2008 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

2008 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament

2008 Women's Final Four logo
Teams	64
Finals site	St. Pete Times Forum Tampa, Florida
Champions	Tennessee Volunteers (8th title, 13th title game, 18th Final Four)
Runner-up	Stanford Cardinal (3rd title game, 7th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Connecticut Huskies (9th Final Four) LSU Tigers (5th Final Four)
Winning coach	Pat Summitt (8th title)
MOP	Candace Parker
Top scorer	Candice Wiggins (Stanford) (151 points)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments «2007 2009»

The 2008 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament involved 64 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the 2007–08 national champion of women's NCAA Division I college basketball. It commenced on March 22, 2008, and concluded when the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers defeated the Stanford University Cardinal 64–48 on April 8, 2008, at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.^[1]

The preliminary rounds largely followed the seeding, with every number one and number two seed advancing to the regional finals. In the Greensboro and Oklahoma City Regionals, the top seeds Connecticut and Tennessee won respectively to head to the Final Four. Connecticut had to beat Big East rival Rutgers to make the advance. Tennessee' Candace Parker was injured in the game against Texas A&M and had to leave twice, and be fitted with a sleeve to stabilize her shoulder. She still scored 26 points in a game which was won by only eight.^[2]

In the other two regionals, the two seeds prevailed. In the New Orleans Regional, LSU beat North Carolina to reach the Final Four for the fifth consecutive time, tying a record set by Connecticut between 2000 and 2004. In the Spokane Regional, Stanford beat the top seed Maryland to go to their first Final Four since 1997, but one that would be the first of a five-year string of consecutive Final Four appearances.

Connecticut and Stanford met in one semifinal. They had played each other earlier in the season at the Paradise Jam held in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands in November. The Huskies had won that game 66–54, but the team had been at full strength. Subsequent to that game Mel Thomas and Kalana Greene both starters, had season ending injuries. Connecticut cut a Stanford lead to a single point, 47–46 when Candice Wiggins hit two three-pointers to start a 10–0 run. Wiggins would go on to score 25 points in the game and would be named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association national player of the year. The Cardinal went on to win the game, and advance to the national championship.^[3]

The game between SEC foes Tennessee and LSU didn't win style points, and was described by the New York Times as "one of the ugliest games played this or any season". Tennessee led early opening up a ten-point lead at 37–27, but LSU responded with a 10–0 run to tie the game. With seconds left in the game LSU hit two free throws to take a one-point lead. Tennessee inbounded the ball to Candace Parker who passed it inside to Nicky Anosike, but her shot was deflected to Alexis Hornbuckle, who had missed seven of her field goal attempts. With under one second remaining, Hornhuckle caught the deflection and hit the winning basket. The Lady Vols won 47–46, as the two teams combined scores set an NCAA record for the fewest points scored in a semifinal game.^[4]

LSU fell to 0–5 in the Women's Final Four. Combined with the 0–6 mark of the men's team, LSU's 0-11 all-time combined Final Four mark was the worst for schools which have made multiple appearances in both the men's and women's Final Fours. LSU's women ended this drought by defeating Virginia Tech in the 2023 national semifinals.

After the drama of a one-point game in the semifinal, the final game was anticlimactic. The Lady Vols pulled out to a 30–19 lead, and the Stanford Cardinal were unable to close the gap. The win gave Tennessee their second consecutive national championship and a career total of 982 wins, the most of any coach in basketball, men's or women's, along with eight national championships for coach Pat Summitt.^[5]

Once again, the system was the same as the Division I men's basketball tournament, with the exception that only 64 teams received bids, and there was no play-in game. Automatic bids were secured by 31 conference champions and 33 at-large bids.

The subregionals, which once again used the "pod system", keeping most teams at or close to the home cities, were held from March 22 to March 25 at these locations:^[1]

• The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
• Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana State University)
• Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut (Host: Fairfield University)
• Comcast Center, College Park, Maryland (Host: University of Maryland, College Park)
• Wells Fargo Arena at the Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, Iowa (Host: Iowa State University)
• Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Virginia (Host: Old Dominion University)
• Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California (Host: Stanford University)
• Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University)

This was the fourth and final year that eight sites hosted subregional games. The committee, in September 2007, voted to return to the 16-site format for the early rounds starting with the 2009 tournament.

The regions (once again named after the host cities, a practice begun in 2005) were held from March 29 to April 1 in the following regions:^[1]

• Greensboro Regional, Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)
• New Orleans Regional, New Orleans Arena, New Orleans (Host: University of New Orleans)
• Oklahoma City Regional, Ford Center, Oklahoma City (Host: University of Oklahoma)
• Spokane Regional, Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (Host: Washington State University)

The regional winners advanced to the Final Four, held April 6 and 8, 2008 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, in Tampa, Florida, hosted by the University of South Florida.^[1] USF and the Tampa Bay Times Forum also hosted a first and second round Men's Tournament subregional on March 21 and 23. Also, akin to the men's tournament, at the regional sites, the NCAA installed floors that were custom made for the first time.

• Rebounds—Sylvia Fowles, LSU, recorded 20 rebounds in the semifinal game against Tennessee, most ever recorded in an NCAA semifinal game.
• Points—Tennessee and LSU combined for 93 points (47–46) setting the record for fewest points scored by both teams combined in a semifinal game.
• Free throws—Tennessee hit two of seven free throw attempts in the national semifinal game against LSU, the lowest free throw percentage (28.6%) recorded in an NCAA Tournament game.
• Final Four appearances—LSU appeared in their fifth consecutive Final Four, tied for the longest such streak, with Connecticut (2000–04)
• Free throws—Kansas State made 21 of 21 free throw attempts, tied with several others for 100% free throw shooting percentage in an NCAA Tournament game, while the 21 completions is the largest number of completions.^[6]

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA tournament.^[6] Of these thirty-one automatic bids, a total of 30 teams receive automatic bids for winning their conference tournament championship. The Ivy League does not hold a tournament, so its regular season champion receives the automatic bid. Because Cornell, Dartmouth, and Harvard finished in a tie for first place, Ivy League rules called for a two-game stepladder playoff. Dartmouth defeated Harvard in the first game and went on to face Cornell for the automatic bid, which Cornell won 64–47.

Automatic Bids
		Record
Qualifying School	Conference	Regular Season	Conference	Seed
Bucknell University	Patriot League[7]	16–15	8–6	16
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	Southern Conference[8]	29–3	18–0	12
Cleveland State University	Horizon League	19–13	10–8	15
University of Connecticut	Big East[9]	32–1	15–1	1
Coppin State University	MEAC	22–11	13–3	16
Cornell University	Ivy League	20–8	11–3	16
East Tennessee State University	Atlantic Sun Conference[10]	21–11	14–2	14
California State University, Fresno	WAC	22–10	14–2	14
University of Hartford	America East	27–5	14–2	10
Illinois State University	Missouri Valley Conference	26–6	13–5	13
Jackson State University	SWAC	18–13	13–5	15
Liberty University	Big South Conference	28–3	11–1	12
Marist College	MAAC[11]	31–2	18–0	7
Miami University	MAC	23–10	12–4	13
University of Montana	Big Sky Conference	25–6	13–3	13
Murray State University	Ohio Valley Conference[12]	24–7	15–5	14
University of New Mexico	Mountain West	20–12	9–7	12
University of North Carolina	ACC[13]	30–2	14–0	1
Old Dominion University	Colonial	29–4	17–1	5
Oral Roberts University	Summit League[14]	19–13	10–8	16
Purdue University	Big Ten[15]	18–14	11–7	9
Robert Morris University	Northeast Conference	23–9	16–2	15
University of San Diego	West Coast Conference[16]	19–12	7–7	14
Southern Methodist University	Conference USA[17]	24–8	11–5	12
Stanford University	Pac-10[18]	30–3	16–2	2
University of Tennessee	SEC[19]	30–2	13–1	1
Texas A&M University	Big XII Conference	26–7	11–5	2
University of California, Santa Barbara	Big West Conference	23–7	15–1	13
University of Texas at San Antonio	Southland	23–9	12–4	15
Western Kentucky University	Sun Belt Conference[20]	26–7	16–2	10
Xavier University	Atlantic 10[21]	24–8	11–3	9

Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.^[6]

At-large Bids
		Record
Qualifying School	Conference	Regular Season	Conference	Seed
Arizona State University	Pacific-10	21–10	14–4	6
Auburn University	Southeastern	20–11	7–7	11
Baylor University	Big 12	24–6	12–4	3
University of California, Berkeley	Pacific-10	26–6	15–3	3
DePaul University	Big East	20–11	8–8	10
Duke University	Atlantic Coast	23–9	10–4	3
Florida State University	Atlantic Coast	18–13	7–7	11
The George Washington University	Atlantic 10	25–6	12–2	6
University of Georgia	Southeastern	22–9	8–6	8
Georgia Institute of Technology	Atlantic Coast	22–9	7–7	10
University of Iowa	Big Ten	21–10	13–5	9
Iowa State University	Big 12	20–12	7–9	7
Kansas State University	Big 12	21–9	13–3	5
University of Louisville	Big East	24–9	10–6	4
Louisiana State University	Southeastern	27–5	14–0	2
University of Maryland, College Park	Atlantic Coast	30–3	13–1	1
University of Minnesota	Big Ten	20–11	11–7	9
University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Big 12	20–11	9–7	8
University of Notre Dame	Big East	23–8	11–5	5
Ohio State University	Big Ten	22–8	13–5	6
University of Oklahoma	Big 12	21–8	11–5	4
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater	Big 12	25–7	11–5	3
University of Pittsburgh	Big East	22–10	10–6	6
Rutgers University	Big East	24–6	14–2	2
Syracuse University	Big East	22–8	10–6	7
Temple University	Atlantic 10	21–12	12–2	11
University of Texas at Austin	Big 12	21–12	7–9	8
University of Utah	Mountain West	27–4	16–0	8
University of Texas at El Paso	Conference USA	27–3	16–0	7
Vanderbilt University	Southeastern	23–8	11–3	4
University of Virginia	Atlantic Coast	23–9	10–4	4
West Virginia University	Big East	24–7	12–4	5
University of Wyoming	Mountain West	24–6	12–4	11

Greensboro Regional Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Connecticut Big East 32–1 Automatic 2 Rutgers Big East 24–6 At-large 3 California Pac-10 26–6 At-large 4 Virginia ACC 23–9 At-large 5 Old Dominion CAA 29–4 Automatic 6 George Washington Atlantic 10 25–6 At-large 7 Iowa State Big 12 20–12 At-large 8 Texas Big 12 21–12 At-large 9 Minnesota Big 10 20–11 At-large 10 Georgia Tech ACC 22–9 At-large 11 Auburn SEC 20–11 At-large 12 Liberty Big South 28–3 Automatic 13 UC Santa Barbara Big West 23–7 Automatic 14 San Diego West Coast 19–12 Automatic 15 Robert Morris Northeast 23–9 Automatic 16 Cornell Ivy 20–8 Automatic

New Orleans Regional New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Maryland ACC 30–3 At-large 2 Stanford Pac-10 30–3 Automatic 3 Baylor Big 12 24–6 At-large 4 Vanderbilt SEC 23–8 At-large 5 West Virginia Big East 24–7 At-large 6 Pittsburgh Big East 22–10 At-large 7 UTEP Conference USA 27–3 At-large 8 Nebraska Big 12 20–11 At-large 9 Xavier Atlantic 10 24–8 Automatic 10 Western Kentucky Sun Belt 26–7 Automatic 11 Wyoming Mountain West 24–6 At-large 12 New Mexico Mountain West 20–12 Automatic 13 Montana Big Sky 25–6 Automatic 14 Fresno State WAC 22–10 Automatic 15 Cleveland State Horizon 19–13 Automatic 16 Coppin State MEAC 22–11 Automatic

Oklahoma City Regional Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 North Carolina ACC 30–2 Automatic 2 LSU SEC 27–5 At-large 3 Oklahoma State Big 12 25–7 At-large 4 Louisville Big East 24–9 At-large 5 Kansas State Big 12 21–9 At-large 6 Ohio State Big Ten 22–8 At-large 7 Marist MAAC 31–2 Automatic 8 Georgia SEC 22–9 At-large 9 Iowa Big Ten 21–10 At-large 10 DePaul Big East 20–11 At-large 11 Florida State ACC 18–13 At-large 12 Chattanooga Southern 29–3 Automatic 13 Miami (OH) MAC 23–10 Automatic 14 East Tennessee State Atlantic Sun 21–11 Automatic 15 Jackson State SWAC 18–13 Automatic 16 Bucknell Patriot 16–15 Automatic

Spokane Regional Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Tennessee SEC 30–2 Automatic 2 Texas A&M Big 12 26–7 Automatic 3 Duke ACC 23–9 At-large 4 Oklahoma Big 12 21–8 At-large 5 Notre Dame Big East 23–8 At-large 6 Arizona State Pac-10 21–10 At-large 7 Syracuse Big East 22–8 At-large 8 Utah Mountain West 27–4 At-large 9 Purdue Big Ten 18–14 Automatic 10 Hartford America East 27–5 Automatic 11 Temple Atlantic 10 21–12 At-large 12 SMU Conference USA 24–8 Automatic 13 Illinois State Missouri Valley 26–6 Automatic 14 Murray State Ohio Valley 24–7 Automatic 15 UTSA Southland 23–9 Automatic 16 Oral Roberts Summit 19–13 Automatic

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.^[6]

Bids	Conference	Teams
8	Big 12	Texas A&M, Baylor, Iowa St., Kansas St., Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Texas
8	Big East	Connecticut, DePaul, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, West Virginia
6	Atlantic Coast	North Carolina, Duke, Florida St., Georgia Tech, Maryland., Virginia
5	Southeastern	Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Vanderbilt
4	Big Ten	Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio St.
3	Atlantic 10	Xavier, George Washington, Temple
3	Mountain West	New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
3	Pacific-10	Stanford, Arizona St., California
2	Conference USA	SMU, UTEP
1	America East	Hartford
1	Atlantic Sun	East Tenn. St.
1	Big Sky	Montana
1	Big South	Liberty
1	Big West	UC Santa Barb.
1	Colonial	Old Dominion
1	Horizon	Cleveland St.
1	Ivy	Cornell
1	Metro Atlantic	Marist
1	Mid-American	Miami Ohio
1	Mid-Eastern	Coppin St.
1	Missouri Valley	Illinois St.
1	Northeast	Robert Morris
1	Ohio Valley	Murray St.
1	Patriot	Bucknell
1	Southern	Chattanooga
1	Southland	UTSA
1	Southwestern	Jackson St.
1	Summit	Oral Roberts
1	Sun Belt	Western Kỳ.
1	West Coast	San Diego
1	Western Athletic	Fresno St.

The sixty-four teams came from thirty states, plus Washington, D.C. Texas had the most teams with six bids. Twenty states did not have any teams receiving bids.^[6]

Bids	State	Teams
6	Texas	SMU, Texas A&M, UTSA, Baylor, Texas, UTEP
5	California	Fresno St., San Diego, Stanford, UC Santa Barb., California
4	Ohio	Cleveland St., Miami Ohio, Xavier, Ohio St.
4	Pennsylvania	Bucknell, Robert Morris, Pittsburgh, Temple
4	Tennessee	Chattanooga, East Tenn. St., Tennessee, Vanderbilt
3	Kentucky	Murray St., Western Kỳ., Louisville
3	New York	Cornell, Marist, Syracuse
3	Oklahoma	Oral Roberts, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St.
3	Virginia	Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia
2	Connecticut	Connecticut, Hartford
2	Georgia	Georgia, Georgia Tech
2	Illinois	Illinois St., DePaul
2	Indiana	Purdue, Notre Dame
2	Iowa	Iowa, Iowa St.
2	Maryland	Coppin St., Maryland.
2	North Carolina	North Carolina, Duke
1	Utah	Utah
1	Alabama	Auburn
1	Arizona	Arizona St.
1	District of Columbia	George Washington
1	Florida	Florida St.
1	Kansas	Kansas St.
1	Louisiana	LSU
1	Minnesota	Minnesota
1	Mississippi	Jackson St.
1	Montana	Montana
1	Nebraska	Nebraska
1	New Jersey	Rutgers
1	New Mexico	New Mexico
1	West Virginia	West Virginia
1	Wyoming	Wyoming

Data source^[22]
NOTE: All initials used are the same in the official NCAA Bracket in External Links listed below.

	First round March 22–23					Second round March 24–25					Regional semifinals March 30					Regional finals April 1
	1	Connecticut	89
	16	Cornell	47
						1	Connecticut	89
	Bridgeport, Connecticut
						8	Texas	55
	8	Texas	72
	9	Minnesota	55
											1	Connecticut	78
											5	Old Dominion	63
	5	Old Dominion	82
	12	Liberty	62
						5	Old Dominion	88*
	Norfolk, Virginia
						4	Virginia	85
	4	Virginia	86
	13	UC Santa Barbara	52
																1	Connecticut	66
																2	Rutgers	56
	6	George Washington	66
	11	Auburn	56
						6	George Washington	55
	Stanford, California
						3	California	53
	3	California	77
	14	San Diego	60
											6	George Washington	42
											2	Rutgers	53
	7	Iowa St.	58
	10	Georgia Tech	55
						7	Iowa St.	58
	Des Moines, Iowa
						2	Rutgers	69
	2	Rutgers	85
	15	Robert Morris	42

