1987 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

American college basketball tournament August 2023 March 2026 Women's 1987 1987WomensFinalFourLogo.jpg 150px 40 Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas Tennessee Volunteers 1st 2nd 4th Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters 3rd 4th Long Beach State 49ers 1st Texas Longhorns 2nd Pat Summitt 1st Tonya Edwards Tennessee The 1987 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 11, ended on March 29, and featured 40 teams. The Final Four were Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, and Long Beach State, with Tennessee winning its first title with a 67–44 victory over Louisiana Tech.http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1244/1987-bracket.html 1987 NCAA National Championship Tournament 2007-04-01 Gregory Cooper https://web.archive.org/web/20091020063603/http://geocities.com/Colosseum/1244/1987-bracket.html 2009-10-20 dead Tennessee's Tonya Edwards was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/history/tournament/womensmop.htm CHN Basketball History: Most Outstanding Player 2007-04-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20080125012447/http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/history/tournament/womensmop.htm 2008-01-25 dead Notable events Upsets were not unknown in the NCAA tournaments. For example, in the prior year, two 4 seeds made it to the Final Four. However, in the first five NCAA tournaments, once a team reached the Final Four, no team had beaten a higher seeded team. That changed in 1987. One semifinal game matched defending National Champion Texas against Louisiana Tech. Although both teams were 1 seeds, the Texas team came into the tournament with only a single regular season loss, earning them the number one ranking in the country. In addition, the Final Four was played on the home court of the Longhorns. Despite that, and a crowd of over 15 thousand, the largest crowd in the history of the sport, the Louisiana Tech team managed to beat the Texas team 79–75. The Lady Techsters hit 58.3% of their field goals, the fourth best performance in NCAA Final Four history, and a blistering 73.9% in the second half, missing only six of the 23 shots taken in the second half. Texas tried to wear down Teresa Weatherspoon, but set an NCAA Final Four record with eleven assists, while putting in 19 points of her own. The other semifinal game matched 2 seed Tennessee against 1 seed Long Beach State. Although Long Beach was averaging over 96 points per game, and had scored 102 in the West Regional final against Ohio State, the Lady Vols held the team to 64 points, and upset the 1 seed by a score of 74–64. The lone loss by Texas in the regular season had been to Tennessee, ending the Longhorns 40 game win streak, but the two teams played again two weeks later, and this time Texas emerged victorious, with a 14-point victory. Tennessee earned the number one ranking in the AP vote after the win over Texas, but they began to stumble after the loss to Texas, with losses to Auburn, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. They played Louisiana Tech in February, and the lady Techsters won by nine points, dropping the Lady Vols to ninth in the poll. The Tennessee team earned a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but after their upset win against Long Beach, they faced the Louisiana Tech team again, a team that had beaten the Volunteers in 11 of the last 12 meetings. One of those meetings had been the 1981 AIAW National Championship game, when the Lady Techsters beat the Volunteers by 20 points. The 1987 Championship would turn that result on its head, as Tennessee won by 23 points, upsetting Louisiana Tech 67–44, for their first National Championship. This was the last time Stanford did not appear in the NCAA Tournament until 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. Records Teresa Weatherspoon recorded 11 assists in the National Semifinal game, the most scored in a Final Four game since they started keeping records of this statistic in 1985. Qualifying teams – automatic Forty teams were selected to participate in the 1987 NCAA Tournament. Eighteen conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1987 NCAA tournament. Automatic bids     Record   Qualifying school Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Auburn University SEC 0.967 29–1 0.889 8–1 1 Bowling Green State University MAC 0.931 27–2 1.016 16–0 9 Eastern Washington University Mountain West 0.621 18–11 0.667 8–4 10 James Madison University Colonial 0.897 26–3 1.012 12–0 4 University of Kansas Big Eight 0.613 19–12 0.643 9–5 7 California State University, Long Beach Pacific Coast 0.938 30–2 0.944 17–1 7 Manhattan College MAAC 0.667 20–10 0.5 6–6 10 New Mexico State University High Country 0.793 23–6 0.833 10–2 9 North Carolina State University ACC 0.793 23–6 0.786 11–3 3 Northeast Louisiana Southland Conference 0.609 14–9 0.9 9–1 10 Ohio State University Big Ten 0.857 24–4 0.944 17–1 2 Old Dominion University Sun Belt Conference 0.586 17–12 0.833 5–1 5 Rutgers University Atlantic 10 0.933 28–2 0.944 17–1 2 University of Southern California Pac-10 0.75 21–7 0.833 15–3 3 Southern Illinois University Carbondale Missouri Valley Conference 0.931 27–2 1.018 18–0 5 University of Southern Mississippi Metro 0.724 21–8 0.5 6–6 10 Tennessee Technological University Ohio Valley Conference 0.793 23–6 0.857 12–2 7 University of Texas at Austin Southwest 0.966 28–1 1.016 16–0 1 Villanova University Big East 0.9 27–3 0.938 15–1 6 Qualifying teams – at-large Twenty-two additional teams were selected to complete the forty invitations. At-large bids     Record   Qualifying school Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Duke University Atlantic Coast 0.667 18–9 0.5 7–7 7 University of Georgia Southeastern 0.867 26–4 0.778 7–2 2 University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Big Ten 0.667 18–9 0.611 11–7 8 University of Iowa Big Ten 0.857 24–4 0.944 17–1 3 Kansas State University Big Eight 0.733 22–8 0.643 9–5 8 Louisiana State University Southeastern 0.741 20–7 0.667 6–3 4 Louisiana Tech University Independent 0.929 26–2 - –- 1 University of Memphis Metro 0.714 20–8 0.833 10–2 6 University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Southeastern 0.857 24–4 0.778 7–2 4 University of New Orleans Independent 0.806 25–6 - –- 6 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Atlantic Coast 0.679 19–9 0.643 9–5 4 Northwestern University Big Ten 0.679 19–9 0.667 12–6 9 University of Oregon Pacific-10 0.786 22–6 0.778 14–4 7 Pennsylvania State University Atlantic 10 0.793 23–6 0.889 16–2 5 Saint Joseph's University Atlantic 10 0.733 22–8 0.778 14–4 9 University of South Alabama Sun Belt 0.828 24–5 0.833 5–1 8 University of Tennessee Southeastern 0.793 23–6 0.667 6–3 2 Vanderbilt University Southeastern 0.719 23–9 0.444 4–5 5 University of Virginia Atlantic Coast 0.862 25–4 0.857 12–2 3 University of Washington Pacific-10 0.786 22–6 0.778 14–4 8 Western Kentucky University Sun Belt 0.75 24–8 0.667 4–2 6 Bids by conference Nineteen conferences earned an automatic bid. In eleven cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Nineteen at-large teams were selected from eight of the conferences. In addition, two independent (not associated with an athletic conference) teams earned at-large bids. Bids Conference Teams 6 Southeastern Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Vanderbilt 4 Big Ten Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio St. 4 Atlantic Coast Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina St., Virginia 3 Sun Belt Old Dominion, South Ala., Western Kentucky 3 Pacific-10 Oregon, Southern California, Washington 3 Atlantic 10 Penn St., Rutgers, St. Joseph's 2 Metro Memphis, Southern Miss. 2 Independent Louisiana