2013 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

The 2013 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was played from March 23 through April 9, 2013. Tennessee continued its streak of making every NCAA women's basketball tournament at 32 consecutive appearances. Kansas made the regional semifinals for the second year in a row as a double-digit seed, UConn made it into the Final Four for the sixth consecutive year, the longest such streak, and Louisville became the first team seeded lower than fourth in a region to advance to the championship game. For the first time in tournament history, the same four teams were #1 seeds as in the previous year.

2013 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament

Season	2012–13
Teams	64
Finals site	New Orleans Arena New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	Connecticut Huskies (8th title, 8th title game, 14th Final Four)
Runner-up	Louisville Cardinals (2nd title game, 2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists	California Golden Bears (1st Final Four) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5th Final Four)
Winning coach	Geno Auriemma (8th title)
MOP	Breanna Stewart (Connecticut)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments «2012 2014»

Tournament procedure

Further information: NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament § Current tournament format

Pending any changes to the format, a total of 64 teams will enter the 2019 tournament. 32 automatic bids shall be awarded to each program that wins their conference's tournament. The remaining 32 bids are "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The tournament is split into four regional tournaments, and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16, with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible. The top-seeded team in each region plays the #16 team, the #2 team plays the #15, etc. (meaning where the two seeds add up to 17, that team will be assigned to play another).

The Selection Committee will also seed the entire field from 1 to 64.

2013 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues

The format is similar to the Men's Tournament, except that there are 64 teams; this in turn means there is no "First Four" round. Thirty-one automatic bids for conference champions and 33 at-large bids were available.

The subregionals were played from March 23 through March 26. Sites chosen to host first- and second-round games in 2013 include:

Baton Rouge

Boulder

College Park

College Station

Columbus

Durham

Iowa City

Knoxville

Louisville

Lubbock

Newark

Queens

Spokane

Stanford

Storrs

Waco

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2013 NCAA subregionals

First round and Second Rounds (Subregionals)

• March 23 and 25
  • Coors Events Center, Boulder, Colorado, Host: University of Colorado
  • Comcast Center, College Park, Maryland, Host: University of Maryland
  • Reed Arena, College Station, Texas, Host: Texas A&M University
  • St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio, Host: Ohio State University
  • Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee, Host: University of Tennessee
  • United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas, Host: Texas Tech University
  • McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, Washington, Host: Gonzaga University
  • Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut, Host: University of Connecticut
• March 24 and 26
  • Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Host: Louisiana State University
  • Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina, Host: Duke University
  • Carver–Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa, Host: The University of Iowa
  • KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky, Host: University of Louisville
  • Bob Carpenter Center, Newark, Delaware, Host: University of Delaware
  • Carnesecca Arena, Queens, New York, Host: St. John's University
  • Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California, Host: Stanford University
  • Ferrell Center, Waco, Texas, Host: Baylor University

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

The Regionals, named for the city rather than the region of geographic importance since 2005, held from March 30 to April 2, were at these sites:

Norfolk

Oklahoma City

Spokane

Bridgeport

New Orleans

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2013 NCAA Regionals and Final Four

• March 30 and April 1
  • Spokane Regional Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington, Host: Washington State University
  • Bridgeport Regional Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Host: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Fairfield University
• March 31 and April 2
  • Norfolk Regional Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Virginia, Host: Old Dominion University
  • Oklahoma City Regional Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Host: Big 12 Conference

A regional had been scheduled at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. However, the NCAA moved the regional to Connecticut because of a recently passed state law allowing single-game betting for professional and collegiate games. NCAA rules do not allow tournament events to be held in states that allow single-game betting.

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

• April 7 and 9
  • Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana (Hosts: University of New Orleans, Tulane University, and Southland Conference/Sun Belt Conference)

This is the third time that New Orleans has been selected as a women's Final Four location (previously, in 1991 and 2004) and second time at the Smoothie King Center (previously named Kiefer Lakefront UNO Arena); the 1991 Final Four was contested at the University of New Orleans' Lakefront Arena.

