1983 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

American college basketball tournament August 2023 March 2026 Women's 1983 1983 NCAA Women's Final Four logo.svg 150px 36 Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia USC 1st 1st 1st Louisiana Tech 2nd 2nd Old Dominion 1st Georgia 1st Linda Sharp 1st Cheryl Miller USC The 1983 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 18 and concluded on April 3 with USC winning the title. The tournament consisted of 36 teams. The Final Four was held in Norfolk, Virginia and consisted of USC, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, and Georgia.http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/1244/1983-bracket.html 1983 Tournament 2007-03-29 Gregory Cooper https://web.archive.org/web/20091020131325/http://geocities.com/Colosseum/1244/1983-bracket.html 2009-10-20 dead USC's Cheryl Miller was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/history/tournament/womensmop.htm CHN Basketball History: Most Outstanding Player 2007-03-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20080125012447/http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/history/tournament/womensmop.htm 2008-01-25 dead Notable events Neither semifinal game in the final four turned out to be close. Defending national champion Louisiana Tech beat long time powerhouse Old Dominion by sixteen points, handing them their 30th consecutive victory. In the other semifinal, Southern California had an easier time, beating Georgia by 24 points. This set up the championship game between the only two top seeds to advance to the Final Four. The two teams had met twice before in regular season, both coming away with a win, but in both cases, on the opponent's home court. USC beat the Lady Techsters in Louisiana, 64–58, giving the La Tech team their only loss for the year. La Tech turned around and beat USC in Los Angeles by two points in January, one of only two losses suffered by the USC team all season. The game came down to the final seconds. USC had a two-point lead with six seconds left in the game, and freshman star Cheryl Miller at the line for a one-and-one attempt. In the era before the three point shot, simply making the foul shot would virtually guarantee the win. But Miller missed the free throw, and the Techsters grabbed the rebound. The Lady Techsters ran up the court, where Kim Mulkey took the final shot, but it failed to go in, and USC won their first national championship.Neff Craig Welcome To Miller Time https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/04/11/welcome-to-miller-time https://web.archive.org/web/20210305170159/https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/04/11/welcome-to-miller-time dead March 5, 2021 2024-04-03 Sports Illustrated Vault SI.com en-us Records In the National championship game, Jennifer White hit eight of nine free throw attempts to set a championship game record for free throw percentage. In the same game, Cheryl Miller attempted 14 free throws, a national championship record. The NCAA did not officially start keeping track of blocked shots in women's basketball until 1998 (it had begun doing so in the men's game in 1986). However, Anne Donovan of Old Dominion had twelve blocked shot in a regional game, two more than the official record of ten. Qualifying teams – automatic Thirty-six teams were selected to participate in the 1983 NCAA Tournament. Fourteen conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1983 NCAA tournament. (Not all conference records are available for 1983) Automatic bids     Record   Qualifying school Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Central Michigan MAC 0.714 20–8 - -– 6 Georgia SEC 0.8 24–6 0.5 4–4 2 Illinois State GatewayIn the NCAA record books, Illinois State is officially recognized as having been a member of both the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (Gateway) and the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) in 1983, although the latter did not sponsor women's sports until the 1992–93 school year. The 1982–83 school year was the first for the Gateway, founded as a women's-only parallel to the MVC. In 1985, the Gateway added football as its only men's sport. After the women's side of the Gateway merged into the MVC in 1992, the football side remained in operation, and is now the Missouri Valley Football Conference. 0.69 20–9 - -– 6 Indiana Big Ten 0.643 18–10 - -– 6 Louisville MetroThe NCAA recognized a Metro Conference champion, although that league would not sponsor women's sports until the 1983–84 school year. 0.69 20–9 - -– 7 Maryland ACC 0.862 25–4 0.769 10–3 3 Missouri Big Eight 0.821 23–5 - -– 4 Old Dominion Sun Belt 0.839 26–5 - -– 2 Oregon State Northern Pacific 0.821 23–5 - -– 3 Penn State Atlantic 10 0.8 24–6 - -– 5 USC Western Collegiate 0.926 25–2 - -– 1 St. John's Big East 0.821 23–5 - -– 7 Texas Southwest 0.933 28–2 - -– 2 Utah High Country 0.786 22–6 - -– 5 n Qualifying teams – at-large Twenty-two additional teams were selected to complete the thirty-six invitations. (Not all conference records are available for 1983) OR - Opening Round At-large bids     Record   Qualifying school Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Arizona State Western Collegiate 0.786 22–6 0.643 9–5 4 4 Auburn SEC 0.767 23–7 0.75 6–2 5 5 Cheyney State Independent 0.929 26–2 - -–- 1 1 Dartmouth Ivy League 0.72 18–7 0.917 11–1 8 OR Florida State Metro 0.828 24–5 - -– 5 5 Jackson State SWAC 0.75 21–7 - -– 8 OR Kansas State Big Eight 0.828 24–5 - -– 3 3 Kentucky SEC 0.852 23–4 0.75 6–2 3 3 La Salle East Coast 0.571 16–12 - -– 8 OR Long Beach State Independent 0.786 22–6 - -– 2 2 Louisiana Tech Independent 0.964 27–1 - -–- 1 1 Middle Tennessee State Ohio Valley 0.862 25–4 1.01 10–0 8 OR Ole Miss SEC 0.833 25–5 0.75 6–2 4 4 Monmouth Cosmopolitan 0.5 14–14 - -– 8 OR Montana Mountain West Athletic 0.897 26–3 - -– 8 OR North Carolina ACC 0.759 22–7 0.769 10–3 7 7 North Carolina State ACC 0.759 22–7 0.923 12–1 4 4 Northeast Louisiana Southland 0.808 21–5 - -– 8 OR South Carolina State MEAC 0.696 16–7 - -– 8 OR Stephen F. Austin Southland 0.75 18–6 - -– 7 7 Tennessee SEC 0.767 23–7 0.875 7–1 1 1 UCLA Western Collegiate 0.643 18–10 - -– 6 6 Bids by conference Twenty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In sixteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirteen at-large teams were selected from six of the conferences. In addition, three independent (not associated with an athletic conference) teams earned at-large bids. Bids Conference Teams 5 SEC Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee 3 ACC Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State 3 Independent Cheyney, Long Beach State, Louisiana Tech 3 Western Collegiate Arizona State, UCLA, USC 2 Big 8 Kansas State, Missouri 2 Metro Florida State, Louisville 2 Southland Northeast Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin 1 Atlantic 10 Penn State 1 Big East St. John's 1 Big Ten Indiana 1 Cosmopolitan Monmouth 1 East Coast La Salle 1 Gateway Illinois State 1 High Country Utah 1 Ivy League Dartmouth 1 MAC Central Michigan 1 MEAC South Carolina State 1 Mountain West Athletic Montana 1 Northern Pacific Oregon State 1 OVC Middle Tennessee State 1 Southwest Texas 1 Sun Belt Old Dominion 1 SWAC Jackson State Bids by state The thirty-six teams represented twenty-four states, plus Washington, D.C. California and Pennsylvania had the most teams with three each. Twenty-six states did not have any teams receiving bids. thumb|right|500 px|NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 1983 Bids State Teams 3 California Southern California, Long Beach St., UCLA 3 Pennsylvania Penn St., Cheyney, La Salle 2 Kentucky Louisville, Kentucky 2 Louisiana Louisiana Tech, Northeast Louisiana 2 Mississippi Jackson St., Ole Miss 2 North Carolina North Carolina, North Carolina St. 2 Tennessee Middle Tenn., Tennessee 2 Texas Texas, Stephen F. Austin 1 Alabama Auburn 1 Arizona Arizona St. 1 Florida Florida State 1 Georgia Georgia 1 Illinois Illinois St.. 1 Indiana Indiana 1 Kansas Kansas St. 1 Maryland Maryland 1 Michigan Central Michigan 1 Missouri Missouri 1 Montana Montana 1 New Hampshire Dartmouth 1 New Jersey Monmouth 1 New York St. John's NY 1 Oregon Oregon St. 1 South Carolina South Carolina St. 1 Utah Utah 1 Virginia Old Dominion First round USA 500 right 1983 NCAA opening round USA black pog.svg 32.531 -92.069 top Monroe USA black pog.svg 43.702778 -72.284444 right Hanover USA black pog.svg 40.039993 -75.15654 right Philadelphia USA black pog.svg 32.299724 -90.211887 bottom Jackson USA 500 right 1983 NCAA first round USA green pog.svg 36.885959 -76.311494 right Norfolk USA green pog.svg 38.987944 -76.946694 left College Park USA green pog.svg 39.928333 -75.522778 top Cheyney USA green pog.svg 35.783333 -78.669722 right Raleigh USA green pog.svg 35.951226 -83.929442 left Knoxville USA green pog.svg 38.03943 -84.500388 left Lexington USA green pog.svg 34.362197 -89.539303 left Oxford USA green pog.svg 33.9428 -83.378 right Athens USA green pog.svg 39.189 -96.584028 left Manhattan USA green pog.svg 32.5321 -92.6584 left Ruston USA green pog.svg 32.600161 -85.492333 bottom Auburn USA green pog.svg 30.276958 -97.732216 left Austin USA green pog.svg 33.783022 -118.112858 bottom Long Beach USA green pog.svg 33.424524 -111.930948 top Tempe USA green pog.svg 34.013056 -118.284444 top Los Angeles USA green pog.svg 44.561361 -123.280226 right Corvallis In 1983, the field expanded from 32 to 36 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-9 in each region. The 8 and 9 seeds in each region played a play-in game, called the opening round (OR). In the opening round and Round 1, the higher seed was given the opportunity to host the first-round game, and all but one of the higher seeds hosted. Missouri was a 4 seed, but unable to host, so the game was played at 5 seed Auburn. The following table lists the region, host school, venue and location. The opening round games are denoted with "OR". RegionHostVenue City State OR West Northeast Louisiana University Ewing Coliseum Monroe Louisiana OR East Dartmouth College Alumni Gymnasium Hanover New Hampshire OR Mideast La Salle University Hayman Hall (Tom Gola Arena) Philadelphia Pennsylvania OR Midwest Jackson State University Williams Assembly Center Jackson Mississippi East Old Dominion University Old Dominion University Fieldhouse Norfolk Virginia East University of Maryland, College Park Cole Field House College Park Maryland East Cheyney State University of Pennsylvania Cope Hall Cheyney Pennsylvania East North Carolina State University Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh North Carolina Mideast University of Tennessee Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville Tennessee Mideast University of Kentucky Memorial Coliseum Lexington Kentucky Mideast University of Mississippi Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford Mississippi Mideast University of Georgia Georgia Coliseum (Stegeman Coliseum) Athens Georgia Midwest Kansas State University Ahearn Field House Manhattan Kansas Midwest Louisiana Tech University Thomas Assembly Center Ruston Louisiana Midwest Auburn University Memorial Coliseum (Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum) Auburn Alabama Midwest University of Texas at Austin Frank Erwin Center Austin Texas West California State University, Long Beach University Gym (Gold Mine) Long Beach California West Arizona State University University Activity Center (Wells Fargo Arena) Tempe Arizona West University of Southern California Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles California West Oregon State University Gill Coliseum Corvallis Oregon Regionals and Final Four USA 500 right 1983 NCAA regionals and Final Four USA blue pog.svg 40.79578 -77.869399 bottom University Park USA blue pog.svg 32.5321 -92.6584 left Ruston USA blue pog.svg 41.698443 -86.231292 right Notre Dame USA blue pog.svg 34.070211 -118.446775 right Los Angeles USA red pog.svg 36.853275 -76.286722 right Norfolk The regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 24 to March 27 at these sites: East Regional Recreation Building (Rec Hall), University Park, Pennsylvania (Host: Pennsylvania State University ) Midwest Regional Thomas Assembly Center, Ruston, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana Tech University) Mideast Regional Athletic & Convocation Center, Notre Dame, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame) West Regional Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: University of California, Los Angeles) Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held April 1 and 3 in Norfolk, Virginia, at the Norfolk Scope. Old Dominion University served as the host institution. Brackets East regional – Penn State University - University Park, PA (Rec Hall) Opening roundMarch 15 n Dartmouth Monmouth 58 77 First roundMarch 18 and 19 Regional semifinalsMarch 24 and 25 Regional finalsMarch 26 Cheyney Monmouth 107 35 4 N.C. State 5 Penn State 80 94 3 Maryland 6 Central Michigan 94 71 2 Old Dominion 7 St John's 86 63 1 Cheyney 5 Penn St. 72 73 3 Maryland 2 Old Dominion 57 74 5 Penn State 2 Old Dominion 60 74 Midwest regional – Louisiana Tech - Ruston, LA (Thomas Assembly Center) Opening RoundMarch 15 n Jackson State MTSU 61 64 First roundMarch 18 and 19 Regional semifinalsMarch 24 and 25 Regional finalsMarch 27 Louisiana Tech MTSU 91 59 4 Missouri 5 Auburn 76 94 3 Kansas State 6 Illinois State 91 72 2 Texas 7 Louisville 84 55 1 Louisiana Tech 5 Auburn 81 54 3 Kansas State 2 Texas 70 73OT 1 Louisiana Tech 2 Texas 72 58 Mideast regional – Notre Dame - Notre Dame, IN Edmund P. Joyce Center Opening roundMarch 16 n La Salle South Carolina State 67 85 First roundMarch 18 and 19 Regional semifinalsMarch 24 and 25 Regional finalsMarch 26 Tennessee South Carolina State 86 51 4 Ole Miss 5 Florida State 86 76 3 Kentucky 6 Indiana 76 87 2 Georgia 7 North Carolina 72 70 1 Tennessee 4 Ole Miss 903OT 83 6 Indiana 2 Georgia 70 86 1 Tennessee 2 Georgia 63 67 West regional – UCLA - Los Angeles, CA (Pauley Pavilion) Opening roundMarch 15 n Northeast Louisiana Montana 72 53 First roundMarch 18–19 Regional semifinalsMarch 24–25 Regional finalsMarch 27 Southern California Northeast Louisiana 99 85 4 Arizona State 5 Utah 78 64 3 Oregon State 6 UCLA 75 62 2 Long Beach State 7 Stephen F. Austin 88 61 1 Southern California 4 Arizona State 96 59 3 Oregon State 2 Long Beach State 72 92 1 Southern California 2 Long Beach State 81 74 Final Four – Norfolk, Virginia National semifinalsApril 1 National championshipApril 3 2E Old Dominion 55 1MW Louisiana Tech 71 2ME Georgia 57 1W Southern California 81 1MW Louisiana Tech 67 1W Southern California 69 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 5 0.583 7–5 .583 4 4 2 1 – Independent 3 0.7 7–3 .700 3 3 2 1 1 Western Collegiate 3 0.75 6–2 .750 2 2 1 1 1 Atlantic Coast 3 0.25 1–3 .250 1 1 – – – Big Eight 2 0.333 1–2 .333 1 1 – – – Southland 2 0.333 1–2 .333 – – – – – Metro 2 0 0–2 – – – – – – Sun Belt 1 0.75 3–1 .750 1 1 1 1 – Atlantic 10 1 0.667 2–1 .667 1 1 1 – – Southwest 1 0.667 2–1 .667 1 1 1 – – Big Ten 1 0.5 1–1 .500 1 1 – – – Cosmopolitan 1 0.5 1–1 .500 – – – – – Mid-Eastern 1 0.5 1–1 .500 – – – – – Northern Pacific 1 0.5 1–1 .500 1 1 – – – Ohio Valley 1 0.5 1–1 .500 – – – – – Eight conferences went 0-1: Big East, East Coast, Gateway, High Country, Ivy League, MAC, Mountain West Athletic, and SWAC All-Tournament team Cheryl Miller, Southern California Paula McGee, Southern California Janice Lawrence, Louisiana Tech Jennifer White, Louisiana Tech Anne Donovan, Old Dominion Game officials Jan Donahue (semifinal) Skip Gill (semifinal) Kit Robinson (semifinal, final) Pete Stewart (semifinal, final) See also NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament References Attendance and Sites http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/w_final4/2012/Attend.pdf NCAA 19 March 2012 Championship records remembered https://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2012-04-01/championship-records-remembered NCAA 15 May 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042953/http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2012-04-01/championship-records-remembered 1 December 2017 dead Nixon Rick Official 2012 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 Tournament NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Category:NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Category:Basketball competitions in Norfolk, Virginia Category:College basketball tournaments in Virginia Category:Women's sports in Virginia