1994 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

The 1994 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament featured 64 teams for the first time ever. The Final Four consisted of North Carolina, Purdue, Louisiana Tech, and Alabama, with North Carolina defeating Louisiana Tech 60–59 to win its first NCAA title on a 3-point shot by Charlotte Smith as time expired. The ball was inbounded with only 00:00.7 left on the clock, making it one of the most exciting finishes in tournament history.

1994 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament

Teams	64
Finals site	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Champions	North Carolina Tar Heels (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Runner-up	Louisiana Tech Techsters (5th title game, 8th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Purdue Boilermakers (1st Final Four) Alabama Crimson Tide (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Sylvia Hatchell (1st title)
MOP	Charlotte Smith (North Carolina)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments «1993 1995»

Notable events

The Alabama team was a six seed in the Midwest region. After beating the 11 seed Oregon State, they faced a higher seed, Iowa, who were seeded third in the region. Alabama won that game, and went on to face another higher seed in Texas Tech, the defending national champions. Alabama won again, and went on to face Penn State, the top seed in the region. Alabama won yet again, this time by 14 points, to advance to their first final Four.

In the semi-final game of the Final Four, they faced Louisiana Tech, a team they had played earlier in the year. In their December match-up, Alabama had beaten the Lady Techsters by 22 points, 99–77. In this game La tech opened up a six-point lead at the half. Alabama's All-American guard Niesa Johnson cut her hand on a locker room sink, which required seven stitches. Because it was such an important game, Johnson was bandaged and medicated and returned to the game. The Alabama team fought back from an eleven-point deficit and cut the margin to two points with seconds to play. The plan was to get the ball to Betsy Harris to attempt a three-point play, but Harris stepped out of bounds. After a made free throw, they had one more chance with a three-point attempt but it failed, and La Tech moved on to the championship game.

In the other semifinal game, the North Carolina team faced Purdue. North Carolina's Charlotte Smith was expected to be an important key to the game, and the Purdue coach, Lin Dunn, tried to prepare the team to handle Smith. That planning was ineffective, as Smith scored 23 points, and set a personal career records for assists with eight. The Purdue team was down 13 points in the first half, but fought back and managed to take a two-point lead in the second half. However, the Tar Heels switched to a zone defense after made baskets, and retook the lead, ending up with an 89–74 victory, and the first North Carolina team to make it to the Championship game.

In addition to Charlotte Smith, North Carolina had a freshman guard Marion Jones who would later be known for world class performances in track and field. Jones picked up her third foul only six minutes in the game and had to sit. This "rattled" the North Carolina team but they kept the game close. When the game drew to a close, the La Tech team had a two-point advantage with less than a second on the clock, but North Carolina had the ball. With 0.7 seconds left, there was just enough time to catch and shoot. The ball was inbounded to Charlotte Smith who had made only eight three-pointers on 31 attempts during the season. Smith launched the ball, but never saw what happened as her vision was blocked. Her teammates mobbed her, and she realized she had hit the shot to complete one of the most dramatic finishes in NCAA Championship history. North Carolina won the Championship 60–59.

Tournament records

• Rebounds - Charlotte Smith recorded 23 rebounds in the championship game between North Carolina and Louisiana Tech, the most number of rebounds recorded in a Final Four game. The result is also a tie for the most number of rebounds in an NCAA tournament game.
• Winning Margin - Tennessee beat North Carolina A&T by a score of 111–37. The 74 point margin is the largest ever record in an NCAA tournament game.
• Three-point field goals - Betsy Harris scored 20 three-point attempts in the tournament, tied for the most ever scored in a complete tournament. Harris scored the baskets in five games, while the two other record holders, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore, accomplished the feat in six games.

Qualifying teams – automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 1994 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-two conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1994 NCAA tournament.