Tournament records

• Points in a Final Four game—Connecticut scored 93 points against Louisville in the Championship game, tied for the second most points scored in a Final Four game
• Winning margin—Connecticut defeated Louisville 93–60 in the Championship game; the margin of 33 points is the largest in Final Four history
• Three-pointers made—Connecticut hit 13 three-pointers in the Championship game, which is the most ever made in a Final Four game
• Assists—Connecticut recorded 24 assists in the Championship game against Louisville, the most ever recorded in a Final Four game since the NCAA began recording assists in 1985. (Broken by Connecticut in 2014)
• Blocked shots—Connecticut recorded 12 blocked shots in the Championship game against Louisville; the most ever recorded in a Final Four game
• Three-pointer percentage—Breanna Stewart hit seven of her eight three-point attempts in the final two games; the percentage of 87.5% is the highest recorded in the two Final Four games

Qualified teams

Further information: 2013 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament qualifying teams

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2013 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).

Conference	School	Last Appearance	# of Appearances
America East	Albany	2012	2
Atlantic 10	Saint Joseph's	2000	12
ACC	Duke	2012	20
Atlantic Sun	Stetson	2011	3
Big 12	Baylor	2012	12
Big East	Notre Dame	2012	20
Big Sky	Montana	2011	20
Big South	Liberty	2012	15
Big Ten	Purdue	2012	23
Big West	Cal Poly	Never	1
Colonial	Delaware	2012	4
C-USA	Tulsa	2006	2
Horizon	Green Bay	2012	14
Ivy League	Princeton	2012	4
MAAC	Marist	2012	9
MAC	Central Michigan	1984	3
MEAC	Hampton	2012	7
Missouri Valley	Wichita State	Never	1
Mountain West	Fresno State	2012	5
Northeast	Quinnipiac	Never	1
Ohio Valley	Tennessee–Martin	2012	3
Pac-12	Stanford	2012	27
Patriot	Navy	2012	3
SEC	Texas A&M	2012	10
Southern	Chattanooga	2010	11
Southland	Oral Roberts	2008	6
SWAC	Prairie View A&M	2012	5
Summit	South Dakota State	2012	5
Sun Belt	Middle Tennessee	2012	16
West Coast	Gonzaga	2012	6
WAC	Idaho	1985	2

Tournament seeds

Oklahoma City Regional Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Baylor Big 12 32–1 Tournament Champion 2 Tennessee SEC 24–7 At-Large 3 UCLA Pac-12 25–7 At-Large 4 Purdue Big Ten 24–8 Tournament Champion 5 Louisville Big East 24–8 At-Large 6 Oklahoma Big 12 22–10 At-Large 7 Syracuse Big East 24–7 At-Large 8 Florida State ACC 22–9 At-Large 9 Princeton Ivy League 22–6 Reg. Season Champion 10 Creighton Missouri Valley 24–7 At-Large 11 Central Michigan Mid American 21–11 Tournament Champion 12 Middle Tennessee Sun Belt 25–7 Tournament Champion 13 Liberty Big South 27–6 Tournament Champion 14 Stetson Atlantic Sun 24–8 Tournament Champion 15 Oral Roberts Southland 18–12 Tournament Champion 16 Prairie View A&M SWAC 17–14 Tournament Champion

Spokane Regional Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington Seed School Conference Record Berth Type 1 Stanford Pac-12 31–2 Tournament Champion 2 California Pac-12 28–3 At-Large 3 Penn State Big Ten 25–5 At-Large 4 Georgia SEC 25–6 At-Large 5 Iowa State Big 12 23–8 At-Large 6 Louisiana State SEC 20–11 At-Large 7 Texas Tech Big 12 21–10 At-Large 8 Michigan Big Ten 21–10 At-Large 9 Villanova Big East 21–10 At-Large 10 South Florida Big East 21–10 At-Large 11 Green Bay Horizon 29–2 Tournament Champion 12 Gonzaga WCC 27–5 Tournament Champion 13 Montana Big Sky 24–7 Tournament Champion 14 Cal Poly Big West 21–10 Tournament Champion 15 Fresno State Mountain West 24–8 Tournament Champion 16 Tulsa Conference USA 17–16 Tournament Champion

