2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
Basketball tournament
The 2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams to determine the national champion for the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season . The 38th annual edition of the tournament began on March 22, and concluded with the championship game on April 7 at Amalie Arena in Tampa , Florida , with the University of South Florida serving as host. The tournament field was announced on March 18.
Three schools, Colonial champion Towson , MEAC champion Bethune–Cookman and Southland champion Abilene Christian , made their first appearance in the tournament. Meanwhile, Tennessee continued its record streak of making every NCAA women's basketball tournament at 38 consecutive appearances . UConn also continued its record streak of 12 consecutive Final Four appearances.
Tournament procedure
Pending any changes to the format, a total of 64 teams will enter the 2019 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[citation needed . 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 selection committee will also seed the entire field from 1 to 64.
2019 NCAA tournament schedule and venues
The first two rounds, also referred to as the subregionals, were played at the sites of the top 16 seeds, as was done since 2015. However, the subregional that would otherwise have been hosted by South Carolina was moved to Charlotte, North Carolina due to the Gamecocks' home, Colonial Life Arena , being used for the men's tournament .
Subregionals (first and second rounds)
March 22–24
KFC Yum! Center , Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville )Dale F. Halton Arena , Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte )Carver-Hawkeye Arena , Iowa City, Iowa (Host: University of Iowa )Reed Arena , College Station, Texas (Host: Texas A&M University )Harry A. Gampel Pavilion , Storrs, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut )Watsco Center , Coral Gables, Florida (Host: University of Miami )Humphrey Coliseum , Starkville, Mississippi (Host: Mississippi State University )Matthew Knight Arena , Eugene, Oregon (Host: University of Oregon )
March 23–25
Edmund P. Joyce Center , Notre Dame, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame )Xfinity Center , College Park, Maryland (Host: University of Maryland )Reynolds Coliseum , Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University )Carrier Dome , Syracuse, New York (Host: Syracuse University )Maples Pavilion , Stanford, California (Host: Stanford University )Hilton Coliseum , Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State University )Gill Coliseum , Corvallis, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University )Ferrell Center , Waco, Texas (Host: Baylor University ) 2019 NCAA regionals and
Final Four Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
March 29-April 1[ 1] Albany regional , Times Union Center , Albany, New York (Hosts: MAAC )[ 2] Chicago regional , Wintrust Arena , Chicago, Illinois (Host: DePaul )[ 3] Greensboro regional , Greensboro Coliseum , Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference )[ 4] Portland regional , Moda Center , Portland, Oregon (Host: Oregon State )[ 5] National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)
This is the third time that the women's Final Four was played in Tampa (previously, in 2008 and 2015).[ 7]
Subregionals tournament and automatic qualifiers
Automatic qualifiers
The following teams automatically qualified for the 2019 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament.
Tournament seeds
Tournament records
Baylor recorded 217 field goals, setting the record for most field goals made in a single tournament.[ 8]
Bracket
All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4 )
First round Second round Regional semifinals Regional final 1
Louisville
69
16
Robert Morris
34
1
Louisville
71
Louisville, Kentucky (Fri/Sun)
8
Michigan
50
8
Michigan
84
9
Kansas State
54
1
Louisville
61
4
Oregon State
44
5
Gonzaga
68
12
Little Rock
51
5
Gonzaga
70
Corvallis, Oregon (Sat/Mon)
4
Oregon State
76
4
Oregon State
80 *
13
Boise State
75
1
Louisville
73
2
UConn
80
6
UCLA
89
11
Tennessee
77
6
UCLA
85
College Park, MD (Sat/Mon)
3
Maryland
80
3
Maryland
73
14
Radford
51
6
UCLA
61
2
UConn
69
7
Rutgers
71
10
Buffalo
82
10
Buffalo
72
Storrs, Connecticut (Fri/Sun)
2
UConn
84
2
UConn
110
15
Towson
61
* – Denotes overtime period
Albany regional final
Times Union Center – Albany, New York
Attendance: 9,204
Referees: Cheryl Flores, Maj Forsberg, Dee Kanter
Albany Regional all tournament team
First round Second round Regional semifinals Regional final 1
Notre Dame
92
16
Bethune-Cookman
50
1
Notre Dame
91
South Bend, Indiana (Sat/Mon)
9
Michigan State
63
8
Central Michigan
88
9
Michigan State
89
1
Notre Dame
87
4
Texas A&M
80
5
Marquette
58*
12
Rice
54
5
Marquette
76
College Station, Texas (Fri/Sun)
4
Texas A&M
78
4
Texas A&M
84
13
Wright State
61
1
Notre Dame
84
2
Stanford
68
6
DePaul
78
11
Missouri State
89
11
Missouri State
69
Ames, Iowa (Sat/Mon)
3
Iowa State
60
3
Iowa State
97
14
New Mexico State
61
11
Missouri State
46
2
Stanford
55
7
BYU
73
10
Auburn
64
7
BYU
63
Stanford, California (Sat/Mon)
2
Stanford
72
2
Stanford
79
15
UC Davis
54
* – Denotes overtime period
Chicago regional final
Wintrust Arena – Chicago, IllinoisAttendance: 5,555Referees: Infini Robinson, Roy Gulbeyan, Brenda Pantoja
Chicago Regional all tournament team
First round Second round Regional semifinals Regional final 1
Baylor
95
16
Abilene Christian
38
1
Baylor
102
Waco, Texas (Sat/Mon)
8
California
63
8
California
92
9
North Carolina
72
1
Baylor
93
4
South Carolina
68
5
Florida State
70
12
Bucknell
67
5
Florida State
64
Charlotte, North Carolina (Fri/Sun)
4
South Carolina
72
4
South Carolina
74
13
Belmont
52
1
Baylor
85
2
Iowa
53
6
Kentucky
82
11
Princeton
77
6
Kentucky
57
Raleigh, North Carolina (Sat/Mon)
3
NC State
72
3
NC State
63
14
Maine
51
3
NC State
61
2
Iowa
79
7
Missouri
77 *
10
Drake
76
7
Missouri
52
Iowa City, Iowa (Fri/Sun)
2
Iowa
68
2
Iowa
66
15
Mercer
61
* – Denotes overtime period
Greensboro regional final
#2 Iowa Hawkeyes 53, #1 Baylor Lady Bears 85
Scoring by quarter: 13–21, 14–20, 15–24, 11–20
Pts :M. Gustafson – 23Rebs :Asts :Pts: L. Cox – 22Rebs: L. Cox – 11Asts: D. Richards – 6
Greensboro Coliseum – Greensboro, North CarolinaAttendance: 4,164Referees: Cynthia Brooks, Joseph Vaszily, Amy Bonner
Greensboro Regional all tournament team
First round Second round Regional semifinals Regional final 1
Mississippi State
103
16
Southern
46
1
Mississippi State
85
Starkville, Mississippi (Fri/Sun)
9
Clemson
61
8
South Dakota
66
9
Clemson
79
1
Mississippi State
76
5
Arizona State
53
5
Arizona State
60
12
UCF
45
5
Arizona State
57
Coral Gables, Florida (Fri/Sun)
4
Miami (FL)
55
4
Miami (FL)
69
13
Florida Gulf Coast
62
1
Mississippi State
84
2
Oregon
88
6
South Dakota State
76
11
Quinnipiac
65
6
South Dakota State
75
Syracuse, New York (Sat/Mon)
3
Syracuse
64
3
Syracuse
70
14
Fordham
49
6
South Dakota State
53
2
Oregon
63
7
Texas
65
10
Indiana
69
10
Indiana
68
Eugene, Oregon (Fri/Sun)
2
Oregon
91
2
Oregon
78
15
Portland State
40
Portland regional final
#2 Oregon Ducks 88 , #1 Mississippi State Bulldogs 84
Scoring by quarter: 19–21, 21–17, 19–21, 29–25
Pts :S. Ionescu – 31Rebs :S. Sabally – 7Asts :Pts: T. McCowan – 19Rebs: T. McCowan – 15Asts: J. Holmes – 13
Moda Center – Portland, OregonAttendance: 11,538Referees: Mark Zentz, Michol Murray, Pualani Spurlock
Portland Regional all tournament team
Final Four
During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region (Baylor's Greensboro Region) plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region (Mississippi State's Portland Region), and the champion of the second overall top seed's region (Notre Dame's Chicago Region) plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region (Louisville's Albany Region).
