1985 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
The 1985 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament began on March 14 and ended on March 31 and featured 32 teams. The Final Four consisted of Old Dominion, Northeast Louisiana, Western Kentucky, and Georgia, with Old Dominion defeating Georgia, 70–65 in the championship game. Old Dominion's Tracy Claxton was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
1985 is the first year ESPN began televising some of the Tournament games. They televised two of the four Regional Finals, as well as the two national semifinals. The Georgia vs Western Kentucky match up was shown live, while the Old Dominion vs. Northeast Louisiana game was shown tape-delayed. The Championship game was broadcast by CBS.
Notable events
Georgia faced Western Kentucky in the semi-final. This was a rematch of a game played in December, when Western Kentucky prevailed, 72–67. However, in that game, Katrina McClain had been sidelined with an ankle injury. She was available to play in the final four, and achieved a career high total of 25 points. Her teammate, Teresa Edwards, scored 27, and the two helped Georgia win the semi-final 91–78.In the championship game, Georgia took on Old Dominion. The Lady Monarchs weren't hitting their shots, scoring on only 38% of their field goal attempts, but they made up for their misses with rebounds. The Old Dominion team had set an NCAA Final Four record with 57 rebounds in the semi-final game, and they repeated that performance in the championship game, pulling down 57 rebounds and limiting Georgia to 30. The game would be close, but Old Dominion prevailed, 70–65, to win the national Championship.
Records
In the second half of the semi-final game between Georgia and Western Kentucky, Georgia scored 57 points while Western Kentucky scored 44. The combined point total of 101 points in a half, as well as the points scored by a single team in a half are both Final Four records, still standing in 2012.In the other semi-final game, Old Dominion pulled down 57 rebounds against Northeast Louisiana. That number still stands as a Final Four rebounds record, although it was tied two days later by Old Dominion in the championship game against Georgia.
In a first-round game, Teresa Carmichael of Saint Joseph's University, attempted eleven field goals and hit all eleven. That's the most number of field goal attempt without a miss in Tournament history, though 2012.
Qualifying teams - automatic
Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in the 1985 NCAA Tournament. Eighteen conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1985 NCAA tournament.Qualifying teams - at-large
Fourteen additional teams were selected to complete the thirty-two invitations.Bids by conference
Bids by state
The thirty-two teams came from twenty-one states.California and Tennessee had the most teams with four each. Twenty-nine states did not have any teams receiving bids.
| Bids | State | Teams |
| 4 | California | Long Beach St, San Diego St, Southern California, UCLA |
| 4 | Tennessee | Memphis, Middle Tenn, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech |
| 2 | Louisiana | Northeast La., Louisiana Tech |
| 2 | Mississippi | Ole Miss, Southern Miss |
| 2 | North Carolina | North Carolina St, North Carolina |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | Penn St, St Joseph’s |
| 2 | Virginia | Old Dominion, Virginia |
| 1 | Alabama | Auburn |
| 1 | Georgia | Georgia |
| 1 | Idaho | Idaho |
| 1 | Illinois | Illinois St |
| 1 | Kentucky | Western Ky |
| 1 | Massachusetts | Holy Cross |
| 1 | Michigan | Western Mich |
| 1 | Missouri | Missouri |
| 1 | Nevada | UNLV |
| 1 | New York | Syracuse |
| 1 | Ohio | Ohio St |
| 1 | Texas | Texas |
| 1 | Utah | BYU |
| 1 | Washington | Washington |
Round 1 venues
The 32 teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-8 in each region. In Round 1, the higher seed was given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In each case, the higher seed accepted the opportunity.| Region | Host | Venue | City | State |
| East | Ohio State University | St. John Arena | Columbus | Ohio |
| East | Old Dominion University | Old Dominion University Fieldhouse | Norfolk | Virginia |
| East | North Carolina State University | Reynolds Coliseum | Raleigh | North Carolina |
| East | Pennsylvania State University | Recreation Building | University Park | Pennsylvania |
| Mideast | University of Tennessee | Stokely Athletic Center | Knoxville | Tennessee |
| Mideast | University of Texas | Frank Erwin Center | Austin | Texas |
| Mideast | Western Kentucky University | E.A. Diddle Arena | Bowling Green | Kentucky |
| Mideast | University of Mississippi | Tad Smith Coliseum | Oxford | Mississippi |
| Midwest | Auburn University | Memorial Coliseum | Auburn | Alabama |
| Midwest | Louisiana Tech University | Thomas Assembly Center | Ruston | Louisiana |
| Midwest | Northeast Louisiana University | Ewing Coliseum | Monroe | Louisiana |
| Midwest | University of Nevada, Las Vegas | Thomas and Mack Center | Las Vegas | Nevada |
| West | University of Georgia | Georgia Coliseum | Athens | Georgia |
| West | Long Beach State | University Gym | Long Beach | California |
| West | University of Southern California | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | Los Angeles | California |
| West | University of Washington | Hec Edmundson Pavilion | Seattle | Washington |
Regionals and Final Four
The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 21 to March 24 at these sites:- East Regional Old Dominion University Fieldhouse, Norfolk, Virginia
- Midwest Regional Ewing Coliseum, Monroe, Louisiana
- Mideast Regional E.A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Kentucky
- West Regional Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
Brackets
East Regional – Old Dominion – Norfolk, VA ([Old Dominion University Fieldhouse])
Midwest Regional – Northeast Louisiana University – Monroe, LA([Fant–Ewing Coliseum])
Mideast Regional – Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY ([E. A. Diddle Arena])
West Regional – UCLA, Los Angeles, CA ([Pauley Pavilion])
Final Four – University of Texas – Austin, TX ([Frank Erwin Center])
Record by conference
Eleven 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 |
| Southeastern | 4 | .667 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Western Collegiate | 4 | .556 | 4 | 4 | 1 | – | – | |
| Atlantic Coast | 3 | .250 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Sun Belt | 2 | .889 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Atlantic 10 | 2 | .333 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Metro | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Ohio Valley | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Southland | 1 | .750 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | |
| Big Ten | 1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | |
| Independent | 1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | |
| Southwest | 1 | .500 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – |
Nine conferences went 0-1: Big East, Big Eight, High Country, MAAC, MAC, Missouri Valley Conference, Mountain West, Northern Pacific, and Pacific Coast
All-Tournament Team
- Tracy Claxton, Old Dominion University
- Medina Dixon, Old Dominion University
- Teresa Edwards, University of Georgia
- Katrina McClain, University of Georgia
- Lillie Mason, Western Kentucky University
Game Officials
- Bob Olsen
- John Schleyer
- June Courteau
- Bill Stokes