The 2003 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 22, 2003, and concluded on April 8, 2003, when the Connecticut Huskies (UConn) won their second straight national title. The Final Four was held at the Georgia DomeinAtlanta, Georgia on April 6–8, 2003. UConn, coached by Geno Auriemma, defeated archrival Tennessee, coached by Pat Summitt, 73–68 in the championship game. UConn's Diana Taurasi was named Most Outstanding Player.
Teams | 64 | ||||
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Finals site | Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia | ||||
Champions | Connecticut Huskies (4th title, 4th title game, 7th Final Four) | ||||
Runner-up | Tennessee Volunteers (10th title game, 14th Final Four) | ||||
Semifinalists |
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Winning coach | Geno Auriemma (4th title) | ||||
MOP | Diana Taurasi (Connecticut) | ||||
Attendance | 334,587 | ||||
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This was the first year of a new format, in which the final game is held on the Tuesday following the men's championship, in contrast to prior years, when it was held on Sunday evening, between the men's semi-final and final. The game now is the final game of the Division 1 collegiate basketball season.
Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA tournament.[1]
Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.[1]
At-large Bids | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Record | ||||
Qualifying school | Conference | Regular season |
Conference | Seed |
University of Arizona | Pacific-10 | 22–8 | 13–5 | 6 |
University of Arkansas | Southeastern | 21–10 | 7–7 | 7 |
Boston College | Big East | 20–8 | 12–4 | 5 |
Brigham Young University | Mountain West | 19–11 | 8–6 | 11 |
University of North Carolina at Charlotte | Conference USA | 21–8 | 12–2 | 12 |
University of Cincinnati | Conference USA | 23–7 | 11–3 | 10 |
University of Colorado at Boulder | Big 12 | 22–7 | 11–5 | 6 |
University of Connecticut | Big East | 31–1 | 16–0 | 1 |
DePaul University | Conference USA | 22–9 | 10–4 | 9 |
University of Georgia | Southeastern | 19–9 | 10–4 | 5 |
Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlantic Coast | 20–10 | 8–8 | 10 |
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign | Big Ten | 17–11 | 9–7 | 9 |
Kansas State University | Big 12 | 28–4 | 14–2 | 3 |
University of Miami | Big East | 18–12 | 8–8 | 11 |
Michigan State University | Big Ten | 17–11 | 10–6 | 8 |
University of Minnesota | Big Ten | 23–5 | 12–4 | 6 |
Mississippi State University | Southeastern | 23–7 | 10–4 | 3 |
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Atlantic Coast | 27–5 | 13–3 | 3 |
University of Notre Dame | Big East | 19–10 | 10–6 | 11 |
Ohio State University | Big Ten | 21–9 | 10–6 | 4 |
University of Oklahoma | Big 12 | 19–12 | 9–7 | 10 |
Pennsylvania State University | Big Ten | 24–8 | 13–3 | 4 |
Rutgers University | Big East | 20–7 | 13–3 | 4 |
University of South Carolina | Southeastern | 22–7 | 9–5 | 5 |
University of Tennessee | Southeastern | 28–4 | 14–0 | 1 |
Texas Tech University | Big 12 | 26–5 | 13–3 | 2 |
Tulane University | Conference USA | 19–9 | 10–4 | 11 |
University of Utah | Mountain West | 23–6 | 12–2 | 8 |
Vanderbilt University | Southeastern | 21–9 | 9–5 | 4 |
University of Virginia | Atlantic Coast | 16–13 | 9–7 | 8 |
Virginia Tech | Big East | 21–9 | 10–6 | 7 |
University of Washington | Pacific-10 | 22–7 | 13–5 | 9 |
Xavier University | Atlantic 10 | 20–9 | 11–5 | 10 |
Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In twenty-two cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from nine of the conferences.[1]
Bids | Conference | Teams |
7 | Big East | Villanova, Boston College, Connecticut, Miami Fla., Notre Dame, Rutgers, Virginia Tech |
7 | Southeastern | LSU, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi St., South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt |
6 | Big Ten | Purdue, Illinois, Michigan St., Minnesota, Ohio St., Penn St. |
5 | Big 12 | Texas, Colorado, Kansas St., Oklahoma, Texas Tech |
5 | Conference USA | TCU, Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul, Tulane |
4 | Atlantic Coast | Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia |
3 | Mountain West | New Mexico, BYU, Utah |
3 | Pacific-10 | Stanford, Arizona, Washington |
2 | Atlantic 10 | George Washington, Xavier |
1 | America East | Boston U. |
1 | Atlantic Sun | Georgia St. |
1 | Big Sky | Weber St. |
1 | Big South | Liberty |
1 | Big West | UC Santa Barb. |
1 | Colonial | Old Dominion |
1 | Horizon | Green Bay |
1 | Ivy | Harvard |
1 | Metro Atlantic | Manhattan |
1 | Mid-American | Western Mich. |
1 | Mid-Continent | Valparaiso |
1 | Mid-Eastern | Hampton |
1 | Missouri Valley | Missouri St. |
1 | Northeast | St. Francis Pa. |
1 | Ohio Valley | Austin Peay |
1 | Patriot | Holy Cross |
1 | Southern | Chattanooga |
1 | Southland | Texas St. |
1 | Southwestern | Alabama St. |
1 | Sun Belt | Western Ky. |
1 | West Coast | Pepperdine |
1 | Western Athletic | Louisiana Tech |
Storrs
Manhattan
Norfolk
Norman
Knoxville
Boulder
University Park
Athens
Raleigh
Albuquerque
Lubbock
Eugene
Stanford
Cincinnati
Ruston
Knoxville
Albuquerque
Stanford
Atlanta
In 2003, 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 2003, a change was implemented in the way first and second round sites were determined. From 1982 (the year of the first NCAA women's basketball tournament) through 2002, the first rounds sites were offered to the top seeds. Starting in 2003, sixteen sites for the first two rounds were determined approximately a year before the team selections and seedings were completed.[2]
First and Second rounds
The following lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations:[3]
Regional semifinals and finals
The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 29 to April 1 at these sites:[4]
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held April 6 and April 8 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia Dome, (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology)
The sixty-four teams came from thirty-two states, plus Washington, D.C. Virginia had the most teams with five bids. Eighteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.[1]
Bids | State | Teams |
---|---|---|
5 | Virginia | Hampton, Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia, Virginia Tech |
4 | Massachusetts | Boston U., Harvard, Holy Cross, Boston College |
4 | Tennessee | Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Vanderbilt |
4 | Texas | TCU, Texas, Texas St., Texas Tech |
3 | California | Pepperdine, Stanford, UC Santa Barb. |
3 | Georgia | Georgia St., Georgia, Georgia Tech |
3 | Indiana | Purdue, Valparaiso, Notre Dame |
3 | Louisiana | Louisiana Tech, LSU, Tulane |
3 | North Carolina | Duke, Charlotte, North Carolina |
3 | Ohio | Cincinnati, Ohio St., Xavier |
3 | Utah | Weber St., BYU, Utah |
2 | Illinois | DePaul, Illinois |
2 | Michigan | Western Mich., Michigan St. |
2 | New York | Manhattan, St. Francis Pa. |
2 | Pennsylvania | Villanova, Penn St. |
1 | Alabama | Alabama St. |
1 | Arizona | Arizona |
1 | Arkansas | Arkansas |
1 | Colorado | Colorado |
1 | Connecticut | Connecticut |
1 | District of Columbia | George Washington |
1 | Florida | Miami Fla. |
1 | Kansas | Kansas St. |
1 | Kentucky | Western Ky. |
1 | Minnesota | Minnesota |
1 | Mississippi | Mississippi St. |
1 | Missouri | Missouri St. |
1 | New Jersey | Rutgers |
1 | New Mexico | New Mexico |
1 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma |
1 | South Carolina | South Carolina |
1 | Washington | Washington |
1 | Wisconsin | Green Bay |
Data Source[5]
First round March 22 and 23 | Second round March 24 and 25 | Regional semifinals March 29 | Regional finals March 31 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Tennessee | 95 | |||||||||||||||||
16 | Alabama State | 43 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Tennessee | 81 | |||||||||||||||||
Knoxville, Tennessee – Sat/Mon | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | Virginia | 51 | |||||||||||||||||
8 | Virginia | 72 | |||||||||||||||||
9 | Illinois | 56 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Tennessee | 86 | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Penn State | 58 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | South Carolina | 68 | |||||||||||||||||
12 | UT-Chattanooga | 54 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | South Carolina | 67 | |||||||||||||||||
State College, Pennsylvania – Sun/Tue | |||||||||||||||||||
4 | Penn State | 77 | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Penn State | 64 | |||||||||||||||||
13 | Holy Cross | 33 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Tennessee | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Villanova | 49 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Colorado | 84 | |||||||||||||||||
11 | BYU | 45 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Colorado | 86 | |||||||||||||||||
Boulder, Colorado – Sat/Mon | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | North Carolina | 67 | |||||||||||||||||
3 | North Carolina | 72 | |||||||||||||||||
14 | Austin Peay | 70 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Colorado | 51 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Villanova | 53 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | George Washington | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
10 | Oklahoma | 61 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | George Washington | 57 | |||||||||||||||||
Norman, Oklahoma – Sun/Tue | |||||||||||||||||||
2 | Villanova | 70 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Villanova | 51 | |||||||||||||||||
15 | St. Francis (PA) | 36 |
First round March 22 and 23 | Second round March 24 and 25 | Regional semifinals March 29 | Regional finals March 31 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Duke | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
16 | Georgia State | 48 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Duke | 65 | |||||||||||||||||
Raleigh, North Carolina – Sun/Tue | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | Utah | 54 | |||||||||||||||||
8 | Utah | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
9 | DePaul | 64 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Duke | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Georgia | 63 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Georgia | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
12 | Charlotte | 61 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Georgia | 74 | |||||||||||||||||
Athens, Georgia – Sat/Mon | |||||||||||||||||||
4 | Rutgers | 64 | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Rutgers | 64 | |||||||||||||||||
13 | Western Kentucky | 52 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Duke | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Texas Tech | 79 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | New Mexico | 91 | |||||||||||||||||
11 | Miami (FL) | 85 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | New Mexico | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
Albuquerque, New Mexico – Sat/Mon | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | Mississippi State | 61 | |||||||||||||||||
3 | Mississippi State | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
14 | Manhattan | 47 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | New Mexico | 76 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Texas Tech | 81 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | UC Santa Barbara | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
10 | Xavier | 62 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | UC Santa Barbara | 48 | |||||||||||||||||
Lubbock, Texas – Sun/Tue | |||||||||||||||||||
2 | Texas Tech | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Texas Tech | 67 | |||||||||||||||||
15 | Missouri State | 59 |
First round March 22 and 23 | Second round March 24 and 25 | Regional semifinals March 30 | Regional finals April 1 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Connecticut | 91 | |||||||||||||||||
16 | Boston University | 44 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Connecticut | 81 | |||||||||||||||||
Storrs, Connecticut – Sun/Tue | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | TCU | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
8 | Michigan State | 47 | |||||||||||||||||
9 | TCU | 50 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Connecticut | 70 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Boston College | 49 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Boston College | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
12 | Old Dominion | 72 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Boston College | 86 | |||||||||||||||||
Norfolk, Virginia – Sat/Mon | |||||||||||||||||||
4 | Vanderbilt | 85 | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Vanderbilt | 54 | |||||||||||||||||
13 | Liberty | 44 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Connecticut | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Purdue | 64 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Arizona | 47 | |||||||||||||||||
11 | Notre Dame | 59 | |||||||||||||||||
11 | Notre Dame | 59 | |||||||||||||||||
Manhattan, Kansas – Sun/Tue | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | Kansas State | 53 | |||||||||||||||||
3 | Kansas State | 79 | |||||||||||||||||
14 | Harvard | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
11 | Notre Dame | 47 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Purdue | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Virginia Tech | 61 | |||||||||||||||||
10 | Georgia Tech | 59 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Virginia Tech | 62 | |||||||||||||||||
West Lafayette, Indiana – Sat/Mon | |||||||||||||||||||
2 | Purdue | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Purdue | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
15 | Valparaiso | 51 |
First round March 22 and 23 | Second round March 24 and 25 | Regional semifinals March 30 | Regional finals April 1 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | LSU | 86 | |||||||||||||||||
16 | Texas State | 50 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | LSU | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
Eugene, Oregon – Sat/Mon | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | Green Bay | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
8 | Green Bay | 78 | |||||||||||||||||
9 | Washington | 65 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | LSU | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Louisiana Tech | 63 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Louisiana Tech | 94 | |||||||||||||||||
12 | Pepperdine | 60 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Louisiana Tech | 74 | |||||||||||||||||
Ruston, Louisiana – Sun/Tue | |||||||||||||||||||
4 | Ohio State | 61 | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Ohio State | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
13 | Weber State | 44 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | LSU | 60 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Texas | 78 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Minnesota | 68 | |||||||||||||||||
11 | Tulane | 48 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Minnesota | 68 | |||||||||||||||||
Stanford, California – Sat/Mon | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | Stanford | 56 | |||||||||||||||||
3 | Stanford | 82 | |||||||||||||||||
14 | Western Michigan | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Minnesota | 60 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Texas | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Arkansas | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
10 | Cincinnati | 57 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Arkansas | 50 | |||||||||||||||||
Cincinnati, Ohio – Sun/Tue | |||||||||||||||||||
2 | Texas | 67 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Texas | 90 | |||||||||||||||||
15 | Hampton | 46 |
National semifinals April 6 | National championship April 8 | ||||||||
ME1 | Tennessee | 66 | |||||||
MW1 | Duke | 56 | |||||||
ME1 | Tennessee | 68 | |||||||
E1 | Connecticut | 73 | |||||||
E1 | Connecticut | 71 | |||||||
W2 | Texas | 69 |
E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West.
Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Round of 32 |
Sweet Sixteen |
Elite Eight |
Final Four |
Championship Game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Big East | L | 15–6 | .714 | L | L | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Southeastern | 7 | 14–7 | .667 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Big Ten | 6 | 8–6 | .571 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Big 12 | 5 | 10–5 | .667 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Conference USA | 5 | 1–5 | .167 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Atlantic Coast | 4 | 6–4 | .600 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Mountain West | 3 | 3–3 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pacific-10 | 3 | 1–3 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Atlantic 10 | 2 | 1–2 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Western Athletic | 1 | 2–1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Big West | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Horizon | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nineteen conferences went 0–1: America East, Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Colonial, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Missouri Valley Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt Conference, and West Coast Conference