2023 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament

Season	2022–23
Teams	68
Finals site	American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Champions	LSU Tigers (1st title, 1st title game, 6th Final Four)
Runner-up	Iowa Hawkeyes (1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists	South Carolina Gamecocks (5th Final Four) Virginia Tech Hokies (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Kim Mulkey (4th title)
MOP	Angel Reese (LSU)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments «2022 2024»

The2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was asingle-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Division Icollege basketball national champion for the2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 41st edition of thetournament began on March 15, 2023, and concluded on April 2 with thechampionship game at theAmerican Airlines Center inDallas.

Atlantic 10 championSaint Louis,Big Sky championSacramento State,Southland championSoutheastern Louisiana, andWAC championSouthern Utah made their NCAA debuts.

A total of 68 teams participated in the 2023 tournament, consisting of the 32conference champions, and 36 "at-large" bids to be extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The last four at-large teams and teams seeded 65 through 68 overall played inFirst Four games, whose winners advanced to the 64 team first round.^[1]

Columbia

Los Angeles

Notre Dame

College Park

Stanford

Austin

Durham

Iowa City

Bloomington

Villanova

Baton Rouge

Salt Lake City

Blacksburg

Knoxville

Columbus

Storrs

class=notpageimage|

2023 Subregionals – Fri/Sun (pink) and Sat/Mon (green)

Greenville

Seattle

Dallas

class=notpageimage|

2023 NCAA Regionals (blue) andFinal Four (red)

The first two rounds, also referred to as the subregionals, were played at the sites of the top 16 seeds, as was done from 2016 to 2019.

A dramatic change from past tournaments is that the regional rounds (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) were held at two sites, instead of the four used in past tournaments. Two regionals were held inGreenville, South Carolina and the other two were held inSeattle. Specific regional names were to be announced by the NCAA committee on or before selections were announced on March 12, 2023.

First Four

• March 15—16
• Four of the campuses seeded in the Top 16

Subregionals (first and second rounds)

• March 17 and 19 (Fri/Sun)
  • Colonial Life Arena,Columbia, South Carolina (Host:University of South Carolina)
  • Edmund P. Joyce Center,Notre Dame, Indiana (Host:University of Notre Dame)
  • XFINITY Center,College Park, Maryland (Host:University of Maryland)
  • Pete Maravich Assembly Center,Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Host:Louisiana State University)
  • Jon M. Huntsman Center,Salt Lake City, Utah (Host:University of Utah)
  • Cassell Coliseum,Blacksburg, Virginia (Host:Virginia Tech)
  • Maples Pavilion,Stanford, California (Host:Stanford University)
  • Carver–Hawkeye Arena,Iowa City, Iowa (Host:University of Iowa)
• March 18 and 20 (Sat/Mon)
  • Pauley Pavilion,Los Angeles, California (Host:University of California, Los Angeles)
  • Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall,Bloomington, Indiana (Host:Indiana University)
  • Finneran Pavilion,Villanova, Pennsylvania (Host:Villanova University)
  • Thompson–Boling Arena,Knoxville, Tennessee (Host:University of Tennessee)
  • Value City Arena,Columbus, Ohio (Host:Ohio State University)
  • Harry A. Gampel Pavilion,Storrs, Connecticut (Host:University of Connecticut)
  • Moody Center,Austin, Texas (Host:University of Texas at Austin)
  • Cameron Indoor Stadium,Durham, North Carolina (Host:Duke University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 24—27
  • Greenville regional
    • Bon Secours Wellness Arena,Greenville, South Carolina (Hosts:Furman University and theSouthern Conference)
  • Seattle regional
    • Climate Pledge Arena,Seattle, Washington (Hosts:Seattle University and theWestern Athletic Conference)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

• March 31 and April 2
  • American Airlines Center,Dallas, Texas (Hosts:Southern Methodist University and theBig 12 Conference/Conference USA)

This is the second time the women's Final Four will be played in Dallas (2017).^[3]

The following teams automatically qualified for the 2023 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament.

The tournament seeds and regions were determined through theNCAA basketball tournament selection process.

*SeeFirst Four

• Virginia Tech'sGeorgia Amoore hit 24 3-pointers in the tournament, setting the record for most three pointers in a single tournament, surpassing the record of 22 set by UConn'sKia Nurse in 2017, and tied by Arizona'sAari Mcdonald in 2021.^[4]
• Iowa'sCaitlin Clark set numerous NCAA tournament records, including most points scored (191), most assists (60), and most 3-point field goals in a national championship game (8). Clark also became the first player in tournament history to post back-to-back 40-point games, with 41 in the regional final, followed by 41 in the Final Four.^[5][6]

Source:^[7]
All times are listed inEastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)
* denotes overtime period

TheFirst Four games involve eight teams: the four overall lowest-ranked teams and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams.

• Aliyah Boston (MOP) –South Carolina
• Brea Beal – South Carolina
• Zia Cooke – South Carolina
• Abby Meyers –Maryland
• Diamond Miller – Maryland

• Angel Reese (MOP) –LSU
• Alexis Morris –LSU
• Jasmyne Roberts –Miami (FL)
• Gianna Kneepkens –Utah
• Maddy Siegrist –Villanova

• Georgia Amoore (MOP) –Virginia Tech
• Elizabeth Kitley – Virginia Tech
• Cotie McMahon –Ohio State
• Jacy Sheldon – Ohio State
• Lou Lopez Sénéchal –UConn

Caitlin Clark, Iowa's star player, made NCAA tournament history by becoming the first player to score a 40-pointtriple-double, with 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. The junior either scored or assisted on every field goal in the Hawkeyes' 25-point first quarter, which helped the Hawkeyes advance to their firstFinal Four since1993.

• Caitlin Clark (MOP) –Iowa
• Monika Czinano – Iowa
• McKenna Warnock – Iowa
• Hailey Van Lith –Louisville
• Frida Formann –Colorado

• Angel Reese, LSU (MOP)
• Alexis Morris, LSU
• Jasmine Carson, LSU
• Caitlin Clark, Iowa
• Zia Cooke, South Carolina

Per the NCAA, "Upsets are defined as when the winner of the game was seeded five or more places lower than the team it defeated."^[8] The 2023 tournament saw a total of six upsets, with three in the first round, two in the second round, and one in the Sweet Sixteen.Stanford's loss toOle Miss marked the first time a No. 1 seed failed to make the Sweet Sixteen since2009.^[9] WithIndiana's loss toMiami, this marked the first time two No. 1 seeds failed to make the Sweet Sixteen since1998.^[10]UConn's loss toOhio State in the Sweet 16 marked the first time since2007 that UConn did not make it to the Women's Final Four. WithTennessee's loss toVirginia Tech in the Sweet 16 this marked the first time since2006 that the Women's Final Four did not feature either UConn or Tennessee.

• The FF, R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the first four, round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.

All games in the tournament were televised byESPN networks orABC; this was the second-to-last year of its current contract to air NCAA tournaments, which lasts through the 2023–24 season.^[11][12] On August 23, 2022, ESPN announced that the national championship game would be broadcast by ABC for the first time, with a Sunday afternoon scheduling.^[13] This marked the first time the women's championship game would be carried on broadcast television since1995.^[14]

Viewership of the tournament was up by 42% year-over-year. With significant attention towards Iowa playerCaitlin Clark, the Iowa/South Carolina semi-final game was seen by an average of 5.5 million viewers—making it the highest-rated Women's Final Four telecast in ESPN history.^[15] These numbers would be surpassed by the national championship game, which was seen by an average of 9.9 million viewers, and peaked at 12.6 million—making it the most-watched women's college basketball game of all-time.^[16] It was a 103% increase over the previous year's championship game, which was carried by ESPN in primetime.^[14]

• Elle Duncan (Host) (First Four, First, Second rounds, Regionals, Final Four, and National championship game)
• Kelsey Riggs (Host) (First Four, First, and Second rounds)
• Rebecca Lobo (Analyst) (First Four, First, Second rounds, Final Four, and National championship game)
• Andraya Carter (Analyst) (First Four, First, Second rounds, Final Four, and National championship game)
• Nikki Fargas (Analyst) (First Four, First, Second rounds, and Regionals)
• Monica McNutt (Analyst) (First Four, First, Second rounds, Regionals, Final Four, and National championship game)
• Carolyn Peck (Analyst) (Final Four and National championship game)

Westwood One will serve as radio broadcaster of the tournament.

Regionals (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)

• Lance Medow andKim Adams – Greenville, South Carolina 1
• Jason Ross Jr. andDebbie Antonelli – Greenville, South Carolina 2
• Dick Fain andKristen Kozlowski – Seattle, Washington 3
• Matt Chazanow andKrista Blunk – Seattle, Washington 4

Final Four and National Championship

• Ryan Radtke, Debbie Antonelli, and Krista Blunk – Dallas, Texas

• 2023 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2023 Women's Basketball Invitational
• 2023 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2023 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

• NCAA Women's Basketball Division I

• NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season
• March 2023 sports events in the United States
• April 2023 sports events in the United States
• 2023 in sports in Texas
• Women's sports in Texas

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023