Automatic bids
		Record
Qualifying school	Conference	Regular season	Conference	Seed
Bowling Green State University	MAC	26–3	17–1	7
Brown University	Ivy League	18–9	11–3	16
University of Connecticut	Big East	27–2	17–1	1
Florida International University	Trans America	25–3	11–1	8
Fordham University	Patriot League	21–8	11–3	16
Georgia Southern University	Southern Conference	21–8	11–2	14
Grambling State University	SWAC	23–6	11–3	15
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay	Mid-Continent	18–10	13–5	15
Louisiana Tech University	Sun Belt Conference	26–3	14–0	4
Loyola University Maryland	MAAC	18–10	12–2	14
University of Missouri	Big Eight	12–17	3–11	15
Missouri State University	Missouri Valley Conference	23–5	15–1	6
University of Montana	Big Sky Conference	24–4	12–2	7
Mount St. Mary's University	Northeast Conference	25–3	18–0	14
NC A&T	MEAC	19–10	11–5	16
University of North Carolina	ACC	27–2	14–2	3
University of Notre Dame	Midwestern Collegiate	22–6	10–2	7
Old Dominion University	Colonial	24–5	14–0	6
Pennsylvania State University	Big Ten	25–2	16–2	1
University of Portland	West Coast Conference	17–11	7–7	15
Radford University	Big South Conference	18–11	12–6	16
Rutgers University	Atlantic 10	22–7	13–3	5
San Diego State University	WAC	25–4	13–1	5
University of Southern California	Pac-10	23–3	16–2	2
Stephen F. Austin State University	Southland	23–6	16–2	8
University of Tennessee	SEC	29–1	11–0	1
Tennessee State University	Ohio Valley Conference	20–8	13–3	13
University of Texas at Austin	Southwest	21–8	10–4	5
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Great Midwest	23–5	12–0	10
University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Big West Conference	23–6	14–4	10
University of Vermont	North Atlantic Conference	19–10	9–5	13
Virginia Tech	Metro	24–5	9–3	8

Qualifying teams – at-large

Thirty-two additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.

At-large bids
		Record
Qualifying school	Conference	Regular season	Conference	Seed
University of Alabama	Southeastern	22–6	7–4	6
Auburn University	Southeastern	19–9	6–5	9
Boise State University	Big Sky	23–5	12–2	9
Clemson University	Atlantic Coast	19–9	11–5	9
University of Colorado at Boulder	Big Eight	25–4	12–2	3
Creighton University	Missouri Valley	23–6	14–2	10
University of Florida	Southeastern	22–6	8–3	4
The George Washington University	Atlantic 10	22–7	13–3	7
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	Big West	25–4	16–2	12
Indiana University	Big Ten	19–8	10–8	12
University of Iowa	Big Ten	20–6	13–5	3
University of Kansas	Big Eight	21–5	11–3	9
Marquette University	Great Midwest	22–6	10–2	14
University of Minnesota	Big Ten	17–10	10–8	10
University of Mississippi	Southeastern	23–8	7–4	5
Northern Illinois University	Mid-Continent	24–5	18–0	11
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater	Big Eight	20–8	9–5	12
University of Oregon	Pacific-10	19–8	13–5	6
Oregon State University	Pacific-10	17–10	9–9	11
Purdue University	Big Ten	25–4	16–2	1
Santa Clara University	West Coast	21–6	11–3	11
Seton Hall University	Big East	25–4	16–2	4
Southern Methodist University	Southwest	18–8	8–6	13
University of Southern Mississippi	Metro	24–4	10–2	4
Saint Joseph's University	Atlantic 10	19–8	11–5	11
Stanford University	Pacific-10	22–5	15–3	2
Texas A&M University	Southwest	21–7	11–3	13
Texas Tech University	Southwest	26–4	12–2	2
Vanderbilt University	Southeastern	23–7	9–2	2
University of Virginia	Atlantic Coast	25–4	15–1	3
University of Washington	Pacific-10	20–7	12–6	8
Western Kentucky University	Sun Belt	23–9	11–3	12

Bids by conference

Thirty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In sixteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-two additional at-large teams were selected from sixteen of the conferences.

Bids	Conference	Teams
6	Southeastern	Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt
5	Big Ten	Penn St., Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue
5	Pacific-10	Southern California, Oregon, Oregon St., Stanford, Washington
4	Big Eight	Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma St.
4	Southwest	Texas, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
3	Atlantic 10	Rutgers, George Washington, St. Joseph's
3	Atlantic Coast	North Carolina, Clemson, Virginia
2	Big East	Connecticut, Seton Hall
2	Big Sky	Montana, Boise St.
2	Big West	UNLV, Hawaii
2	Great Midwest	UAB, Marquette
2	Metro	Virginia Tech, Southern Miss.
2	Mid-Continent	Green Bay, Northern Ill.
2	Missouri Valley	Missouri St., Creighton
2	Sun Belt	Louisiana Tech, Western Ky.
2	West Coast	Portland, Santa Clara
1	Big South	Radford
1	Colonial	Old Dominion
1	Ivy	Brown
1	Metro Atlantic	Loyola Md.
1	Mid-American	Bowling Green
1	Mid-Eastern	N.C. A&T
1	Midwestern	Notre Dame
1	North Atlantic	Vermont
1	Northeast	Mt. St. Mary's
1	Ohio Valley	Tennessee St.
1	Patriot	Fordham
1	Southern	Ga. Southern
1	Southland	Stephen F. Austin
1	Southwestern	Grambling
1	Trans America	FIU
1	Western Athletic	San Diego St.

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from thirty-six states, plus Washington, D.C. Texas had the most teams with five bids. Fourteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.

NCAA women's basketball tournament invitations by state 1994

Bids	State	Teams
5	Texas	Stephen F. Austin, Texas, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
4	California	San Diego State, Southern California, Santa Clara, Stanford
4	Virginia	Old Dominion, Radford, Virginia, Virginia Tech
3	Alabama	UAB, Alabama, Auburn
3	Indiana	Notre Dame, Indiana, Purdue
3	Oregon	Portland, Oregon, Oregon State
3	Tennessee	Tennessee, Tennessee State, Vanderbilt
2	Florida	Florida, Florida International
2	Louisiana	Grambling, Louisiana Tech
2	Maryland	Loyola Md., Mount St. Mary's
2	Mississippi	Ole Miss, Southern Mississippi
2	Missouri	Missouri, Missouri State
2	New Jersey	Rutgers, Seton Hall
2	North Carolina	North Carolina A&T, North Carolina
2	Pennsylvania	Penn State, St. Joseph's
2	Wisconsin	Green Bay, Marquette
1	Colorado	Colorado
1	Connecticut	Connecticut
1	District of Columbia	George Washington
1	Georgia	Georgia Southern
1	Hawaii	Hawaii
1	Idaho	Boise State
1	Illinois	Northern Illinois
1	Iowa	Iowa
1	Kansas	Kansas
1	Kentucky	Western Kentucky
1	Minnesota	Minnesota
1	Montana	Montana
1	Nebraska	Creighton
1	Nevada	UNLV
1	New York	Fordham
1	Ohio	Bowling Green
1	Oklahoma	Oklahoma State
1	Rhode Island	Brown
1	South Carolina	Clemson
1	Vermont	Vermont
1	Washington	Washington

Brackets

First- and second-round games played at higher seed except where noted.

East Region

	First round March 13 and 14 Higher seed's home court					Second round March 15 and 16 Higher seed's home court					Regional semifinals March 21 Piscataway, NJ					Regional finals March 23 Piscataway, NJ
	1	Connecticut	79
	16	Brown	60
						1	Connecticut	81
						9	Auburn	59
	8	Virginia Tech	51
	9	Auburn	60
											1	Connecticut	78
											4	Southern Mississippi	64
	5	Rutgers	73
	12	Western Kentucky	84
						12	Western Kentucky	69
						4	Southern Mississippi	72
	4	Southern Mississippi	86
	13	Tennessee State	72
																1	Connecticut	69
																3	North Carolina	81
	6	Old Dominion	56
	11	Saint Joseph's	55
						6	Old Dominion	52
						3	North Carolina	63
	3	North Carolina	101
	14	Georgia Southern	53
											3	North Carolina	73
											2	Vanderbilt	69
	7	Notre Dame	76
	10	Minnesota	81
						10	Minnesota	72
						2	Vanderbilt	98
	2	Vanderbilt	95
	15	Grambling State	85

Mideast Region

	First round March 12 and 13 Higher seed's home court					Second round March 14 and 15 Higher seed's home court					Regional semifinals March 21 Fayetteville, AR					Regional finals March 23 Fayetteville, AR
	1	Tennessee	111
	16	North Carolina A&T	37
						1	Tennessee	78
						9	Clemson	66
	8	Florida International	64
	9	Clemson	65
											1	Tennessee	68
											4	Louisiana Tech	71
	5	Ole Miss	83
	12	Indiana	61
						5	Ole Miss	67
						4	Louisiana Tech	82
	4	Louisiana Tech	96
	13	SMU	62
																4	Louisiana Tech	75
																2	USC	66
	6	SW Missouri State	75
	11	Northern Illinois	56
						6	SW Missouri State	63
						3	Virginia	67
	3	Virginia	72
	14	Loyola (Md)	47
											3	Virginia	66
											2	USC	85
	7	George Washington	74
	10	UAB	66
						7	George Washington	72
						2	USC	76
	2	USC	77
	15	Portland	62

Midwest Region

	First round March 12 and 13 Higher seed's home court					Second round March 14 and 15 Higher seed's home court					Regional semifinals March 20 Austin, Texas					Regional finals March 22 Austin, Texas
	1	Penn State	94
	16	Fordham	41
						1	Penn State	85
						9	Kansas	68
	8	Stephen F. Austin	62
	9	Kansas	72
											1	Penn State	64
											4	Seton Hall	60
	5	Texas	75
	12	Oklahoma State	67
						5	Texas	66
						4	Seton Hall	71
	4	Seton Hall	70
	13	Vermont	60
																1	Penn State	82
																6	Alabama	96
	6	Alabama	96
	11	Oregon State	86
						6	Alabama	84
						3	Iowa	78
	3	Iowa	70
	14	Mount St. Mary's	47
											6	Alabama	73
											2	Texas Tech	68
	7	Bowling Green	73
	10	Creighton	84
						10	Creighton	65
						2	Texas Tech	75
	2	Texas Tech	75
	15	Missouri	61

West Region

	First round March 16 Higher seed's home court					Second round March 19 and 20 Higher seed's home court					Regional semifinals March 24 Stanford, CA					Regional finals March 26 Stanford, CA
	1	Purdue	103
	16	Radford	56
						1	Purdue	86
						8	Washington	59
	8	Washington	89
	9	Boise State	61
											1	Purdue	82
											13	Texas A&M	56
	5	San Diego State	81
	12	Hawaiʻi	75
						5	San Diego State	72
						13	Texas A&M	75
	4	Florida	76
	13	at Texas A&M	78
																1	Purdue	82
																2	Stanford	65
	6	Oregon	74
	11	Santa Clara	59
						6	Oregon	71
						3	Colorado	92
	3	Colorado	77
	14	Marquette	74
											3	Colorado	62
											2	Stanford	78
	7	Montana	77
	10	UNLV	67
						7	Montana	62
						2	Stanford	66
	2	Stanford	81
	15	Green Bay	56

Final Four – Richmond, Virginia

	National semifinals April 2					National championship April 3
	3E	North Carolina	89
	1W	Purdue	74
						3E	North Carolina	60
						4ME	Louisiana Tech	59
	4ME	Louisiana Tech	69
	6MW	Alabama	66

E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West.

Record by conference

Eighteen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play:

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Round of 32	Sweet Sixteen	Elite Eight	Final Four	Championship Game
Southeastern	6	10–6	.625	5	3	1	1	–
Big Ten	5	9–5	.643	4	2	2	1	–
Pacific-10	5	8–5	.615	4	2	2	–	–
Southwest	4	5–4	.556	3	2	–	–	–
Big Eight	4	3–4	.429	2	1	–	–	–
Atlantic Coast	3	9–2	.818	3	2	1	1	1
Atlantic 10	3	1–3	.250	1	–	–	–	–
Sun Belt	2	6–2	.750	2	1	1	1	1
Big East	2	5–2	.714	2	2	1	–	–
Metro	2	2–2	.500	1	1	–	–	–
Missouri Valley	2	2–2	.500	2	–	–	–	–
Big Sky	2	1–2	.333	1	–	–	–	–
Big West	2	0–2	–	–	–	–	–	–
Great Midwest	2	0–2	–	–	–	–	–	–
Mid-Continent	2	0–2	–	–	–	–	–	–
West Coast	2	0–2	–	–	–	–	–	–
Colonial	1	1–1	.500	1	–	–	–	–
Western Athletic	1	1–1	.500	1	–	–	–	–

Fourteen conferences went 0-1: Big South Conference, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Midwestern Collegiate, North Atlantic Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, and Trans America.

All-Tournament team

• Charlotte Smith, North Carolina
• Tonya Sampson, North Carolina
• Vickie Johnson, Louisiana Tech
• Pam Thomas, Louisiana Tech
• Betsy Harris, Alabama

Game officials

• Dee Kantner (semifinal)
• Violet Palmer (semifinal)
• Sally Bell (semifinal)
• Sidney Bunch (semifinal)
• Sally Bell (final)
• John Morningstar (final)

See also

• 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1994 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 1994 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 1994 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1994 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament