2001 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

The 2001 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 16 and ended on April 1. The tournament featured 64 teams. The Final Four, held at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri, consisted of Connecticut, Notre Dame, Purdue, and Southwest Missouri State (now known as Missouri State), with Notre Dame defeating Purdue 68–66 to win its first NCAA title. Notre Dame's Ruth Riley was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

2001 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament

Teams	64
Finals site	Savvis Center St. Louis, Missouri
Champions	Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Purdue Boilermakers (2nd title game, 3rd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Connecticut Huskies (5th Final Four) Southwest Missouri State Lady Bears (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	Muffet McGraw (1st title)
MOP	Ruth Riley (Notre Dame)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments «2000 2002»

Notable events

With the Final Four held in the state of Missouri for the first time in NCAA history, 10th seeded University of Missouri rose to the occasion and upset 7th seeded Wisconsin in the first round. They then went on to play the 2nd seeded team from Georgia and won that game as well, advancing to the regional, where their bid to play in their home state ended in a loss to Louisiana Tech. Southwest Missouri State also did well. They were seeded 5th, so expected to win their first-round game, but they went on to upset 4th seed Rutgers to set up a game against the Regional's top seed, Duke. The Lady Bears then upset Duke 81–71 to head to the regional final against Washington, who had upset both Florida and Oklahoma. The upsets came to an end as Southwest Missouri State beat 6th seeded Washington 104–87 to advance to the Final Four, and a chance to play in front of home state fans.

In the Mideast Regional, the top four seeds all advanced to the regional semifinal, then both higher seeds were upset. 4th seed Xavier knocked off the number one seed in the regional, Tennessee, by a score of 80–65. Third seeded Purdue played second seeded Texas Tech in a game that came down to the wire. Purdue won 74–72, then went on to defeat Xavier for the spot in the Final Four against Southwest Missouri State. The upset run by Southwest Missouri State came to an end in the semifinal, as Purdue beat them 81–64. The career of Jackie Stiles, who had scored 1,064 points in 2000–01 to become the first player in NCAA Division I women's basketball history to score 1,000 points in a single season, thus came to an end.

In the Midwest and East regionals, both number one seeds advanced to the Final Four. Both Notre Dame and Connecticut were from the Big East and met in the other semifinal. The two teams had met twice before in the season, with Notre Dame winning at their home and UConn beating Notre Dame in the Big East Championship. Early in the game, the prior year National Champion Connecticut looked to be on their way to another championship game. The Huskies led at one point by 16 points in the first half. In the second half, Notre Dame came back, and with just over twelve minutes left, took their first lead of the game. Connecticut went into a scoring drought, going more than five minutes without a point. Notre Dame went on to win 90–75, to head to their first national championship game.

The championship game featured two teams from Indiana. Notre Dame began the game with a repeat of their performance against Connecticut, falling behind by double digits in the first half. The Irish were the best three-point shooting team in the country, but ended up hitting just one of ten attempts. Purdue's Katie Douglas scored 18 points for Purdue, with her final points being a three-pointer to put the Boilermakers in front 66–64 with a little over one minute left in the game. Notre Dame's Ruth Riley scored to tie the game, then rebounded a miss by Purdue. She then took a shot, missed, but was fouled with 5.8 seconds left in the game. Riley sank both free throws to give the Irish a two-point lead and their first national championship.

Tournament records

• Three-point field goal percentage – Alicia Ratay, Notre Dame, hit four of five three-point field goal attempts(80%) in the semi-final game against Connecticut, tying a record for three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game, held by four other players.
• Margin overcome – Notre Dame overcame a 16-point deficit against Connecticut to win the game, setting a record for the largest margin overcome in a Final Four game.
• Three-point field goal percentage – Notre Dame hit eight of eleven three-point field goal attempts, setting the record for best three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game.
• Blocks – Notre Dame recorded eleven blocks in the championship game against Purdue, tying the record for blocks in a Final Four game.
• Assists – Tasha Pointer, Rutgers, recorded 18 assist in the West region first-round game against Stephen F. Austin, setting the record for most assists in an NCAA tournament game.
• Field goal percentage – Connecticut held Long Island to 10 field goals on 65 attempts(15.4%) in an East region first-round game, setting the record for the best field goal defense in an NCAA tournament game.

Qualifying teams – automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2001 NCAA tournament.

Automatic bids
		Record
Qualifying school	Conference	Regular Season	Conference	Seed
Alcorn State	SWAC	21–10	15–3	16
Austin Peay	OVC	17–13	10–6	16
Chattanooga	SoCon	24–6	15–3	12
Colorado State	Mountain West	24–6	10–4	9
Connecticut	Big East	28–2	15–1	1
Delaware	America East	26–4	17–1	13
Duke	ACC	28–3	13–3	1
Georgia	SEC	26–5	11–3	2
Georgia State	Trans America	24–6	15–3	14
Holy Cross	Patriot League	21–8	11–1	14
Howard	MEAC	22–9	15–3	15
Idaho State	Big Sky	25–4	16–0	14
Iowa	Big Ten	20–9	12–4	4
Iowa State	Big 12	25–5	12–4	2
Liberty	Big South	18–11	12–2	15
Long Island	Northeast	16–14	11–7	16
Louisiana Tech	Sun Belt	28–4	16–0	3
Milwaukee	Horizon League	19–10	12–2	16
Old Dominion	CAA	21–8	15–1	11
Oral Roberts	Mid-Continent	20–10	11–5	15
Penn	Ivy League	23–5	14–0	15
Siena	MAAC	24–5	17–1	11
Saint Mary's	West Coast	25–5	11–3	9
Southwest Missouri State	Missouri Valley	25–5	16–2	5
Stanford	Pac-10	18–10	12–6	10
Stephen F. Austin	Southland	26–6	18–2	13
TCU	WAC	24–7	13–3	11
Toledo	MAC	25–5	15–1	12
Tulane	C-USA	22–9	12–4	10
UC Santa Barbara	Big West	22–8	12–2	14
Xavier	Atlantic 10	28–2	15–1	4

Qualifying teams – at-large

Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.

At-large bids
		Record
Qualifying school	Conference	Regular Season	Conference	Seed
Arizona State	Pacific-10	20–10	12–6	11
Arkansas	SEC	19–12	6–8	9
Baylor	Big 12	21–8	9–7	8
Clemson	ACC	20–9	10–6	5
Colorado	Big 12	21–8	11–5	6
Denver	Sun Belt	24–6	14–2	10
Drake	Missouri Valley	23–6	16–2	12
Fairfield	MAAC	25–5	16–2	12
Florida	SEC	23–5	11–3	3
Florida State	ACC	18–11	9–7	7
George Washington	Atlantic 10	22–9	14–2	7
Louisville	C-USA	19–9	14–2	13
LSU	SEC	19–10	8–6	6
Maryland	ACC	17–11	8–8	8
Michigan	Big Ten	18–11	10–6	8
Missouri	Big 12	20–9	10–6	10
N.C. State	ACC	20–10	9–7	4
Notre Dame	Big East	28–2	15–1	1
Oklahoma	Big 12	26–5	15–1	2
Oregon	Pacific-10	17–11	10–8	13
Penn State	Big Ten	19–9	11–5	6
Purdue	Big Ten	26–6	14–2	3
Rutgers	Big East	22–7	13–3	4
Tennessee	SEC	29–2	14–0	1
Texas	Big 12	20–12	7–9	8
Texas Tech	Big 12	23–6	13–3	2
Utah	Mountain West	26–3	14–0	5
Vanderbilt	SEC	21–9	8–6	3
Villanova	Big East	21–8	11–5	5
Virginia	ACC	18–13	8–8	9
Virginia Tech	Big East	21-8	11–5	7
Washington	Pacific-10	19–9	12–6	6
Wisconsin	Big Ten	18–9	12–4	7

Bids by conference

Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In nineteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from twelve of the conferences.

Bids	Conference	Teams
7	Big 12	Iowa State, Baylor, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech
6	Atlantic Coast	Duke, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, NC State, Virginia
6	Southeastern	Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
5	Big East	Connecticut, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Villanova, Virginia Tech
5	Big Ten	Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
4	Pacific-10	Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford, Washington
2	Atlantic 10	Xavier, George Washington
2	Conference USA	Tulane, Louisville
2	Metro Atlantic	Siena, Fairfield
2	Missouri Valley	SW Missouri State, Drake
2	Mountain West	Colorado State, Utah
2	Sun Belt	Louisiana Tech, Denver
1	America East	Delaware.
1	Big Sky	Idaho State
1	Big South	Liberty
1	Big West	UC Santa Barbara
1	CAA	Old Dominion
1	Horizon	Milwaukee
1	Ivy	Penn
1	Mid-American	Toledo
1	Mid-Continent	Oral Roberts
1	MEAC	Howard
1	Northeast	Long Island
1	Ohio Valley	Austin Peay
1	Patriot	Holy Cross
1	Southern	Chattanooga
1	Southland	Stephen F. Austin
1	Southwestern	Alcorn State
1	Trans America	Georgia State
1	West Coast	St. Mary's Cal.
1	WAC	TCU

2001 NCAA tournament schedule and venues

Athens

Raleigh

Storrs

Ruston

Knoxville

West Lafayette

Lubbock

Cincinnati

Notre Dame

Nashville

Ames

Salt Lake City

Norman

Piscataway

Gainesville

Durham

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2001 NCAA NCAA first and second round venues

Denver

Birmingham

Pittsburgh

Spokane

St. Louis

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2001 NCAA regionals and Final Four

In 2001, 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:

• Fourth seeded Iowa was unable to host so fifth seeded Utah hosted three first and second-round games

First and Second rounds

The following lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations:

• March 16 and 18
  • East Region
    • Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia (Host: University of Georgia)
    • Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
  • Mideast Region
    • Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee)
    • Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University)
    • United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas (Host: Texas Tech University)
    • Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (Host: Xavier University)
  • Midwest Region
    • Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State University)
  • West Region
    • O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Florida (Host: University of Florida)
• March 17 and 19
  • East Region
    • Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut)
    • Thomas Assembly Center, Ruston, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana Tech University)
  • Midwest Region
    • Joyce Center, Notre Dame, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame)
    • Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Vanderbilt University)
    • Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
  • West Region
    • Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma (Host: University of Oklahoma)
    • Louis Brown Athletic Center, Piscataway, New Jersey (Host: Rutgers University)
    • Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina (Host: Duke University)

Regional semifinals and finals

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 24 to March 26 at these sites:

• March 24 and 26
  • Midwest Regional, Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado (Host: University of Colorado)
  • Mideast Regional, Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference)
  • East Regional, Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Duquesne University)
  • West Regional, Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (Host: Washington State University)

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held March 30 and April 1 in St. Louis, Missouri at the Savvis Center (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from thirty-two states, plus Washington, D.C. Texas had the most teams with five bids. Eighteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 2001

Bids	State	Teams
5	Texas	Stephen F. Austin, TCU, Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech
4	Tennessee	Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
4	Virginia	Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia, Virginia Tech
3	California	Saint Mary's, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara
3	Colorado	Colorado State, Colorado, Denver
3	Iowa	Iowa, Iowa State, Drake
3	Louisiana	Louisiana Tech, Tulane, LSU
3	Pennsylvania	Penn, Penn State, Villanova
2	Connecticut	Connecticut, Fairfield
2	District of Columbia	Howard, George Washington
2	Florida	Florida, Florida State
2	Georgia	Georgia, Georgia State
2	Indiana	Notre Dame, Purdue
2	Missouri	SW Missouri State, Missouri
2	New York	Long Island, Siena
2	North Carolina	Duke, NC State
2	Ohio	Toledo, Xavier
2	Oklahoma	Oral Roberts, Oklahoma
2	Wisconsin	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1	Arizona	Arizona State
1	Arkansas	Arkansas
1	Delaware	Delaware
1	Idaho	Idaho State
1	Kentucky	Louisville
1	Maryland	Maryland
1	Massachusetts	Holy Cross
1	Michigan	Michigan
1	Mississippi	Alcorn State
1	New Jersey	Rutgers
1	Oregon	Oregon
1	South Carolina	Clemson
1	Utah	Utah
1	Washington	Washington

Brackets

Data source

Mideast regional – Birmingham, AL

	First round March 16					Second round March 18					Regional semifinals March 24					Regional finals March 26
	1	Tennessee	90
	16	Austin Peay	38
						1	Tennessee	92
	Knoxville, Tennessee
						9	Saint Mary's	75
	8	Texas	64
	9	Saint Mary's	68
											1	Tennessee	65
											4	Xavier	80
	5	Clemson	51
	12	Chattanooga	49
						5	Clemson	62
	Cincinnati, Ohio
						4	Xavier	77
	4	Xavier	80
	13	Louisville	52
																4	Xavier	78
																3	Purdue	88
	6	LSU	83
	11	Arizona State	66
						6	LSU	70
	West Lafayette, Indiana
						3	Purdue	73
	3	Purdue	75
	14	UC Santa Barbara	62
											3	Purdue	74
											2	Texas Tech	72
	7	Virginia Tech	77
	10	Denver	57
						7	Virginia Tech	52
	Lubbock, Texas
						2	Texas Tech	73
	2	Texas Tech	100
	15	Penn	57

West regional – Spokane, Washington

	First round March 16–17					Second round March 18–19					Regional semifinals March 24					Regional finals March 26
	1	Duke	95
	16	UW–Milwaukee	63
						1	Duke	75
	Durham, North Carolina – Sat/Mon
						9	Arkansas	54
	8	Baylor	59
	9	Arkansas	68
											1	Duke	71
											5	SW Missouri State	81
	5	SW Missouri State	89
	12	Toledo	71
						5	SW Missouri State	60
	Piscataway, New Jersey – Sat/Mon
						4	Rutgers	53
	4	Rutgers	80
	13	Stephen F. Austin	43
																5	SW Missouri State	104
																6	Washington	87
	6	Washington	67
	11	Old Dominion	65
						6	Washington	86
	Gainesville, Florida – Fri/Sun
						3	Florida	75
	3	Florida	84
	14	Holy Cross	52
											6	Washington	84
											2	Oklahoma	67
	7	George Washington	51
	10	Stanford	76
						10	Stanford	50
	Norman, Oklahoma – Sat/Mon
						2	Oklahoma	67
	2	Oklahoma	70
	15	Oral Roberts	64