	First round March 22–23					Second round March 24–25					Regional semifinals March 29					Regional finals March 31
	1	Maryland	80
	16	Coppin St.	66
						1	Maryland	76
	College Park, Maryland
						8	Nebraska	64
	8	Nebraska	61
	9	Xavier	58
											1	Maryland	80
											4	Vanderbilt	66
	5	West Virginia	61
	12	New Mexico	60
						5	West Virginia	46
	Albuquerque, New Mexico
						4	Vanderbilt	64
	4	Vanderbilt	75
	13	Montana	62
																1	Maryland	87
																2	Stanford	98
	6	Pittsburgh	63
	11	Wyoming	58
						6	Pittsburgh	67
	Albuquerque, New Mexico
						3	Baylor	59
	3	Baylor	88
	14	Fresno St.	67
											6	Pittsburgh	53
											2	Stanford	72
	7	UTEP	92
	10	Western KY	60
						7	UTEP	54
	Stanford, California
						2	Stanford	88
	2	Stanford	85
	15	Cleveland St.	47

	First round March 22–23					Second round March 24–25					Regional semifinals March 29					Regional finals March 31
	1	North Carolina	85
	16	Bucknell	50
						1	North Carolina	80
	Norfolk, Virginia
						8	Georgia	66
	8	Georgia	67
	9	Iowa	61
											1	North Carolina	78
											4	Louisville	74
	5	Kansas St.	69
	12	Chattanooga	59
						5	Kansas St.	63
	Bridgeport, Connecticut
						4	Louisville	80
	4	Louisville	81
	13	Miami (Ohio)	67
																1	North Carolina	50
																2	LSU	56
	6	Ohio St.	49
	11	Florida St.	60
						11	Florida St.	72
	Des Moines, Iowa
						3	Oklahoma St.	73*
	3	Oklahoma St.	85
	14	East Tenn. St.	73
											3	Oklahoma St.	52
											2	LSU	67
	7	Marist	76
	10	DePaul	57
						7	Marist	49
	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
						2	LSU	68
	2	LSU	66
	15	Jackson St.	32

	First round March 22–23					Second round March 24–25					Regional semifinals March 30					Regional finals April 1
	1	Tennessee	94
	16	Oral Roberts	55
						1	Tennessee	78
	West Lafayette, Indiana
						9	Purdue	52
	8	Utah	59
	9	Purdue	66
											1	Tennessee	74
											5	Notre Dame	64
	5	Notre Dame	75
	12	Southern Methodist	62
						5	Notre Dame	79*
	West Lafayette, Indiana
						4	Oklahoma	75
	4	Oklahoma	69
	13	Illinois State	61
																1	Tennessee	53
																2	Texas A&M	45
	6	Arizona State	61
	11	Temple	54
						6	Arizona St.	59
	College Park, Maryland
						3	Duke	67
	3	Duke	78
	14	Murray State	57
											3	Duke	63
											2	Texas A&M	77
	7	Syracuse	55
	10	Hartford	59
						10	Hartford	39
	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
						2	Texas A&M	63
	2	Texas A&M	91
	15	Texas-San Antonio	52

	National Semifinals April 6					National Championship April 8
	GRE1	Connecticut	73
	SPO2	Stanford	82
						SPO2	Stanford	48
						OKC1	Tennessee	64
	NOR2	LSU	46
	OKC1	Tennessee	47

Initials: GRE-Greensboro; SPO-Spokane; NOR-New Orleans; OKC-Oklahoma City.

* – Denotes overtime period

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Sweet Sixteen	Elite Eight	Final Four	Championship Game
Colonial	1	2–1	0.667	1	-	-	-
Big East	8	14–8	0.636	5	2	1	-
SEC	5	13–4	0.765	3	2	2	1
ACC	6	10–6	0.625	3	2	-	-
Pac-10	3	7–3	0.700	1	1	1	1
Big 12	8	11–8	0.579	2	1	-	-
Atlantic 10	3	2–3	0.400	1	-	-	-
MAAC	1	1–1	0.500	-	-	-	-
America East	1	1–1	0.500	-	-	-	-
Big Ten	4	1–4	0.200	-	-	-	-
Mountain West	3	0–3	0.000	-	-	-	-
Conference USA	2	1–2	0.500	-	-	-	-

Nineteen conferences — Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAC, MEAC, Missouri Valley Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt Conference, Summit League, WAC and West Coast Conference — went 0–1.

• Candace Parker, Tennessee
• Shannon Bobbitt, Tennessee
• Nicky Anosike, Tennessee
• Candice Wiggins, Stanford
• Sylvia Fowles, LSU ^[6]

• Tina Napier(semifinal)
• Clarke Stevens (semifinal)
• Lisa Jones (semifinal)
• June Courteau (semifinal)
• Beverly Roberts (semifinal)
• Mary Day (semifinal)
• Dee Kantner (final)
• Eric Brewton (final)
• Denise Brooks (final) ^[6]

• 2008 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2008 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 2008 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2008 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

• Official bracket at NCAA.com
• Interactive bracket at NCAA.com^{[permanent dead link]}