NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament

NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
Current season, competition or edition:; 2024 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1982
No. of teams	64
Country	NCAA Division II (U.S.)
Most recent; champion(s)	Minnesota State (2nd)
TV partner(s)	CBS Sports Network
Official website	NCAA.com

The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is an annual tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II women's college basketball national champion. Basketball was one of 12 women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA and Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) sought for sole governance of women's collegiate athletics. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championships; however, after a year of dual women's championships at the national level, the AIAW disbanded.

The 2020 Elite Eight was due to be held at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, AL before the NCAA called off the tournament due to the COVID-19 outbreak.^[1]

The field was reduced to 48 in 2021 and returned to the normal 64 in 2022.

Minnesota State are the defending national champions.

Qualification

A total of 64 bids are normally available for each tournament: 23 automatic bids (awarded to the champion of each Division II all-sports conference) and 41 at-large bids. Due to COVID-19 issues, the 2020 tournament was canceled, and the 2021 tournament was reduced to 48 teams when nine all-sports conferences chose not to compete in women's basketball in 2020–21.

The bids are allocated evenly among the eight NCAA-designated regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West), each of which contains either two or three of the 23 Division II conferences that sponsor women's basketball. Each region normally consists of two or three automatic qualifiers (the teams who won their respective conference tournaments) and five or six at-large bids (awarded regardless of conference affiliation).

Conference tournaments

Region	Conference	Tournament	Debut	Most titles	Current champion (2024)
Atlantic^[a]	CIAA	Tournament	1975	Shaw (11)	Fayetteville State (5th)
	Mountain East	Tournament	2014	Glenville State (5)	Fairmont State (1st)
	PSAC	Tournament	1980	California (PA) (7)	Gannon (4th)
Central	Great American	Tournament	2012	Southwestern Oklahoma State (4)	Henderson State (1st)
	MIAA	Tournament	1983	Emporia State and Washburn (9)	Pittsburg State (1st)
	NSIC	Tournament	2000	Minnesota–Duluth (8)	Minnesota State (1st)
East	CACC	Tournament	2002	Holy Family (7)	Jefferson (5th)
	East Coast	Tournament	1991	Saint Rose (7)	Daemen (4th)
	Northeast-10	Tournament	1982	Bentley (23)	Bentley (23rd)
Midwest	GLIAC	Tournament	1991	Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech (8)	Grand Valley State (4th)
	GLVC	Tournament	1998	Drury (10)	Lewis (4th)
	G-MAC	Tournament	2013	Ashland (3)	Ashland (3rd)
South^[b]	Gulf South	Tournament	1983	Delta State (16)	West Georgia (3rd)
	SIAC	Tournament	1979	Fort Valley State (11)	Miles (1st)
	Sunshine State	Tournament	1982	Florida Southern (12)	Eckerd (3rd)
South Central	Lone Star	Tournament	1983	West Texas A&M (16)	Texas Woman's (2nd)
South Central	RMAC	Tournament	1985	CSU Pueblo and Nebraska–Kearney (6)	Regis (4th)
Southeast	Carolinas	Tournament	1996	Anderson (SC) and Belmont Abbey (6)	UNC Pembroke (2nd)
	Peach Belt	Tournament	1992	Three teams (6)	Georgia Southwestern (2nd)
	SAC	Tournament	1991	Wingate Bulldogs (10)	Wingate (10th)
West	CCAA	Tournament	1986	Cal Poly Pomona (11)	Cal State San Marcos (2nd)
	GNAC	Tournament	2011	Alaska Anchorage (6)	Western Washington (4th)
	Pacific West	Tournament	2013	Azusa Pacific and Hawaii Pacific (4)	Azusa Pacific (4th)

^ Also includes D-II independent Salem
^ Also includes D-II independents UPR Bayamón, UPR Mayagüez, and UPR Río Piedras

Results

NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship
Year	Site (Host Team)	Championship			Third Place Match / Semifinalists
Year	Site (Host Team)	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place
1982 Details	Springfield, MA (Springfield Civic Center)	Cal Poly Pomona	93–74	Tuskegee	Mount St. Mary's	73–62	Oakland
1983 Details		Virginia Union	73–60	Cal Poly Pomona	Southern Connecticut State Central Missouri State
1984 Details		Central Missouri State	80–73	Virginia Union	Dayton Valdosta State
1985 Details		Cal Poly Pomona (2)	80–69	Central Missouri State	Hampton Mercer
1986 Details		Cal Poly Pomona (3)	70–63	North Dakota State	Delta State Philadelphia Textile
1987 Details		New Haven	77–75	Cal Poly Pomona	Northern Kentucky Pitt Johnstown
1988 Details	Fargo, ND (Bison Sports Arena)	Hampton	65–48	West Texas State	Delta State North Dakota State
1989 Details	Cleveland, MS (Walter Sillers Coliseum)	Delta State	88–58	Cal Poly Pomona	Bentley	83–81	Central Missouri State
1990 Details	Pomona, CA (Kellogg Gymnasium)	Delta State (2)	77–43	Bentley	Cal Poly Pomona	87–68	Oakland
1991 Details	Cape Girardeau, MO (Show Me Center)	North Dakota State	81–74	Southeast Missouri State	Bentley	60–58	Norfolk State
1992 Details	Fargo, ND (Bison Sports Arena)	Delta State (3)	65–63	North Dakota State	Portland State	72–69	Bentley
1993 Details	Waltham, MA (Dana Athletic Center)	North Dakota State (2)	95–63	Delta State	Michigan Tech	74–60	Bentley
1994 Details	Fargo, ND (Bison Sports Arena)	North Dakota State (3)	89–56	Cal State San Bernardino	North Alabama	79–75	Bellarmine
1995 Details		North Dakota State (4)	98–85	Portland State	Missouri Western State	76–66	Stonehill
1996 Details		North Dakota State (5)	104–78	Shippensburg	Abilene Christian	83–65	Delta State
1997 Details	Grand Forks, ND (Hyslop Sports Center)	North Dakota	94–78	Southern Indiana	UC Davis	76–61	Bentley
1998 Details	Pine Bluff, AR (H.O. Clemmons Arena)	North Dakota (2)	92–76	Emporia State	Francis Marion Northern Michigan
1999 Details		North Dakota (3)	80–63	Arkansas Tech	Emporia State Northern Kentucky
2000 Details		Northern Kentucky	71–62 (OT)	North Dakota State	Columbus State Western Washington
2001 Details	Rochester, MN (Mayo Civic Center)	Cal Poly Pomona (4)	87–80 (OT)	North Dakota	Shippensburg Columbus State
2002 Details	Rochester, MN (Mayo Civic Center)	Cal Poly Pomona (5)	74–62	Southeastern Oklahoma	Glenville State South Dakota State
2003 Details	St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena)	South Dakota State	65–50	Northern Kentucky	Bentley California (PA)
2004 Details	St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena)	California (PA)	75–72	Drury	Henderson State Merrimack
2005 Details	Hot Springs, AR (Summit Arena)	Washburn	70–53	Seattle Pacific	Central Arkansas Merrimack
2006 Details	Hot Springs, AR (Summit Arena)	Grand Valley State	58–52	American International	Chico State St. Cloud State
2007 Details	Kearney, NE (Health and Sports Center)	Southern Connecticut State	61–45	Florida Gulf Coast	Clayton State UC San Diego
2008 Details	Kearney, NE (Health and Sports Center)	Northern Kentucky (2)	63–58	South Dakota	Alaska Anchorage Delta State
2009 Details	San Antonio, TX (Bill Greehey Arena)	Minnesota State	103–94	Franklin Pierce	Alaska Anchorage Delta State
2010 Details	St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena)	Emporia State	65–53	Fort Lewis	Franklin Pierce Gannon
2011 Details	St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena)	Clayton State	69–50	Michigan Tech	Shaw Northwest Missouri State
2012 Details	San Antonio, TX (Bill Greehey Arena)	Shaw	88–82 (OT)	Ashland	Bentley Rollins
2013 Details	San Antonio, TX (Bill Greehey Arena)	Ashland	71–56	Dowling	Augustana (SD) Western Washington
2014 Details	Erie, PA (Erie Insurance Arena)	Bentley	73–65	West Texas A&M	Cal Poly Pomona Nova Southeastern
2015 Details	Sioux Falls, SD (Sanford Pentagon)	California (PA) (2)	86–69	California Baptist	Emporia State Limestone
2016 Details	Indianapolis, IN (Bankers Life Fieldhouse)	Lubbock Christian	78–73	Alaska Anchorage	Bentley Grand Valley State
2017 Details	Columbus, OH (Alumni Hall)	Ashland (2)	93–77	Virginia Union	California Baptist Harding
2018 Details	Sioux Falls, SD (Sanford Pentagon)	Central Missouri (2)	66–52^[2]	Ashland	Indiana (PA) Union (TN)
2019 Details	Columbus, OH (Alumni Hall)	Lubbock Christian (2)	95–85 (2OT)	Southwestern Oklahoma	Drury Indiana (PA)
2020 Details	Birmingham, AL (Birmingham CrossPlex)	Canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic
2021 Details	Columbus, OH (Alumni Hall)	Lubbock Christian (3)	69–59	Drury	Central Missouri Lander
2022 Details	Birmingham, AL (Birmingham CrossPlex)	Glenville State	85–72	Western Washington	Grand Valley State North Georgia
2023 Details	Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center)^[a]	Ashland (3)	78–67	Minnesota–Duluth	Catawba Glenville State
2024 Details	St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena)	Minnesota State (2)	89–73	Texas Woman's	Cal State San Marcos Ferris State
2025	Pittsburgh, PA (UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse)
2026	Pittsburgh, PA (UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse)

^ Only the final game was held in Dallas. The remainder of the Elite Eight was held at St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Champions

Cal Poly Pomona

NDSU

Delta State

Lubbock Christian

UND

Ashland

Central Missouri

California

NKU

Minnesota State

Bentley

Clayton State

Emporia State

Glenville State

Grand Valley State

HU

New Haven

Shaw

SDSU

SCSU

VUU

Washburn

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Schools that have won the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship
5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Active programs

Team	Titles	Years
Cal Poly Pomona	5	1982, 1985, 1986, 2001, 2002
Ashland	3	2013, 2017, 2023
Lubbock Christian	3	2016, 2019, 2021
Delta State	3	1989, 1990, 1992
Minnesota State	2	2009, 2024
Central Missouri	2	1984, 2018
California (PA)	2	2004, 2015
Glenville State	1	2022
Bentley	1	2014
Shaw	1	2012
Clayton State	1	2011
Emporia State	1	2010
Southern Connecticut	1	2007
Grand Valley State	1	2006
Washburn	1	2005
New Haven	1	1987
Virginia Union	1	1983

Former programs

Team	Titles	Years
North Dakota State^{[Note 1]}	5	1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
North Dakota^{[Note 1]}	3	1997, 1998, 1999
Northern Kentucky^{[Note 1]}	2	2000, 2008
South Dakota State^{[Note 1]}	1	2003
Hampton^{[Note 1]}	1	1988

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e As of 2023–24, this school is a current member of NCAA Division I.

References

^ "Championship Central". National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2019-03-04. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
^ "Central Missouri stuns Ashland to win NCAA Div. II Championship". Argus Leader. Retrieved 2018-03-28.

External links

[2] Also includes D-II independent Salem

[3] Also includes D-II independents UPR Bayamón, UPR Mayagüez, and UPR Río Piedras

[5] Only the final game was held in Dallas. The remainder of the Elite Eight was held at St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri.

[CurrentDI-6] As of 2023–24, this school is a current member of NCAA Division I.

[1] "Championship Central". National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2019-03-04. Retrieved 2020-03-13.

[4] "Central Missouri stuns Ashland to win NCAA Div. II Championship". Argus Leader. Retrieved 2018-03-28.

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