Midwest regional – Denver, Colorado

	First round March 16–17					Second round March 18–19					Regional semifinals March 24					Regional finals March 26
	1	Notre Dame	98
	16	Alcorn State	49
						1	Notre Dame	88
	Notre Dame, Indiana – Sat/Mon
						8	Michigan	54
	8	Michigan	81
	9	Virginia	71
											1	Notre Dame	69
											5	Utah	54
	5	Utah	79
	12	Fairfield	57
						5	Utah	78
	Salt Lake City, Utah – Sat/Mon
						4	Iowa	69
	4	Iowa	89
	13	Oregon	82
																1	Notre Dame	72
																3	Vanderbilt	64
	6	Colorado	98
	11	Siena	78
						6	Colorado	59
	Nashville, Tennessee – Sat/Mon
						3	Vanderbilt	65
	3	Vanderbilt	83
	14	Idaho State	57
											3	Vanderbilt	84
											2	Iowa State	65
	7	Florida State	72
	10	Tulane	70
						7	Florida State	70
	Ames, Iowa – Fri/Sun
						2	Iowa State	85
	2	Iowa State	100
	15	Howard	61

East regional – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

	First round March 16–17					Second round March 18–19					Regional semifinals March 24					Regional finals March 26
	1	Connecticut	101
	16	Long Island	29
						1	Connecticut	89
	Storrs, Connecticut – Sat/Mon
						9	Colorado State	44
	8	Maryland	69
	9	Colorado State	83
											1	Connecticut	72
											4	NC State	58
	5	Villanova	66
	12	Drake	58
						5	Villanova	64
	Raleigh, North Carolina – Fri/Sun
						4	NC State	68
	4	NC State	76
	13	Delaware	57
																1	Connecticut	67
																3	Louisiana Tech	48
	6	Penn State	75
	11	TCU	77
						11	TCU	59
	Ruston, Louisiana – Sat/Mon
						3	Louisiana Tech	80
	3	Louisiana Tech	84
	14	Georgia State	48
											3	Louisiana Tech	78
											10	Missouri	67
	7	Wisconsin	68
	10	Missouri	71
						10	Missouri	78
	Athens, Georgia – Fri/Sun
						2	Georgia	65
	2	Georgia	77
	15	Liberty	48

Final Four – St. Louis, Missouri

	National semifinals March 30					National championship April 1
	ME3	Purdue	81
	W5	SW Missouri State	64
						ME3	Purdue	66
						MW1	Notre Dame	68
	MW1	Notre Dame	90
	E1	Connecticut	75

Record by conference

Fourteen 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
Big 12	7	9–7	.563	5	4	0	0	0
Southeastern	6	9–6	.600	6	2	1	0	0
Atlantic Coast	6	6–6	.500	4	2	0	0	0
Big East	5	13–4	.765	5	2	2	2	1
Big Ten	5	7–5	.583	3	1	1	1	1
Pacific-10	4	4–4	.500	2	1	1	0	0
Missouri Valley	2	4–2	.667	1	1	1	1	0
Atlantic 10	2	3–2	.600	1	1	1	0	0
Mountain West	2	3–2	.600	2	1	0	0	0
Sun Belt	2	3–2	.600	1	1	1	0	0
Conference USA	2	0–2	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Metro Atlantic	2	0–2	.000	0	0	0	0	0
West Coast	1	1–1	.500	1	0	0	0	0
Western Athletic	1	1–1	.500	1	0	0	0	0

Seventeen conferences went 0-1: America East, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Colonial, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, and Trans America

All-Tournament team

• Ruth Riley, Notre Dame
• Niele Ivey, Notre Dame
• Katie Douglas, Purdue
• Shalicia Hurns, Purdue
• Shereka Wright, Purdue

Game officials

• Dennis DeMayo (semifinal)
• Wesley Dean (semifinal)
• Nan Sisk (semifinal)
• June Courteau (semifinal)
• Greg Small (semifinal)
• Melissa Barlow (semifinal)
• Sally Bell (final)
• Scott Yarbrough (final)
• Lisa Mattingly (final)

See also

• 2001 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2001 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 2001 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2001 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2001 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament