1981 AIAW National Division III Basketball Championship

The 1981 AIAW National Division III Basketball Championship was the second annual tournament hosted by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women to determine the national champion of collegiate basketball among its Division III members in the United States.

1981 AIAW National Division III Basketball Championship

Tournament information
Administrator	Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
Host(s)	University of Wisconsin–La Crosse
Venue(s)	La Crosse, Wisconsin
Participants	16
Final positions
Champions	Wisconsin–La Crosse (1st title)
Runner-up	Mount Mercy
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16

The tournament was held at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin–La Crosse defeated Mount Mercy in the championship game, 79–71, to capture the Roonies' first AIAW Division III national title.

Format

Sixteen teams participated in a single-elimination tournament, a decrease in eight teams from the previous year's championship.

The tournament also included a third-place game for the two teams that lost in the semifinal games.

Tournament bracket

	First round					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					National championship
		Worcester State	68
		Wisconsin–Whitewater	66
							Worcester State	67
							Elizabethtown	59
		Elizabethtown	71
		Columbia (SC)	56
												Worcester State	61
												Mount Mercy	66
		UC Davis	67
		Concordia (OR)	48
							UC Davis	53
							Mount Mercy	58
		Mount Mercy	68
		Spring Arbor	52
																	Mount Mercy	71
																	Wisconsin–La Crosse	79
		Pitt Johnstown	79
		Bethany	58
							Pitt Johnstown	54
							Knoxville	47
		Knoxville	72
		Rhode Island College	60
												Pitt Johnstown	60
												Wisconsin–La Crosse	70
		San Francisco State	56													Third place final
		Tarleton State	54
							San Francisco State	71									Worcester State	82*
							Wisconsin–La Crosse	78									Pitt Johnstown	78
		Wisconsin–La Crosse	87
		Roanoke	77

See also

• 1981 AIAW National Division I Basketball Championship
• 1981 AIAW National Division II Basketball Championship
• 1981 NAIA women's basketball tournament