Tech, New Orleans 2 Big Eight Kansas, Kansas St. 1 Southwest Texas 1 Pacific Coast Long Beach St. 1 Ohio Valley Tennessee Tech 1 Mountain West Eastern Washington 1 Missouri Valley Southern Ill. 1 Mid-American Bowling Green 1 Metro Atlantic Manhattan 1 High Country New Mexico St. 1 Gulf Star Northwestern St. 1 Colonial James Madison 1 Big East Villanova First and second rounds In 1987, the field remained at 40 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1–10 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 8 and 9 faced each other for the opportunity to face the 1 seed in the second round, while seeds 7 and 10 faced each other for the opportunity to face the 2 seed. In the first two rounds, the higher seed was given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In most cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity. The exceptions: Eighth seeded South Alabama played nine seed Saint Joseph's (PA) at Saint Joseph's (PA) Seventh seeded Eastern Washington played tenth seeded University of Oregon at University of Oregon Second seeded Ohio State played tenth seeded University of Oregon at University of Oregon Third seeded North Carolina State played sixth seeded Villanova at Villanova Because Oregon hosted both a first and second-round game, there were only 23 first and second round locations, rather than 24. The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the twenty-four first round locations: USA 500 right 1987 NCAA first round (Philadelphia and Villanova are almost indistinguishable) USA green pog.svg 39.995278 -75.238889 left Philadelphia USA green pog.svg 35.997528 -78.942306 bottom Durham USA green pog.svg 30.276958 -97.732216 right Austin USA green pog.svg 40.525278 -74.441111 top Piscataway USA green pog.svg 38.431892 -78.868854 left Harrisonburg USA green pog.svg 40.034072 -75.336553 bottom Villanova USA green pog.svg 40.096259 -88.235956 top Champaign USA green pog.svg 36.17848 -85.50989 bottom Cookeville USA 500 right 1987 NCAA second round USA purple pog.svg 35.909526 -79.045408 right Chapel Hill USA purple pog.svg 32.600161 -85.492333 top Auburn USA purple pog.svg 35.951226 -83.929442 top Knoxville USA purple pog.svg 38.044611 -78.508961 right Charlottesville USA purple pog.svg 42.066944 -87.692778 right Evanston USA purple pog.svg 41.663611 -91.554444 bottom Iowa City USA purple pog.svg 32.531 -92.069 top Monroe USA purple pog.svg 33.9428 -83.378 right Athens USA purple pog.svg 30.4142 -91.1845 left Baton Rouge USA purple pog.svg 32.5321 -92.6584 left Ruston USA purple pog.svg 47.65212 -122.30223 right Seattle USA purple pog.svg 44.041622 -123.074067 right Eugene USA purple pog.svg 34.013056 -118.284444 top Los Angeles USA purple pog.svg 34.362197 -89.539303 top Oxford USA purple pog.svg 33.783022 -118.112858 bottom Long Beach Region RndHostVenue City State East 1 Saint Joseph's University Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia Pennsylvania East 1 Duke University Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham North Carolina East 2 University of Texas Frank Erwin Center Austin Texas East 2 Rutgers University Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway New Jersey East 2 James Madison University James Madison University Convocation Center Harrisonburg Virginia East 2 Villanova University The Pavilion Villanova Pennsylvania Mideast 1 University of Illinois Assembly Hall (Champaign) Champaign Illinois Mideast 1 Tennessee Tech Eblen Center Cookeville Tennessee Mideast 2 University of North Carolina Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill North Carolina Mideast 2 Auburn University Memorial Coliseum (Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum) Auburn Alabama Mideast 2 University of Tennessee Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville Tennessee Mideast 2 University of Virginia University Hall (University of Virginia) Charlottesville Virginia Midwest 1 Northwestern University Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston Illinois Midwest 2 University of Iowa Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City Iowa Midwest 2 University of Louisiana at Monroe Ewing Coliseum Monroe Louisiana Midwest 2 University of Georgia Georgia Coliseum (Stegeman Coliseum) Athens Georgia Midwest 2 Louisiana State University LSU Assembly Center (Pete Maravich Assembly Center) Baton Rouge Louisiana Midwest 2 Louisiana Tech University Thomas Assembly Center Ruston Louisiana West 1 University of Washington Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle Washington West 1 University of Oregon McArthur Court Eugene Oregon West 2 University of Southern California Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles California West 2 University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford Mississippi West 2 Long Beach State University Gym (Gold Mine) Long Beach California Regionals and Final Four USA 500 right 1987 NCAA regionals and Final Four USA blue pog.svg 35.951226 -83.929442 bottom Knoxville USA blue pog.svg 32.531 -92.069 left Monroe USA blue pog.svg 34.070211 -118.446775 right Los Angeles USA blue pog.svg 35.066667 -78.9175 top Fayetteville USA red pog.svg 30.276958 -97.732216 right Austin The regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 19 to March 22 at these sites: Mideast Regional Stokely Athletics Center, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee) Midwest Regional Ewing Coliseum, Monroe, Louisiana (Host: University of Louisiana at Monroe) West Regional Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles (Host: University of Southern California) East Regional Cumberland County Memorial Arena, Fayetteville, North Carolina Each regional champion advanced to the Final Four at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas served as the host institution. Bids by state The forty teams came from twenty states. Louisiana and Tennessee had the most teams with four each. Thirty states did not have any teams receiving bids. thumb|right|500 px|NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 1987 Bids State Teams 4 Louisiana Northwestern St., LSU, Louisiana Tech, New Orleans 4 Tennessee Tennessee Tech, Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt 3 Illinois Southern Ill., Illinois, Northwestern 3 North Carolina North Carolina St., Duke, North Carolina 3 Pennsylvania Villanova, Penn St., St. Joseph's 3 Virginia James Madison, Old Dominion, Virginia 2 Alabama Auburn, South Ala. 2 California Southern California, Long Beach St. 2 Kansas Kansas, Kansas St. 2 Mississippi Ole Miss, Southern Miss. 2 Ohio Bowling Green, Ohio St. 2 Washington Eastern Washington, Washington 1 Georgia Georgia 1 Iowa Iowa 1 Kentucky Western Kentucky 1 New Jersey Rutgers 1 New Mexico New Mexico St. 1 New York Manhattan 1 Oregon Oregon 1 Texas Texas Brackets First and second-round games played at higher seed except where noted. East regional – Fayetteville, North Carolina (Cumberland County Memorial Arena) First roundMarch 11 Second roundMarch 13–15 Regional semifinalsMarch 19–20 Regional finalsMarch 21 8 South Alabama 56 9 at St. Joseph's 67* 7 Duke 70 10 Manhattan 55 9 St. Joseph's 56 1 Texas 86 5 Vanderbilt 60 4 James Madison 68 7 Duke 64 2 Rutgers 78 3 North Carolina State 68 6 at Villanova 67 1 Texas 91 4 James Madison 57 2 Rutgers 75 3 North Carolina State 60 1 Texas 85 2 Rutgers 77 * Overtime Midwest regional – Northeast Louisiana University – Monroe, Louisiana (Fant–Ewing Coliseum) First roundMarch 11 Second roundMarch 13–15 Regional semifinalsMarch 19–20 Regional finalsMarch 22 8 Northwestern 62 9 Kansas State 61* 7 Kansas 78 10 Northeast Louisiana 72 8 Northwestern 60 1 Louisiana Tech 82 5 Southern Illinois 70 4 LSU 56 7 Kansas 51 2 Georgia 82 3 Iowa 68 6 New Orleans 46 1 Louisiana Tech 66 5 Southern Illinois 53 2 Georgia 60 3 Iowa 62 1 Louisiana Tech 66 3 Iowa 65 Mideast regional – University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Tennessee (Stokely Athletic Center) First roundMarch 11 Second roundMarch 13–15 Regional semifinalsMarch 19–20 Regional finalsMarch 22 8 Illinois 80 9 Bowling Green 64 7 Tennessee Tech 78 10 Southern Mississippi 66 8 Illinois 58 1 Auburn 92 5 Old Dominion 76 4 North Carolina 58 7 Tennessee Tech 59 2 Tennessee 95 3 Virginia 76 6 Memphis State 75 1 Auburn 77 5 Old Dominion 61 2 Tennessee 66 3 Virginia 58 1 Auburn 61 2 Tennessee 77 West regional – University of Southern California – Los Angeles (Pauley Pavilion) First roundMarch 11 Second roundMarch 13–15 Regional semifinalsMarch 19–20 Regional finalsMarch 22 8 Washington 86 9 New Mexico State 73 7 Eastern Washington 56 10 at Oregon 75 8 Washington 57 1 Long Beach State 72 5 Penn State 75 4 Ole Miss 80 10 at Oregon 62 2 Ohio State 76 3 USC 81 6 Western Kentucky 69 1 Long Beach State 94 4 Ole Miss 55 2 Ohio State 74 3 USC 63 1 Long Beach State 102 2 Ohio State 82 Final Four – University of Texas – Austin, Texas (Frank Erwin Center) National semifinalsMarch 27 National championshipMarch 29 1E Texas 75 1MW Louisiana Tech 79 2ME Tennessee 74 1W Long Beach State 64 1MW Louisiana Tech 44 2ME Tennessee 67 Record by conference Fifteen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play: Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Round of 32Sweet SixteenElite EightFinal FourChampionship Game Southeastern 6 0.643 9–5 .643 6 4 2 1 1 Big Ten 4 0.6 6–4 .600 4 2 2 – – Atlantic Coast 4 0.429 3–4 .429 4 2 – – – Atlantic 10 3 0.5 3–3 .500 3 1 1 – – Pacific-10 3 0.5 3–3 .500 3 1 – – – Sun Belt 3 0.25 1–3 .250 2 1 – – – Independent 2 0.667 4–2 .667 2 1 1 1 1 Big Eight 2 0.333 1–2 .333 1 – – – – Metro 2 0 0–2 – 1 – – – – Pacific Coast 1 0.75 3–1 .750 1 1 1 1 – Southwest 1 0.75 3–1 .750 1 1 1 1 – Colonial 1 0.5 1–1 .500 1 1 – – – Gateway 1 0.5 1–1 .500 1 1 – – – Ohio Valley 1 0.5 1–1 .500 1 – – – – Six conferences went 0-1: Big East, Gulf Star Conference, High Country, MAAC, MAC, and Mountain West All-Tournament team Tonya Edwards, Tennessee, Bridgette Gordon, Tennessee Cindy Brown, Long Beach St. Clarissa Davis, Texas Teresa Weatherspoon, Louisiana Tech Game officials Bill Stokes (semifinal) Larry Sheppard (semifinal) June Courteau (Semi-Final, Final) Patty Broderick (Semi-Final, Final) See also 1987 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 1987 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 1987 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 1987 NAIA women's basketball tournament References Attendance and Sites http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/w_final4/2012/Attend.pdf NCAA 19 March 2012 HOWARD-COOPER SCOTT Top-Ranked Longhorns Get Hook : Louisiana Tech Upsets Defending Champion Texas, 79-75 March 28, 1987 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-28-sp-683-story.html LA Times 24 Oct 2012 Texas Upset, 79-75 March 28, 1987 https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/28/sports/texas-upset-79-75.html New York Times 24 Oct 2012 Diaz Jaime 1987: Finally First Prize At The Big Dance http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1152160/index.htm https://archive.today/20130119165229/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1152160/index.htm dead January 19, 2013 Sports Illustrated CNNSI 24 Oct 2012 Tennessee Media Guide November 10, 2011 http://issuu.com/utad/docs/1112_lv_bb_media_guide_/1#download 24 Oct 2012 Nixon Rick Official 2022 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/WFF12.pdf NCAA 22 April 2012 November 7, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151107014710/http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/WFF12.pdf dead Category:NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Category:Basketball in Austin, Texas NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Category:Women's sports in Texas