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2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

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2018 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament
Season2017–18
Teams64
Finals siteNationwide Arena
Columbus, Ohio
ChampionsNotre Dame Fighting Irish (2nd title, 6th title game,
8th Final Four)
Runner-upMississippi State Bulldogs (2nd title game,
2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachMuffet McGraw (2nd title)
MOPArike Ogunbowale (Notre Dame)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments
«2017 2019»

The 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 16, 2018, and concluded with the national championship game on Sunday, April 1. The Final Four was played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.[1] This is the third time that the women's Final Four was played in Ohio after previously being held in Cincinnati in 1997 and Cleveland in 2007 and the first time that the women's Final Four was played in Columbus.[2] For only the fourth time in the tournament’s 37-year history, all four of the number one seeds made it to the Final Four (1989, 2012, 2015).

Tennessee continued its record streak of making every NCAA women's basketball tournament at 37 consecutive appearances. Connecticut also continued its record streak of 11 consecutive Final Four appearances.

Tournament procedure

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Further information: NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament § Current tournament format

Pending any changes to the format, a total of 64 teams will enter the 2016 tournament. 32 automatic bids shall be awarded to each program that wins their conference's tournament. The remaining 36 bids are "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The tournament is split into four regional tournaments, and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16, with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible.[citation needed] The top-seeded team in each region plays the #16 team, the #2 team plays the #15, etc. (meaning where the two seeds add up to 17, that team will be assigned to play another).

The basis for the subregionals returned to the approach used between 1982 and 2002; the top sixteen teams, as chosen in the bracket selection process, hosted the first two rounds on campus.

The selection committee will also seed the entire field from 1 to 64.

2018 NCAA tournament schedule and venues

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The first two rounds, also referred to as the subregionals, were played at the sites of the top 16 seeds, as was done in 2016 and 2017. The following are the sites selected to host the last four rounds of the 2018 tournament.[3][4][5]

First and Second rounds (Subregionals)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is located in the United States
Albany
Albany
Kansas City
Kansas City
Lexington
Lexington
Spokane
Spokane
Columbus
Columbus
class=notpageimage|
2018 NCAA regionals and Final Four

National semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

Subregionals tournament and automatic qualifiers

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Further information: 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament qualifying teams

Selections for the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship were announced at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Monday, March 12 via ESPN.

The basis for the subregionals returned to the approach used between 1982 and 2002; the top sixteen teams, as chosen in the bracket selection process, hosted the first two rounds on campus.

A total of 64 teams entered the 2018 tournament. 32 automatic bids teams were given to teams that won their conference tournament. The remaining 32 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.

The selection committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 64.

Automatic qualifiers

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The following teams automatically qualified for the 2018 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament.

Conference Team Record Appearance Last bid
ACC Louisville 32–2 21st 2017
America East Maine 23–9 8th 2004
American Connecticut 32–0 30th 2017
Atlantic 10 George Washington 19–13 18th 2016
Atlantic Sun Florida Gulf Coast 30–4 5th 2017
Big 12 Baylor 31–1 17th 2017
Big East DePaul 26–7 23rd 2017
Big Sky Northern Colorado 26–6 1st Never
Big South Liberty 24–9 17th 2013
Big Ten Ohio State 27–6 25th 2017
Big West Cal State Northridge 19–15 4th 2015
Colonial Elon 25–7 2nd 2017
C-USA Western Kentucky 24–8 20th 2017
Horizon Green Bay 29–3 18th 2017
Ivy League Princeton 24–5 7th 2016
MAAC Quinnipiac 27–5 4th 2017
Mid-American Central Michigan 28–4 4th 2013
MEAC North Carolina A&T 23–8 4th 2016
Missouri Valley Drake 26–7 12th 2017
Mountain West Boise State 23–9 5th 2017
Northeast Saint Francis (PA) 24–9 12th 2011
Ohio Valley Belmont 31–3 4th 2017
Pac-12 Oregon 30–4 14th 2017
Patriot American 26–6 2nd 2015
SEC South Carolina 26–6 15th 2017
Southern Mercer 30–2 1st Never
Southland Nicholls State 19–13 1st Never
SWAC Grambling State 19–13 6th 1999
Summit South Dakota State 26–6 8th 2016
Sun Belt Little Rock 23–9 5th 2015
West Coast Gonzaga 27–5 10th 2017
WAC Seattle 18–14 1st Never

Tournament seeds

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Albany regional – Times Union Center,
Albany, New York
Seed School Conference Record RPI[6] Berth type
1 Connecticut American 32–0 1 Automatic
2 South Carolina SEC 26–6 11 Automatic
3 Florida State ACC 25–6 8 At-large
4 Georgia SEC 25–6 26 At-Large
5 Duke ACC 22–8 19 At-Large
6 South Florida American 26–7 14 At-Large
7 California Pac-12 21–10 43 At-Large
8 Miami (FL) ACC 21–10 53 At-Large
9 Quinnipiac MAAC 27–5 37 Automatic
10 Virginia ACC 18–13 33 At-Large
11 Buffalo Mid-American 27–5 22 At-Large
12 Belmont Ohio Valley 31–3 57 Automatic
13 Mercer Southern 30–2 48 Automatic
14 Little Rock Sun Belt 23–9 88 Automatic
15 North Carolina A&T MEAC 23–8 154 Automatic
16 Saint Francis (PA) Northeast 24–9 99 Automatic
Kansas City regional – Sprint Center,
Kansas City, Missouri
Seed School Conference Record RPI Berth type
1 Mississippi State SEC 32–1 5 At-Large
2 Texas Big 12 26–6 12 At-Large
3 UCLA Pac-12 24–7 10 At-Large
4 NC State ACC 24–8 17 At-Large
5 Maryland Big Ten 25–7 18 At-Large
6 Iowa Big Ten 24–7 21 At-Large
7 Arizona State Pac-12 21–12 55 At-Large
8 Syracuse ACC 22–8 38 At-Large
9 Oklahoma State Big 12 20–10 58 At-Large
10 Nebraska Big Ten 21–10 60 At-Large
11 Creighton Big East 18–12 49 At-Large
12 Princeton Ivy League 24–5 27 Automatic
13 Elon Colonial 25–7 31 Automatic
14 American Patriot 26–6 46 Automatic
15 Maine America East 23–9 70 Automatic
16 Nicholls State Southland 19–13 189 Automatic
Lexington regional – Rupp Arena,
Lexington, Kentucky
Seed School Conference Record RPI Berth type
1 Louisville ACC 32–2 3 Automatic
2 Baylor Big 12 31–1 4 Automatic
3 Tennessee SEC 24–7 9 At-Large
4 Stanford Pac-12 22–10 13 At-Large
5 Missouri SEC 24–7 24 At-Large
6 Oregon State Pac-12 23–7 42 At-Large
7 Michigan Big Ten 22–9 39 At-Large
8 Marquette Big East 23–9 25 At-Large
9 Dayton Atlantic 10 23–6 36 At-Large
10 Northern Colorado Big Sky 26–6 32 Automatic
11 Western Kentucky C-USA 24–8 50 Automatic
12 Florida Gulf Coast Atlantic Sun 30–4 47 Automatic
13 Gonzaga West Coast 27–5 34 Automatic
14 Liberty Big South 24–9 82 Automatic
15 Grambling State SWAC 19–13 210 Automatic
16 Boise State Mountain West 23–9 111 Automatic
Spokane regional – Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena,
Spokane, Washington
Seed School Conference Record RPI Berth type
1 Notre Dame ACC 29–3 2 At-Large
2 Oregon Pac-12 30–4 7 Automatic
3 Ohio State Big Ten 27–6 6 Automatic
4 Texas A&M SEC 24–9 16 At-Large
5 DePaul Big East 26–7 20 Automatic
6 LSU SEC 19–9 29 At-Large
7 Green Bay Horizon 29–3 23 Automatic
8 South Dakota State Summit 26–6 28 Automatic
9 Villanova Big East 22–8 30 At-Large
10 Minnesota Big Ten 23–8 41 At-Large
11 Central Michigan Mid-American 28–4 15 Automatic
12 Oklahoma Big 12 16–14 35 At-Large
13 Drake Missouri Valley 26–7 63 Automatic
14 George Washington Atlantic 10 19–13 77 Automatic
15 Seattle WAC 18–14 196 Automatic
16 Cal State Northridge Big West 19–15 178 Automatic

Tournament records

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  • Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan recorded 109 rebounds, setting the record for the most rebounds in a tournament.[7]
  • Texas hit 103 of 178 field-goal attempts, hitting 57.9% of the attempts, setting a record for the highest field-goal percentage in a tournament.[7]

Bracket

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All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)
* – Denotes overtime period

Albany Regional – Albany, New York

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First Round
Round Of 64
March 16–17 		Second Round
Round Of 32
March 18–19 		Regional Semifinals
Sweet 16
March 24 		Regional Final
Elite 8
March 26
            
1 UConn 140
16 St. Francis (PA) 52
1 UConn 71
Storrs, Connecticut (Sat/Mon)
9 Quinnipiac 46
8 Miami (FL) 72
9 Quinnipiac 86
1 UConn 72
5 Duke 59
5 Duke 72
12 Belmont 58
5 Duke 66
Athens, Georgia (Sat/Mon)
4 Georgia 40
4 Georgia 68
13 Mercer 63
1 UConn 94
2 South Carolina 65
6 South Florida 79
11 Buffalo 102
11 Buffalo 86
Tallahassee, Florida (Sat/Mon)
3 Florida State 65
3 Florida State 91
14 Little Rock 49
11 Buffalo 63
2 South Carolina 79
7 California 62
10 Virginia 68
10 Virginia 56
Columbia, South Carolina (Fri/Sun)
2 South Carolina 66
2 South Carolina 63
15 North Carolina A&T 52

Albany Regional Final

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ESPN
Monday, March 26
7:00 pm
#1 Connecticut Huskies 94, #2 South Carolina Gamecocks 65
Scoring by quarter: 30–12, 24–21, 22–14, 18–18
Pts: G. Williams 23
Rebs: N. Collier 7
Asts: K. Samuelson 7		 Pts: A. Wilson 27
Rebs: A. Wilson 8
Asts: D. Cliney/T. Harris/B. Jackson/A. Jennings 2
Times Union Center – Albany, New York
Attendance: 9,522
Referees: Eric Brewton, Roy Gulbeyan, Brenda Pantoja

Albany Regional all tournament team

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Kansas City Regional – Kansas City, Missouri

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First Round
Round Of 64
March 16–17 		Second Round
Round Of 32
March 18–19 		Regional Semifinals
Sweet 16
March 23 		Regional Final
Elite 8
March 25
            
1 Mississippi State 95
16 Nicholls State 50
1 Mississippi State 71
Starkville, