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2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

The 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 41st edition of the tournament began on March 15, 2023, and concluded on April 2 with the championship game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Atlantic 10 champion Saint Louis, Big Sky champion Sacramento State, Southland champion Southeastern Louisiana, and WAC champion Southern Utah made their NCAA debuts.

Tournament procedure

A total of 68 teams participated in the 2023 tournament, consisting of the 32 conference champions, and 36 "at-large" bids to be extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The last four at-large teams and teams seeded 65 through 68 overall played in First Four games, whose winners advanced to the 64 team first round.

2023 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 from 2016 to 2019.

A dramatic change from past tournaments is that the regional rounds (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) were held at two sites, instead of the four used in past tournaments. Two regionals were held in Greenville, South Carolina and the other two were held in Seattle. Specific regional names were to be announced by the NCAA committee on or before selections were announced on March 12, 2023.

First Four

  • March 15—16
  • Four of the campuses seeded in the Top 16

Subregionals (first and second rounds)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

This is the second time the women's Final Four will be played in Dallas (2017).

Qualification and selection

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams automatically qualified for the 2023 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament.

Bids by state

<span id="RegionSeeds"> Tournament seeds (list by region)</span>

<section begin="RegionSeeds" /> The tournament seeds and regions were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process.

<nowiki>*</nowiki>See First Four <section end="RegionSeeds" />

Tournament records

  • Virginia Tech's Georgia Amoore hit 24 3-pointers in the tournament, setting the record for most three pointers in a single tournament, surpassing the record of 22 set by UConn's Kia Nurse in 2017, and tied by Arizona's Aari Mcdonald in 2021.
  • Iowa's Caitlin Clark set numerous NCAA tournament records, including most points scored (191), most assists (60), and most 3-point field goals in a national championship game (8). Clark also became the first player in tournament history to post back-to-back 40-point games, with 41 in the regional final, followed by 41 in the Final Four.

Tournament bracket

Source:<br/> All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time ()<br> <nowiki>*</nowiki> denotes overtime period</onlyinclude>

First Four

The First Four games involve eight teams: the four overall lowest-ranked teams and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams.

Greenville Regional 1 – Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, SC

Greenville Regional 1 final

Greenville Regional 1 all-tournament team

Greenville Regional 2 – Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, SC

Greenville Regional 2 final

Greenville Regional 2 all-tournament team

Seattle Regional 3 – Climate Pledge Arena – Seattle, WA

Seattle Regional 3 final

Seattle Regional 3 all-tournament team

Seattle Regional 4 – Climate Pledge Arena – Seattle, WA

Seattle Regional 4 final

Caitlin Clark, Iowa's star player, made NCAA tournament history by becoming the first player to score a 40-point triple-double, with 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. The junior either scored or assisted on every field goal in the Hawkeyes' 25-point first quarter, which helped the Hawkeyes advance to their first Final Four since 1993.

Seattle Regional 4 all-tournament team

Final Four - American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX

National semifinals

National championship

Final Four all-tournament team

Game summaries and tournament notes

Upsets

Per the NCAA, "Upsets are defined as when the winner of the game was seeded five or more places lower than the team it defeated." The 2023 tournament saw a total of six upsets, with three in the first round, two in the second round, and one in the Sweet Sixteen. Stanford's loss to Ole Miss marked the first time a No. 1 seed failed to make the Sweet Sixteen since 2009. With Indiana's loss to Miami, this marked the first time two No. 1 seeds failed to make the Sweet Sixteen since 1998. UConn's loss to Ohio State in the Sweet 16 marked the first time since 2007 that UConn did not make it to the Women's Final Four. With Tennessee's loss to Virginia Tech in the Sweet 16 this marked the first time since 2006 that the Women's Final Four did not feature either UConn or Tennessee.

Record by conference

  • The FF, R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the first four, round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.

Media coverage

Television

All games in the tournament were televised by ESPN networks or ABC; this was the second-to-last year of its current contract to air NCAA tournaments, which lasts through the 2023–24 season. On August 23, 2022, ESPN announced that the national championship game would be broadcast by ABC for the first time, with a Sunday afternoon scheduling. This marked the first time the women's championship game would be carried on broadcast television since 1995.

Viewership of the tournament was up by 42% year-over-year. With significant attention towards Iowa player Caitlin Clark, the Iowa/South Carolina semi-final game was seen by an average of 5.5 million viewers—making it the highest-rated Women's Final Four telecast in ESPN history. These numbers would be surpassed by the national championship game, which was seen by an average of 9.9 million viewers, and peaked at 12.6 million—making it the most-watched women's college basketball game of all-time. It was a 103% increase over the previous year's championship game, which was carried by ESPN in primetime.

Studio host and analysts

  • Elle Duncan (Host) (First Four, First, Second rounds, Regionals, Final Four, and National championship game)
  • Kelsey Riggs (Host) (First Four, First, and Second rounds)
  • Rebecca Lobo (Analyst) (First Four, First, Second rounds, Final Four, and National championship game)
  • Andraya Carter (Analyst) (First Four, First, Second rounds, Final Four, and National championship game)
  • Nikki Fargas (Analyst) (First Four, First, Second rounds, and Regionals)
  • Monica McNutt (Analyst) (First Four, First, Second rounds, Regionals, Final Four, and National championship game)
  • Carolyn Peck (Analyst) (Final Four and National championship game)

Commentary teams

First Four

First & second rounds Friday/Sunday (Subregionals)

First & second rounds Saturday/Monday (Subregionals)

Regionals (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)

  • Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli, and Angel Gray – Greenville, South Carolina (Regional 1)
  • Courtney Lyle, Carolyn Peck, and Brooke Weisbrod – Greenville, South Carolina (Regional 2)
  • Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, Holly Rowe, and Andraya Carter – Seattle, Washington (Regional 3)
  • Pam Ward, Stephanie White, and Holly Rowe – Seattle, Washington (Regional 4)

Final Four and National Championship

  • Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, Holly Rowe, and Andraya Carter – Dallas, Texas

Radio

Westwood One will serve as radio broadcaster of the tournament.

Regionals (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)

Final Four and National Championship

  • Ryan Radtke, Debbie Antonelli, and Krista Blunk – Dallas, Texas

See also

References

External links