The 1994 FIBA Women's World Championship was the 12th edition of the FIBA Women's World Championship, an quadrennial international tournament played by women's basketball teams in FIBA. It was hosted in Australia from 2 to 12 June 1994 at five venues with the Sydney Entertainment Centre hosting the finals.
The tournament consisted of 16 nations from five federations who competed through the regional qualifiers to get to the tournament. These teams were divided into four groups for the preliminary round. Based on the results of the Preliminary round, the teams were then resorted into groups for the quarter-final round, with the top two finishers in each Preliminary group placed into quarter-final Groups A and B, and the bottom two finishers placed into Groups C and D. Based on the placement in the quarter-final round, the teams were then sorted into groups of four, each of which played a two-round knockout draw to determine the final standings.[1]
In the semi-finals, Brazil and China made it through to the final defeating the United States and Australia respectively. In what was the first gold medal final appearance for both teams, Brazil took out the title defeating China 96–87. The United States claimed the bronze defeating Australia 100–95.
In the preliminary round, each team played games against the other three teams in its group. The top two teams in each group were then placed into Groups A and B for the quarter-final Round, while the remaining teams were placed into Groups C and D for the quarter-final Round. Teams placed into Groups A and B for the quarter-final Round were eligible for the Championship bracket, while teams placed into Groups C and D finished no higher than 9th place.[2]
In the quarter-final Round, each team played games against the other three teams in its group. The top two teams in Groups A and B qualified for the Championship bracket, while the remaining teams from Groups A and B were placed in the bracket to determine places 5 through 9. The top two teams from Groups C and D were placed in the bracket to determine places 9 through 12, and the remaining teams were placed in the bracket to determine places 13 through 16.[3]