National semifinals National championship game G1
Baylor
72
P2
Oregon
67
G1
Baylor
82
C1
Notre Dame
81
C1
Notre Dame
81
A2
UConn
76
National semifinals
Amalie Arena – Tampa, FloridaAttendance: 20,062Referees: Cheryl Flores, Michael McConnell, Lisa Jones
A#2 Connecticut Huskies 76, C#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 81
Scoring by quarter: 16–12, 14–17, 24–23, 22–29
Pts :K. L. Samuelson , 20Rebs :N. Collier , 15Asts :C. Dangerfield , 9Pts: A. Ogunbowale , 23Rebs: B. Turner , 15Asts: J. Shepard , 7
Amalie Arena – Tampa, FloridaAttendance: 20,062Referees: Beverly Roberts, Michol Murray, Joe Vaszily
National championship
April 7, 2019
6:00 pm EDT
C#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 81, G#1 Baylor Lady Bears 82
Scoring by quarter: 14–25, 17–18, 24–23, 26–16
Pts :A. Ogunbowale – 31Rebs :B. Turner – 12Asts :J. Young – 6Stls: A. Ogunbowale – 2Pts: C. Jackson – 26Rebs: K. Brown – 13Asts: J. Landrum, D. Richards – 6Stls: D. Richards, C. Jackson – 2
Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
Attendance: 20,127
Referees: Dee Kantner , Brenda Pantoja, Maj Forsberg
Final Four all-tournament team
Record by conference
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 10, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Conference USA, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy League, MAAC, MEAC, 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.
Television
The tournament was covered by ESPN 's networks. During the first and second rounds, ESPN aired select games nationally on ESPN2, ESPNU , and ESPNews . All other games aired regionally on ESPN, ESPN2 , or ESPN3 and were streamed online via WatchESPN . Most of the nation got whip-a-round coverage during this time, which allowed ESPN to rotate between the games and focus the nation on the game that had the closest score. Over the course of rebroadcasting a studio program discussing the men's tournament, ESPNU accidentally displayed on-screen graphics prematurely revealing the tournament bracket prior to its formal unveiling that evening. The NCAA officially released the brackets two hours earlier than scheduled.[ 9] [ 10]
Studio host and analysts
Broadcast assignments
First & second rounds Friday/Sunday
Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight Friday/Sunday
Adam Amin, Kara Lawson, Rebecca Lobo , and Holly Rowe – Albany, New York
Dave Pasch, LaChina Robinson, and Brooke Weisbrod – Portland, Oregon Final Four
Adam Amin, Kara Lawson, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe – Tampa, Florida
First & second rounds Saturday/Monday
Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight Saturday/Monday
Championship
Adam Amin, Kara Lawson, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe – Tampa, Florida
Radio
Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament.[ 11] [ 12]
Regional finals Sunday
Final Four
Regional finals Monday
Championship
John Sadak, Debbie Antonelli, and Krista Blunk – Tampa, Florida
See also
References
^ "2019 - 2022 Future DI NCAA Championship Sites" . NCAA.com . April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017 .^ "NCAA selects Albany to host these tournament games" . www.bizjournals.com . Retrieved April 18, 2017 .^ "DePaul Selected to Host 2019 Women's Basketball Regional at Wintrust Arena" . Depaulbluedemons.com . Retrieved April 18, 2017 .^ "The NCAA just awarded tons of championship events to North Carolina" . Outsports.com . April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017 .^ "NCAA men's, women's basketball tournaments returning to Portland" . OregonLive.com . Retrieved April 18, 2017 .^ "Women's Final Four sites for 2017-20 includes record fourth for New Orleans" . NCAA.com . November 17, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2017 .^ "Tampa to host women's Final Four in 2019" . The Tampa Tribune the original on November 30, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2019 .^ Nixon, Rick. "2023 Women's Final Four Championship Record Book" (PDF) . NCAA . p. 85. Retrieved March 26, 2023 . ^ Draper, Kevin; Whiteside, Kelly (March 18, 2019). "ESPN Slips Up, Revealing the N.C.A.A. Women's Bracket Four Hours Early" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved March 19, 2019 . ^ Ava Wallace; Des Bieler (March 18, 2019). "The 2019 NCAA women's basketball tournament bracket : NCAA women's tournament bracket revealed early by ESPN after 'technical error' . The Washington Post . Retrieved February 17, 2022 . ^ "NCAA, Westwood One extend deal" . NCAA. January 13, 2011. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2013 .^ "WO Sports to Air NCAA Women's Basketball" . Radio Online. March 6, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015 .
External links
Tournaments
Structure Champions & awards Media Records & statistics
2018–19 NCAA Division I championships
† Not an officially sanctioned NCAA championship