Norfolk Regional Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Virginia Seed School Conference Record Berth Type 1 Notre Dame Big East 31–1 Tournament Champion 2 Duke ACC 30–2 Tournament Champion 3 Texas A&M SEC 24–9 Tournament Champion 4 South Carolina SEC 24–7 At-Large 5 Colorado Pac-12 25–6 At-Large 6 Nebraska Big Ten 23–8 At-Large 7 Oklahoma State Big 12 21–10 At-Large 8 Miami (FL) ACC 21–10 At-Large 9 Iowa Big Ten 20–12 At-Large 10 DePaul Big East 21–11 At-Large 11 Chattanooga Southern 29–3 Tournament Champion 12 Kansas Big 12 18–13 At-Large 13 South Dakota State Summit 25–7 Tournament Champion 14 Wichita State Missouri Valley 24–9 Tournament Champion 15 Hampton MEAC 28–5 Tournament Champion 16 Tennessee-Martin Ohio Valley 19–14 Tournament Champion

Bridgeport Regional Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut Seed School Conference Record Berth Type 1 Connecticut Big East 29–4 At-Large 2 Kentucky SEC 27–5 At-Large 3 North Carolina ACC 28–6 At-Large 4 Maryland ACC 24–7 At-Large 5 Michigan State Big Ten 24–8 At-Large 6 Delaware Colonial 30–3 Tournament Champion 7 Dayton Atlantic 10 27–2 At-Large 8 Vanderbilt SEC 20–11 At-Large 9 Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 23–8 Tournament Champion 10 St. John's Big East 18–12 At-Large 11 West Virginia Big 12 17–13 At-Large 12 Marist MAAC 26–6 Tournament Champion 13 Quinnipiac Northeast 30–2 Tournament Champion 14 Albany America East 27–3 Tournament Champion 15 Navy Patriot 21–11 Tournament Champion 16 Idaho WAC 17–15 Tournament Champion

Kentucky vs. Navy, Oklahoma State vs. Duke, and Notre Dame vs. Iowa aired on ESPNU. Purdue vs. Louisville aired on ESPNEWS. All other first and second round games aired on ESPN2

Game summaries

Oklahoma City Regional

Almost all first-round games were won by the higher-seeded team except for Creighton, the 10 seed who upset Syracuse 61–56. The top seed, Baylor won easily, by 42 points over Prairie View A&M. The only other game within single digit margin was 6 seed Oklahoma beating Central Michigan by five points.

In the second round, three of the four games followed expectations, with the only upset being the 5 seed Louisville over 4 seed Purdue. In the third round, 2 seed Tennessee beat 6 seed Oklahoma as expected, but Louisville upset top seeded Baylor in a result some have called one of the greatest upsets in women's basketball history. Baylor won the national championship in 2012, going undefeated during the season, and had returned every starter. While they lost one game in the current regular season, point guard Odyssey Sims was injured early in that game. The team had not lost a game in two years when playing at full strength. Louisville, the third best team in the Big East, hit sixteen of 25 three-point attempts, and held Griner to 14 points, after she had averaged 33 points in the first two games.

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

Oklahoma City Regional

	First round					Second Round					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Baylor	82
	16	Prairie View A&M	40
						1	Baylor	85
	Waco, TX – Sun/Tues
						8	Florida State	47
	8	Florida State	60
	9	Princeton	44
											1	Baylor	81
											5	Louisville	82
	5	Louisville	74
	12	Middle Tennessee	49
						5	Louisville	76
	Louisville, KY – Sun/Tues
						4	Purdue	63
	4	Purdue	77
	13	Liberty	43
																5	Louisville	86
																2	Tennessee	78
	6	Oklahoma	78
	11	Central Michigan	73
						6	Oklahoma	85
	Columbus, OH – Sat/Mon
						3	UCLA	72
	3	UCLA	66
	14	Stetson	49
											6	Oklahoma	59
											2	Tennessee	74
	7	Syracuse	56
	10	Creighton	61
						10	Creighton	52
	Knoxville, TN – Sat/Mon
						2	Tennessee	68
	2	Tennessee	83
	15	Oral Roberts	62

