1995 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament


The 1995 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament featured 64 teams. The Final Four consisted of Connecticut, Tennessee, Stanford, and Georgia. Connecticut defeated Tennessee 70-64 to win its first NCAA title and complete a 35-0 undefeated season.
The first two rounds were held at the home court of the top four seeds in each region. The regional semifinals and finals were held at the University of Connecticut for the East region, UCLA for the West region, the University of Tennessee for the Mideast region, and Drake University for the Midwest region. The Final Four was played in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Notable events

In a second-round game, 4 seed Alabama faced the 5 seed Duke. The game was close throughout the contest, with neither team leading the other by more than seven points. With time winding down in regulation, Alabama's Niesa Johnson hit a three-pointer to send the game to overtime. Not just one overtime, the game would eventually feature four overtimes. Johnson went on to hit two free throws at the end of the fourth overtime to give Alabama a 121–120 victory, setting records for the most overtimes, and the most points scored in an NCAA tournament game. At the time, it was called "the best women's basketball game in history".
In the east regional semi-final involving Louisiana tech and Virginia, confusion reigned momentarily with both teams celebrating at the end of regulation. Louisiana Tech led early, with as much as a 13-point lead in the first half and a ten-point lead at halftime. The Cavaliers came back and had a 63–62 lead with seconds left in the game. With time running out, Louisiana Tech's Debra Williams went to the foul line for a one-and-one shot. She missed it, but the scorekeeper accidentally recorded it, so the scoreboard showed 63–63. Louisiana Tech tried and missed a last second shot, but thought they were headed to overtime based upon the score, while Virginia thought they had won, so both teams were celebrating. The referees met at the scores table to sort it out, then Dee Kantner emerged and pointed to the Virginia bench signaling victory.
Georgia and Tennessee, both from the SEC, squared off in one of the Final Four match ups. Tennessee was a number 1 seed, while Georgia was a 3 seed, and upset top seed Colorado 82–79 in the Midwest Rational final. The two teams had faced each other in the final game of the regular season, when the Lady Vols beat the Lady Bulldogs by 22 points. Georgia coach Andy Landers complained about lack of effort in that game, but did not have the same complaints in the Final Four game, even though the final margin was identical. Tennessee's Pat Summitt emphasizes rebounds, and Tennessee out rebounded Georgia 51–33. While the Lady Bulldogs were able to get within seven points in the second half, they could get no closer and Tennessee prevailed 73–51, to send them into the champions ship game.
Despite entering the game against Stanford with an undefeated record, some skeptics weren't convinced that Connecticut could win. Although UConn had beaten Tennessee earlier in the year, they then played in the Big East, which at the time wasn't a strong conference. The Big East earned just two invitations to the NCAA tournament, while eight other conferences had three or more teams in the tournament. Stanford was a representative of the Pacific-10 conference, which had five teams strong enough to earn bids. However, the Huskies jumped out to an early 16–4 lead, and ended the game with a 27-point margin, winning 87–60. Kara Wolters scored 31 points, a single point under her career high while Jamelle Elliott matched her career high with 21 points. Consensus national player of the year Rebecca Lobo added 17 points, prompting coach Auriemma to quip "The reason we're playing is I've got these three players "
In the championship game, Tennessee had a small lead in the first half 28–25, but more importantly, two of UConn's All-Americans, Jennifer Rizzotti and Rebecca Lobo, had three fouls, while six foot seven inch Kara Wolters had two. Auriemma tried playing small, with six foot Jamelle Elliott the tallest Husky on the floor. The Tennessee lead extended, but only to six points at the half. In the second half, the lead was still four points in the Lady Vols favor when Wolters received her fourth foul. With twelve minutes left to go in the game, Lobo had but six points. Lobo then scored on four possessions, and with a steal by Rizzotti turned into a layup, the Tennessee nine point lead was down to a single point, prompting coach Summitt to call for a time-out. Jamelle Elliott tied the game with just over two minutes left, then Rizzotti made a play which would be talked about for years afterward. She grabbed a rebound, then drove the length of the court against Michelle Marciniak. Just before reaching the basket, she executed a cross-over dribble and sank a left-handed layup to take a lead that would never be relinquished. UConn won the game 70–64, completing the first undefeated season in NCAA history since the 1986 Texas team, and winning the first national championship for the Connecticut Huskies team.

Tournament records

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 1995 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-two conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1995 NCAA Tournament.

Qualifying teams - at-large

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

Bids by conference

Thirty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In seventeen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-two additional at-large teams were selected from fifteen of the conferences.
BidsConferenceTeams
7SoutheasternVanderbilt, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee
5Pacific-10Stanford, Oregon, Oregon St., Southern California, Washington
4Big EightColorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St.
4Big TenPenn St., Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin
4MetroSouthern Miss., Louisville, Tulane, Virginia Tech
4Atlantic CoastNorth Carolina, Duke, North Carolina St., Virginia
3Great MidwestMarquette, DePaul, Memphis
3Sun BeltFIU, Western Ky., Louisiana Tech
2Atlantic 10George Washington, St. Joseph’s
2Big EastConnecticut, Seton Hall
2Mid-AmericanToledo, Ohio
2Missouri ValleyDrake, Missouri St.
2SouthwestTexas Tech, SMU
2West CoastSan Francisco, Portland
2Western AthleticUtah, San Diego St.
1Big SkyMontana
1Big SouthRadford
1Big WestUC Irvine
1ColonialOld Dominion
1IvyDartmouth
1Metro AtlanticLoyola Md
1Mid-ContinentWestern Illinois.
1Mid-EasternFlorida A&M
1Midwestern CollegiateNorthern Illinois
1North AtlanticMaine
1NortheastMt. St. Mary’s
1Ohio ValleyTennessee St.
1PatriotHoly Cross
1SouthernFurman
1SouthlandStephen F. Austin
1SouthwesternJackson St.

First and second rounds

In 1995, 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:
The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations:
RegionRndHostVenueCityState
East1&2University of VirginiaUniversity Hall CharlottesvilleVirginia
East1&2University of ConnecticutHarry A. Gampel PavilionStorrsConnecticut
East1&2University of AlabamaColeman ColiseumTuscaloosaAlabama
East1&2Louisiana Tech UniversityThomas Assembly CenterRustonLouisiana
Mideast1&2Western Kentucky UniversityE.A. Diddle ArenaBowling GreenKentucky
Mideast1&2University of WashingtonHec Edmundson PavilionSeattleWashington
Mideast1&2University of TennesseeThompson-Boling ArenaKnoxvilleTennessee
Mideast1&2Texas Tech UniversityLubbock Municipal ColiseumLubbockTexas
Midwest1&2University of GeorgiaGeorgia Coliseum AthensGeorgia
Midwest1&2Pennsylvania State UniversityRecreation Building University ParkPennsylvania
Midwest1&2University of ColoradoCU Events Center BoulderColorado
Midwest1&2George Washington UniversityCharles E. Smith Athletic CenterWashingtonDistrict of Columbia
West1&2University of North CarolinaCarmichael AuditoriumChapel HillNorth Carolina
West1&2Vanderbilt UniversityMemorial Gymnasium NashvilleTennessee
West1&2Stanford UniversityMaples PavilionStanfordCalifornia
West1&2San Diego StatePeterson GymSan DiegoCalifornia

Regionals and Final Four

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 23 to March 25 at these sites:
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held April 1 and April 2 in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Target Center,

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from thirty-three states, plus Washington, D.C. California had the most teams with five bids. Seventeen states did not have any teams receiving bids.
BidsStateTeams
5CaliforniaSan Francisco, Stanford, UC Irvine, San Diego St., Southern California
4TennesseeTennessee St., Vanderbilt, Memphis, Tennessee
4VirginiaOld Dominion, Radford, Virginia, Virginia Tech
3FloridaFIU, Florida A&M, Florida
3MississippiJackson St., Southern Miss., Ole Miss
3OregonOregon, Oregon St., Portland
3TexasStephen F. Austin, Texas Tech, SMU
3IllinoisNorthern Illinois, Western Illinois, DePaul
3North CarolinaNorth Carolina, Duke, North Carolina St.
2IndianaIndiana, Purdue
2KentuckyWestern Ky., Louisville
2LouisianaLouisiana Tech, Tulane
2MarylandLoyola Md, Mt. St. Mary’s
2OhioToledo, Ohio
2OklahomaOklahoma, Oklahoma St.
2PennsylvaniaPenn St., St. Joseph’s
2WisconsinMarquette, Wisconsin
1AlabamaAlabama
1ArkansasArkansas
1ColoradoColorado
1ConnecticutConnecticut
1District of ColumbiaGeorge Washington
1GeorgiaGeorgia
1IowaDrake
1KansasKansas
1MaineMaine
1MassachusettsHoly Cross
1MissouriMissouri St.
1MontanaMontana
1New HampshireDartmouth
1New JerseySeton Hall
1South CarolinaFurman
1UtahUtah
1WashingtonWashington

Bracket

East region - Storrs, Connecticut

West region - Los Angeles, California

Mideast region - Knoxville, Tennessee

Midwest region - Des Moines, Iowa

Final Four - Minneapolis, Minnesota

* denotes number of overtime periods

Record by conference

Seventeen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play:
Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Round
of 32
Sweet
Sixteen
Elite
Eight
Final
Four
Championship
Game
Southeastern7.68264221
Pacific-105.5833211
Atlantic Coast4.667431
Big Ten4.556311
Big Eight4.500211
Metro4.3332
Great Midwest3.2501
Big East2.87521111
Southwest2.667211
Sun Belt2.66722
Atlantic 102.50011
Missouri Valley2.5002
Mid-American2
West Coast2
Western Athletic2
Big Sky1.5001
Trans America1.5001

Fifteen conferences went 0-1: Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Colonial, Ivy League, MAAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Midwestern Collegiate, North Atlantic Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, and SWAC

All-Tournament Team