2001 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

The 2001 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 16 and ended on April 1. The tournament featured 64 teams. The Final Four, held at the Savvis Center (now Scottrade Center) in St. Louis, consisted of Connecticut, Notre Dame, Purdue, and Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State), with Notre Dame defeating Purdue 68–66 to win its first NCAA title.[1] Notre Dame's Ruth Riley was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.[2]

2001 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament
Teams64
Finals siteSavvis Center
St. Louis, Missouri
ChampionsNotre Dame Fighting Irish (1st title)
Runner-upPurdue Boilermakers (2nd title game)
Semifinalists
MOPRuth Riley (Notre Dame)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments
«2000 2002»

Notable events

With the Final Four held in the state of Missouri for the first time in NCAA history, 10th seeded University of Missouri rose to the occasion and upset 7th seeded Wisconsin in the first round. They then went on to play the 2nd seeded team from Georgia and won that game as well, advancing to the regional, where their bid to play in their home state ended in a loss to Louisiana Tech. Missouri State also did well. They were seeded 5th, so expected to win their first-round game, but they went on to upset 4th seed Rutgers to set up a game against the Regional's top seed, Duke. Missouri State upset Duke 81–71 to head to the regional final against Washington, who had upset both Florida and Oklahoma. The upsets came to an end as 5th seeded Missouri State beat 6th seeded Washington 104–87 to advance to the Final Four, and a chance to play in front of home state fans.

In the Mideast Regional, the top four seeds all advanced to the regional semifinal, then both higher seeds were upset. 4th seed Xavier knocked off the number one seed in the regional, Tennessee, by a score of 80–65. Third seeded Purdue played second seeded Texas Tech in a game that came down to the wire. Purdue won 74–72, then went on to defeat Xavier for the spot in the Final Four against Missouri State. The upset run by Missouri State came to an end in the semifinal, as Purdue beat them 81–64. The career of Jackie Stiles, who had scored 1,064 points during the season, the first player in NCAA Division I women's basketball history to score 1000 points in a season, came to an end.[3][4]

In the Midwest and East regionals, both number one seeds advanced to the Final Four. Both Notre Dame and Connecticut were from the Big East and met in the other semifinal. The two teams had met twice before in the season, with Notre Dame winning at their home and UConn beating Notre Dame in the Big East Championship. Early in the game, the prior year National Champion Connecticut looked to be on their way to another championship game. The Huskies led at one point by 16 points in the first half. In the second half, Notre Dame came back, and with just over twelve minutes left, took their first lead of the game. Connecticut went into a scoring drought, going more than five minutes without a point. Notre Dame went on to win 90–75, to head to their first national championship game.[5]

The championship game featured two teams from Indiana. Notre Dame began the game with a repeat of their performance against Connecticut, falling behind by double digits in the first half. The Irish were the best three-point shooting team in the country, but ended up hitting just one of ten attempts. Purdue's Katie Douglas scored 18 points for Purdue, with her final points being a three-pointer to put the Boilermakers in front 66–64 with a little over one minute left in the game. Notre Dame's Ruth Riley scored to tie the game, then rebounded a miss by Purdue. She then took a shot, missed, but was fouled with 5.8 seconds left in the game. Riley sank both free throws to give the Irish a two-point lead and their first national championship.[6]

Tournament records
  • Three-point field goal percentage – Alicia Ratay, Notre Dame, hit four of five three-point field goal attempts(80%) in the semi-final game against Connecticut, tying a record for three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game, held by four other players.
  • Margin overcome – Notre Dame overcame a 16-point deficit against Connecticut to win the game, setting a record for the largest margin overcome in a Final Four game.
  • Three-point field goal percentage – Notre Dame hit eight of eleven three-point field goal attempts, setting the record for best three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game.
  • Blocks – Notre Dame recorded eleven blocks in the championship game against Purdue, tying the record for blocks in a Final Four game.
  • Assists – Tasha Pointer, Rutgers, recorded 18 assist in the West region first-round game against Stephen F. Austin, setting the record for most assists in an NCAA tournament game.
  • Field goal percentage – Connecticut held Long Island to 10 field goals on 65 attempts(15.4%) in an East region first-round game, setting the record for the best field goal defense in an NCAA tournament game.[7]

Qualifying teams – automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2001 NCAA tournament.[7]