Spokane Regional

	First round					Second Round					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Stanford	72
	16	Tulsa	56
						1	Stanford	73
	Stanford, CA – Sun/Tues
						8	Michigan	40
	8	Michigan	60
	9	Villanova	52
											1	Stanford	59
											4	Georgia	61
	5	Iowa State	72
	12	Gonzaga	60
						5	Iowa State	60
	Spokane, WA – Sat/Mon
						4	Georgia	65
	4	Georgia	70
	13	Montana	50
																4	Georgia	62*
																2	California	65
	6	LSU	75
	11	Green Bay	71
						6	LSU	71
	Baton Rouge, LA – Sun/Tues
						3	Penn State	66
	3	Penn State	85
	14	Cal Poly	55
											6	LSU	63
											2	California	73
	7	Texas Tech	70
	10	South Florida	71
						10	South Florida	78*
	Lubbock, TX – Sat/Mon
						2	California	82
	2	California	90
	15	Fresno State	76

Norfolk Regional

	First round					Second Round					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Notre Dame	97
	16	Tennessee-Martin	64
						1	Notre Dame	74
	Iowa City, IA – Sun/Tues
						9	Iowa	57
	8	Miami	53
	9	Iowa	69
											1	Notre Dame	93
											12	Kansas	63
	5	Colorado	52
	12	Kansas	67
						12	Kansas	75
	Boulder, CO – Sat/Mon
						4	South Carolina	69
	4	South Carolina	74
	13	South Dakota State	53
																1	Notre Dame	87
																2	Duke	76
	6	Nebraska	72
	11	Chattanooga	59
						6	Nebraska	74
	College Station, TX – Sat/Mon
						3	Texas A&M	63
	3	Texas A&M	71
	14	Wichita State	45
											6	Nebraska	45
											2	Duke	53
	7	Oklahoma State	73
	10	DePaul	56
						7	Oklahoma State	59
	Durham, NC – Sun/Tues
						2	Duke	68
	2	Duke	67
	15	Hampton	51

Bridgeport Regional

	First round					Second Round					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Connecticut	105
	16	Idaho	37
						1	Connecticut	77
	Storrs, CT – Sat/Mon
						8	Vanderbilt	44
	8	Vanderbilt	60
	9	Saint Joseph's	54
											1	Connecticut	76
											4	Maryland	50
	5	Michigan State	55
	12	Marist	47
						5	Michigan State	49
	College Park, MD – Sat/Mon
						4	Maryland	74
	4	Maryland	72
	13	Quinnipiac	52
																1	Connecticut	83
																2	Kentucky	53
	6	Delaware	66
	11	West Virginia	53
						6	Delaware	78
	Newark, DE – Sun/Tues
						3	North Carolina	69
	3	North Carolina	59
	14	Albany	54
											6	Delaware	62
											2	Kentucky	69
	7	Dayton	96**
	10	St. John's	90
						7	Dayton	70
	Jamaica, NY – Sun/Tues
						2	Kentucky	84
	2	Kentucky	61
	15	Navy	41

Final Four – New Orleans, Louisiana

	National semifinals April 7					National Championship Game April 9
	OKC5	Louisville	64
	SPK2	California	57
						OKC5	Louisville	60
						BRP1	Connecticut	93
	NRF1	Notre Dame	65
	BRP1	Connecticut	83

All-Tournament team

• Breanna Stewart, Connecticut
• Bria Hartley, Connecticut
• Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Connecticut
• Kelly Faris, Connecticut
• Antonita Slaughter, Louisville

Game officials

• Dennis DeMayo (semifinal)
• Charles Gonzalez (semifinal)
• Felicia Grinter (semifinal)
• Dee Kantner (semifinal)
• Tina Napier (semifinal)
• Mark Zentz (semifinal)
• Denise Brooks (final)
• Lisa Mattingly (final)
• Brenda Pantoja (final)

