
College of the Holy Cross	Patriot League		13
Liberty University	Big South Conference		13
Louisiana Tech University	WAC		5
Louisiana State University	SEC		1
Manhattan College	MAAC		14
Missouri State University	Missouri Valley Conference		15
University of New Mexico	Mountain West		6
Old Dominion University	Colonial		12
Pepperdine University	West Coast Conference		12
Purdue University	Big Ten		2
St. Francis (PA)	Northeast Conference		15
Stanford University	Pac-10		3
Texas Christian University	Conference USA		9
University of Texas at Austin	Big 12		2
Texas State University	Southland		16
University of California, Santa Barbara	Big West Conference		7
Valparaiso University	Mid-Continent		15
Villanova University	Big East		2
Weber State University	Big Sky Conference		13
Western Kentucky University	Sun Belt Conference		13
Western Michigan University	MAC		14

Qualifying teams – at-large

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

At-large Bids
season	Conference	Seed
University of Arizona	Pacific-10		6
University of Arkansas	Southeastern		7
Boston College	Big East		5
Brigham Young University	Mountain West		11
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Conference USA		12
University of Cincinnati	Conference USA		10
University of Colorado at Boulder	Big 12		6
University of Connecticut	Big East		1
DePaul University	Conference USA		9
University of Georgia	Southeastern		5
Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlantic Coast		10
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign	Big Ten		9
Kansas State University	Big 12		3
University of Miami	Big East		11
Michigan State University	Big Ten		8
University of Minnesota	Big Ten		6
Mississippi State University	Southeastern		3
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Atlantic Coast		3
University of Notre Dame	Big East		11
Ohio State University	Big Ten		4
University of Oklahoma	Big 12		10
Pennsylvania State University	Big Ten		4
Rutgers University	Big East		4
University of South Carolina	Southeastern		5
University of Tennessee	Southeastern		1
Texas Tech University	Big 12		2
Tulane University	Conference USA		11
University of Utah	Mountain West		8
Vanderbilt University	Southeastern		4
University of Virginia	Atlantic Coast		8
Virginia Tech	Big East		7
University of Washington	Pacific-10		9
Xavier University	Atlantic 10		10

Bids by conference

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

1	Western Athletic	Louisiana Tech

2003 NCAA tournament schedule and venues

In 2003, the field remained at 64 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1–16 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 1 and 16 faced each other, as well as seeds 2 and 15, seeds 3 and 14, seeds 4 and 13, seeds 5 and 12, seeds 6 and 11, seeds 7 and 10, and seeds 8 and 9. In 2003, a change was implemented in the way first and second round sites were determined. From 1982 (the year of the first NCAA women's basketball tournament) through 2002, the first rounds sites were offered to the top seeds. Starting in 2003, sixteen sites for the first two rounds were determined approximately a year before the team selections and seedings were completed.

First and Second rounds

The following lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations:

March 22 and 24
- East Region
  - Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University)
  - Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Virginia (Host: Old Dominion University)
- Mideast Region
  - Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee)
  - CU Events Center, Boulder, Colorado (Host: University of Colorado Boulder)
- Midwest Region
  - Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia (Host: University of Georgia)
  - The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
- West Region
  - McArthur Court, Eugene, Oregon (Host: University of Oregon)
  - Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California (Host: Stanford University)
March 23 and 25
- East Region
  - Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut)
  - Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kansas (Host: Kansas State University)
- Mideast Region
  - Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma (Host: University of Oklahoma)
  - Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania (Host: Pennsylvania State University)
- Midwest Region
  - Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
  - United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas (Host: Texas Tech University)
- West Region
  - Shoemaker Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (Host: University of Cincinnati)
  - Thomas Assembly Center, Ruston, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana Tech University)

Regional semifinals and finals

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 29 to April 1 at these sites:

March 29 and 31
- Mideast Regional, Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee)
- Midwest Regional, The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
March 30 and April 1
- East Regional, University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
- West Regional, Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California (Host: Stanford University)

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held April 6 and April 8 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia Dome, (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology)

Bids by state

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

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 2003

Bids	State	Teams
5	Virginia	Hampton, Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia, Virginia Tech
4	Massachusetts	Boston U., Harvard, Holy Cross, Boston College
4	Tennessee	Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
4	Texas	TCU, Texas, Texas St., Texas Tech
3	California	Pepperdine, Stanford, UC Santa Barb.
3	Georgia	Georgia St., Georgia, Georgia Tech
3	Indiana	Purdue, Valparaiso, Notre Dame
3	Louisiana	Louisiana Tech, LSU, Tulane
3	North Carolina	Duke, Charlotte, North Carolina
3	Ohio	Cincinnati, Ohio St., Xavier
3	Utah	Weber St., BYU, Utah
2	Illinois	DePaul, Illinois
2	Michigan	Western Mich., Michigan St.
2	New York	Manhattan, St. Francis Pa.
2	Pennsylvania	Villanova, Penn St.
1	Alabama	Alabama St.
1	Arizona	Arizona
1	Arkansas	Arkansas
1	Colorado	Colorado
1	Connecticut	Connecticut
1	District of Columbia	George Washington
1	Florida	Miami Fla.
1	Kansas	Kansas St.
1	Kentucky	Western Ky.
1	Minnesota	Minnesota
1	Mississippi	Mississippi St.
1	Missouri	Missouri St.
1	New Jersey	Rutgers
1	New Mexico	New Mexico
1	Oklahoma	Oklahoma
1	South Carolina	South Carolina
1	Washington	Washington
1	Wisconsin	Green Bay

Brackets

Data Source

Mideast Region – Knoxville, Tennessee

Midwest Region – Albuquerque, New Mexico

East Region – Dayton, Ohio

West Region – Stanford, California

Final Four – Atlanta, Georgia

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

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Round
of 32	Sweet
Sixteen	Elite
Eight	Final
Four	Championship
Game
Big East	L	15–6	.714	L	L	2	1	1
Southeastern	7	14–7	.667	7	3	2	1	1
Big Ten	6	8–6	.571	4	3	1	0	0
Big 12	5	10–5	.667	4	3	2	1	0
Conference USA	5	1–5	.167	1	0	0	0	0
Atlantic Coast	4	6–4	.600	3	1	1	1	0
Mountain West	3	3–3	.500	2	1	0	0	0
Pacific-10	3	1–3	.250	1	0	0	0	0
Atlantic 10	2	1–2	.333	1	0	0	0	0
Western Athletic	1	2–1	.667	1	1	0	0	0
Big West	1	1–1	.500	1	0	0	0	0
Horizon	1	1–1	.500	1	0	0	0	0

Nineteen conferences went 0–1: America East, Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Colonial, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Missouri Valley Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt Conference, and West Coast Conference

All-Tournament team

Diana Taurasi, Connecticut
Ann Strother, Connecticut
Alana Beard, Duke
Gwen Jackson, Tennessee
Kara Lawson, Tennessee

Game officials

Scott Yarbrough (semifinal)
Joe Cunningham (semifinal)
June Courteau (semifinal)
Sally Bell (semifinal)
Dee Kantner (semifinal)
Eric Larson (semifinal)
Wesley Dean (final)
Melissa Barlow (final)
Lisa Mattingly (final)

Notes

References

Nixon, Rick. "Official 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book". NCAA.
HAVEL, CARRIE J.. (2005). "The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship: an analysis of first and second rounds and the change to predetermined sites".
(February 2012). "Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book". NCAA.
"Attendance and Sites". NCAA.
"2003 DIVISION I WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP HANDBOOK". NCAA.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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