Automatic bids
    Record  
Qualifying school Conference Regular
Season		 Conference Seed
Alcorn State SWAC 21–10 15–3 16
Austin Peay OVC 17–13 10–6 16
Chattanooga SoCon 24–6 15–3 12
Colorado State Mountain West 24–6 10–4 9
Connecticut Big East 28–2 15–1 1
Delaware America East 26–4 17–1 13
Duke ACC 28–3 13–3 1
Georgia SEC 26–5 11–3 2
Georgia State Trans America 24–6 15–3 14
Holy Cross Patriot League 21–8 11–1 14
Howard MEAC 22–9 15–3 15
Idaho State Big Sky 25–4 16–0 14
Iowa Big Ten 20–9 12–4 4
Iowa State Big 12 25–5 12–4 2
Liberty Big South 18–11 12–2 15
Long Island Northeast 16–14 11–7 16
Louisiana Tech Sun Belt 28–4 16–0 3
Milwaukee Horizon League 19–10 12–2 16
Old Dominion CAA 21–8 15–1 11
Oral Roberts Mid-Continent 20–10 11–5 15
Penn Ivy League 23–5 14–0 15
Siena MAAC 24–5 17–1 11
Saint Mary's West Coast 25–5 11–3 9
Southwest Missouri State Missouri Valley 25–5 16–2 5
Stanford Pac-10 18–10 12–6 10
Stephen F. Austin Southland 26–6 18–2 13
TCU WAC 24–7 13–3 11
Toledo MAC 25–5 15–1 12
Tulane C-USA 22–9 12–4 10
UC Santa Barbara Big West 22–8 12–2 14
Xavier Atlantic 10 28–2 15–1 4

Qualifying teams – at-large

Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.[7]

At-large bids
    Record  
Qualifying school Conference Regular
Season		 Conference Seed
Arizona State Pacific-10 20–10 12–6 11
Arkansas SEC 19–12 6–8 9
Baylor Big 12 21–8 9–7 8
Clemson ACC 20–9 10–6 5
Colorado Big 12 21–8 11–5 6
Denver Sun Belt 24–6 14–2 10
Drake Missouri Valley 23–6 16–2 12
Fairfield MAAC 25–5 16–2 12
Florida SEC 23–5 11–3 3
Florida State ACC 18–11 9–7 7
George Washington Atlantic 10 22–9 14–2 7
Louisville C-USA 19–9 14–2 13
LSU SEC 19–10 8–6 6
Maryland ACC 17–11 8–8 8
Michigan Big Ten 18–11 10–6 8
Missouri Big 12 20–9 10–6 10
N.C. State ACC 20–10 9–7 4
Notre Dame Big East 28–2 15–1 1
Oklahoma Big 12 26–5 15–1 2
Oregon Pacific-10 17–11 10–8 13
Penn State Big Ten 19–9 11–5 6
Purdue Big Ten 26–6 14–2 3
Rutgers Big East 22–7 13–3 4
Tennessee SEC 29–2 14–0 1
Texas Big 12 20–12 7–9 8
Texas Tech Big 12 23–6 13–3 2
Utah Mountain West 26–3 14–0 5
Vanderbilt SEC 21–9 8–6 3
Villanova Big East 21–8 11–5 5
Virginia ACC 18–13 8–8 9
Virginia Tech Big East 21-8 11–5 7
Washington Pacific-10 19–9 12–6 6
Wisconsin Big Ten 18–9 12–4 7

Bids by conference

Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In nineteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from twelve of the conferences.[7]

Bids Conference Teams
7 Big 12 Iowa State, Baylor, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech
6 Atlantic Coast Duke, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, NC State, Virginia
6 Southeastern Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
5 Big East Connecticut, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Villanova, Virginia Tech
5 Big Ten Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
4 Pacific-10 Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford, Washington
2 Atlantic 10 Xavier, George Washington
2 Conference USA Tulane, Louisville
2 Metro Atlantic Siena, Fairfield
2 Missouri Valley SW Missouri State, Drake
2 Mountain West Colorado State, Utah
2 Sun Belt Louisiana Tech, Denver
1 America East Delaware.
1 Big Sky Idaho State
1 Big South Liberty
1 Big West UC Santa Barbara
1 CAA Old Dominion
1 Horizon Milwaukee
1 Ivy Penn
1 Mid-American Toledo
1 Mid-Continent Oral Roberts
1 MEAC Howard
1 Northeast Long Island
1 Ohio Valley Austin Peay
1 Patriot Holy Cross
1 Southern Chattanooga
1 Southland Stephen F. Austin
1 Southwestern Alcorn State
1 Trans America Georgia State
1 West Coast St. Mary's Cal.
1 WAC TCU

First and second rounds
2001 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is located in the United States
Athens
Athens
Raleigh
Raleigh
Storrs
Storrs
Ruston
Ruston
Knoxville
Knoxville
West Lafayette
West Lafayette
Lubbock
Lubbock
Cincinnati
Cincinnati
Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Nashville
Nashville
Ames
Ames
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City
Norman
Norman
Piscataway
Piscataway
Gainesville
Gainesville
Durham
Durham
2001 NCAA NCAA first and second round venues

In 2001, 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 the first two rounds, the top four seeds were given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In most cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity. The exception:

  • Fourth seeded Iowa was unable to host so fifth seeded Utah hosted three first and second-round games

The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations:[8]

Region Rnd Host Venue City State
East 1&2 University of Georgia Georgia Coliseum (Stegeman Coliseum) Athens Georgia
East 1&2 North Carolina State University Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh North Carolina
East 1&2 University of Connecticut Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs Connecticut
East 1&2 Louisiana Tech University Thomas Assembly Center Ruston Louisiana
Mideast 1&2 University of Tennessee Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville Tennessee
Mideast 1&2 Purdue University Mackey Arena West Lafayette Indiana
Mideast 1&2 Texas Tech University United Spirit Arena Lubbock Texas
Mideast 1&2 Xavier University Cintas Center Cincinnati Ohio
Midwest 1&2 University of Notre Dame Edmund P. Joyce Center Notre Dame Indiana
Midwest 1&2 Vanderbilt University Memorial Gymnasium Nashville Tennessee
Midwest 1&2 Iowa State University Hilton Coliseum Ames Iowa
Midwest 1&2 University of Utah Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City Utah
West 1&2 University of Oklahoma Lloyd Noble Center Norman Oklahoma
West 1&2 Rutgers University Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway New Jersey
West 1&2 University of Florida O'Connell Center Gainesville Florida
West 1&2 Duke University Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham North Carolina

Regionals and Final Four
2001 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is located in the United States
Denver
Denver
Birmingham
Birmingham
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Spokane
Spokane
St. Louis
St. Louis
2001 NCAA regionals and Final Four

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 24 to March 26 at these sites:

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held March 30 and April 1 in St. Louis, Missouri at the Savvis Center (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from thirty-two states, plus Washington, D.C. Texas had the most teams with five bids. Eighteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.[7]

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 2001
Bids State Teams
5 Texas Stephen F. Austin, TCU, Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech
4 Tennessee Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
4 Virginia Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia, Virginia Tech
3 California Saint Mary's, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara
3 Colorado Colorado State, Colorado, Denver
3 Iowa Iowa, Iowa State, Drake
3 Louisiana Louisiana Tech, Tulane, LSU
3 Pennsylvania Penn, Penn State, Villanova
2 Connecticut Connecticut, Fairfield
2 District of Columbia Howard, George Washington
2 Florida Florida, Florida State
2 Georgia Georgia, Georgia State
2 Indiana Notre Dame, Purdue
2 Missouri SW Missouri State, Missouri
2 New York Long Island, Siena
2 North Carolina Duke, NC State
2 Ohio Toledo, Xavier
2 Oklahoma Oral Roberts, Oklahoma
2 Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1 Arizona Arizona State
1 Arkansas Arkansas
1 Delaware Delaware
1 Idaho Idaho State
1 Kentucky Louisville
1 Maryland Maryland
1 Massachusetts Holy Cross
1 Michigan Michigan
1 Mississippi Alcorn State
1 New Jersey Rutgers
1 Oregon Oregon
1 South Carolina Clemson
1 Utah Utah
1 Washington Washington

Brackets

Data source[9]

Mideast regional – Birmingham, AL
First round
March 16–17 		Second round
March 18–19 		Regional semifinals
March 24 		Regional finals
March 26
            
1 at Tennessee 90
16 Austin Peay 38
1 Tennessee 92
9 Saint Mary's 75
8 Texas 64
9 Saint Mary's 68
1 Tennessee 65
4 Xavier 80
5 Clemson 51
12 Chattanooga 49
5 Clemson 62
4 Xavier 77
4 at Xavier 80
13 Louisville 52
4 Xavier 78
3 Purdue 88
6 LSU 83
11 Arizona State 66
6 LSU 70
3 Purdue 73
3 at Purdue 75
14 UC Santa Barbara 62
3 Purdue 74
2 Texas Tech 72
7 Virginia Tech 77
10 Denver 57
7 Virginia Tech 52
2 Texas Tech 73
2 at Texas Tech 100
15 Penn 57

West regional – Spokane, Washington
First round
March 16–17 		Second round
March 18–19 		Regional semifinals
March 24 		Regional finals
March 26
            
1 at Duke 95
16 UW–Milwaukee 63
1 Duke 75
9 Arkansas 54
8 Baylor 59
9 Arkansas 68
1 Duke 71
5 SW Missouri State 81
5 SW Missouri State 89
12 Toledo 71
5 SW Missouri State 60
4 Rutgers 53
4 at Rutgers 80
13 Stephen F. Austin 43
5 SW Missouri State 104
6 Washington 87
6 Washington 67
11 Old Dominion 65
6 Washington 86
3 Florida 75
3 at Florida 84
14 Holy Cross 52
6 Washington 84
2 Oklahoma 67
7 George Washington 51
10 Stanford 76
10 Stanford 50
2 Oklahoma 67
2 at Oklahoma 70
15 Oral Roberts 64

Midwest regional – Denver, Colorado
First round
March 16–17 		Second round
March 18–19 		Regional semifinals
March 24 		Regional finals
March 26
            
1 at Notre Dame 98
16 Alcorn State 49
1 Notre Dame 88
8 Michigan 54
8 Michigan 81
9 Virginia 71
1 Notre Dame 69
5 Utah 54
5 at Utah 79
12 Fairfield 57
5 Utah 78
4 Iowa 69
4 Iowa 89
13 Oregon 82
1 Notre Dame 72
3 Vanderbilt 64
6 Colorado 98
11 Siena 78
6 Colorado 59
3 Vanderbilt 65
3 at Vanderbilt 83
14 Idaho State 57
3 Vanderbilt 84
2 Iowa State 65
7 Florida State 72
10 Tulane 70
7 Florida State 70
2 Iowa State 85
2 at Iowa State 100
15 Howard 61

East regional – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
First round
March 16–17 		Second round
March 18–19 		Regional semifinals
March 24 		Regional finals
March 26
            
1 at Connecticut 101
16 Long Island 29
1 Connecticut 89
9 Colorado State 44
8 Maryland 69
9 Colorado State 83
1 Connecticut 72
4 NC State 58
5 Villanova 66
12 Drake 58
5 Villanova 64
4 NC State 68
4 at NC State 76
13 Delaware 57
1 Connecticut 67
3 Louisiana Tech 48
6 Penn State 75
11 TCU 77
11 TCU 59
3 Louisiana Tech 80
3 at Louisiana Tech 84
14 Georgia State 48
3 Louisiana Tech 78
10 Missouri 67
7 Wisconsin 68
10 Missouri 71
10 Missouri 78
2 Georgia 65
2 at Georgia 77
15 Liberty 48

Final Four – St. Louis, Missouri
National semifinals
March 30 		National championship
April 1
      
ME3 Purdue 81
W5 SW Missouri State 64
ME3 Purdue 66
MW1 Notre Dame 68
MW1 Notre Dame 90
E1 Connecticut 75

Record by conference

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

Conference # of Bids Record Win % Round
of 32		 Sweet
Sixteen		 Elite
Eight		 Final
Four		 Championship
Game
Big 12 7 9–7 .563 5 4 0 0 0
Southeastern 6 9–6 .600 6 2 1 0 0
Atlantic Coast 6 6–6 .500 4 2 0 0 0
Big East 5 13–4 .765 5 2 2 2 1
Big Ten 5 7–5 .583 3 1 1 1 1
Pacific-10 4 4–4 .500 2 1 1 0 0
Missouri Valley 2 4–2 .667 1 1 1 1 0
Atlantic 10 2 3–2 .600 1 1 1 0 0
Mountain West 2 3–2 .600 2 1 0 0 0
Sun Belt 2 3–2 .600 1 1 1 0 0
Conference USA 2 0–2 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Metro Atlantic 2 0–2 .000 0 0 0 0 0
West Coast 1 1–1 .500 1 0 0 0 0
Western Athletic 1 1–1 .500 1 0 0 0 0

Seventeen conferences went 0-1: America East, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Colonial, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, and Trans America

All-Tournament team

Game officials
  • Dennis DeMayo (semifinal)
  • Wesley Dean (semifinal)
  • Nan Sisk (semifinal)
  • June Courteau (semifinal)
  • Greg Small (semifinal)
  • Melissa Barlow (semifinal)
  • Sally Bell (final)
  • Scott Yarbrough (final)
  • Lisa Mattingly (final) [7]

See also

Notes
  1. Gregory Cooper. "2001 NCAA National Championship Tournament". Archived from the original on October 20, 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  2. "CHN Basketball History: Most Outstanding Player". Archived from the original on January 25, 2008. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  3. Rodgers, Jenn. "2012-13 NCAA Women's Basketball Records Division I". NCAA. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  4. "Purdue handcuffs Stiles, SMS in 81-64 victory". The Florida Times Union. March 31, 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  5. "Notre Dame rallies to defeat Connecticut". CNN SI. March 31, 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  6. "Ruthless". CNN SI. April 1, 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  7. Nixon, Rick. "Official 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  8. "Attendance and Sites" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  9. "Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book". NCAA. February 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
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