Record by conference

Source

Conference	Bids	Record	Win %	R64	R32	S16	E8	F4	CG	NC
Big East	8	16–7	0.696	8	4	3	3	3	2	1
Colonial	1	2–1	0.667	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
SEC	7	14–7	0.667	7	7	4	3	0	0	0
Pac-12	4	7–4	0.636	4	3	2	1	1	0	0
ACC	5	7–5	0.583	5	4	2	1	0	0	0
Big Ten	6	7–6	0.538	6	6	1	0	0	0	0
Big 12	7	8–7	0.533	7	5	3	0	0	0	0
Atlantic 10	2	1–2	0.333	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Missouri Valley	2	1–2	0.333	2	1	0	0	0	0	0

• The R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.
• The America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Conference USA, Horizon, Ivy, MEAC, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American (MAC), Mountain West, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Summit, Sun Belt, SWAC, West Coast and WAC conferences each had one representative that was eliminated in the first round.

Media coverage

Television

ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the first and second round, ESPN aired select games nationally on ESPN, ESPNU, or ESPNews. All other games were aired regionally on ESPN or ESPN2 and streamed online via ESPN3. Most of the nation got whip-a-round coverage during this time, which allowed ESPN to rotate between the games and focus the nation on the one that was the closest. The regional semifinals were split between ESPN and ESPN2, and ESPN aired the regional finals, national semifinals, and championship match.

Studio host and analysts

• Kevin Negandhi (Host)
• Kara Lawson (Analyst)
• Carolyn Peck (Analyst)

Commentary teams

First & Second Rounds Saturday/Monday

• Marc Kestecher and LaChina Robinson – College Park, Maryland
• Clay Matvick and Swin Cash – Columbus, Ohio
• Bob Wischusen and Nell Fortner – Knoxville, Tennessee
• Dave O'Brien and Doris Burke – Storrs, Connecticut
• Mark Jones and Fran Fraschilla – Boulder, Colorado
• Carter Blackburn and Maria Taylor – College Station, Texas
• Cara Capuano and Stephen Bardo – Lubbock, Texas
• Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham – Spokane, Washington

Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight Saturday/Monday

• Beth Mowins, Doris Burke, and Holly Rowe – Bridgeport, Connecticut
• Dave Pasch, Debbie Antonelli, and LaChina Robinson – Spokane, Washington

Final Four

• Dave O'Brien, Doris Burke, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe – New Orleans, Louisiana

First & Second Rounds Sunday/Tuesday

• Pam Ward and Rebecca Lobo – Newark, Delaware
• Joe Davis and Debbie Antonelli – Durham, North Carolina
• Melissa Lee and Brooke Weisbrod – Louisville, Kentucky
• Bob Picozzi and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude – Queens, New York
• Tom Hart and Krista Blunk – Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Holly Rowe and Brenda VanLengen – Iowa City, Iowa
• Dave Pasch and Mary Murphy – Stanford, California
• Beth Mowins and Stephanie White – Waco, Texas

Sweet Sixteen & Elite Eight Sunday/Tuesday

• Dave O'Brien, Stephanie White, and Jeannine Edwards – Norfolk, Virginia
• Pam Ward, Rebecca Lobo, and Maria Taylor – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Championship

• Dave O'Brien, Doris Burke, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe – New Orleans, Louisiana

Radio

Dial Global Sports had exclusive radio rights from the regional finals on through the championship.

Regional Finals Monday

• John Sadak and Ann Schatz – Bridgeport, Connecticut
• Roxy Bernstein and Mary Murphy – Spokane, Washington

Final Four

• Dave Ryan, Debbie Antonelli, and Krista Blunk – New Orleans, Louisiana

Regional Finals Tuesday

• Dave Ryan and Krista Blunk – Norfolk, Virginia
• Craig Way and Ann Meyers Drysdale – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Championship

• Dave Ryan, Debbie Antonelli, and Krista Blunk – New Orleans, Louisiana

See also

• NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
• 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2013 National Invitation Tournament
• 2013 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2013 Women's Basketball Invitational
• 2013 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2013 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 2013 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2013 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament