The 1972 Women's College World Series (WCWS) was contested among 16 college softball teams on May 18âÂÂ21 in Omaha, Nebraska. This fourth WCWS was notable for the only appearance of a team from outside the United States, as the team from TokyoâÂÂNihon University of Japan proved to be a hit with both spectators and the other teams in the tournament.
Three-time defending champion John F. Kennedy College was excluded from the tournament by an organizational rule change the previous month. The new rule prohibited a team from appearing in the WCWS if it gave scholarships to any women athletes, not just softball players (JFK College openly awarded women's basketball scholarships). JFK never returned to the WCWS, and the school closed just three years later.
The Arizona State Sun Devilettes defeated TokyoâÂÂNihon narrowly in the winners' bracket semi-final, 2âÂÂ1, and split the tournament final, 0âÂÂ1 and 8âÂÂ5, with the if-necessary game requiring 11 innings.
The double elimination tournament included these teams:
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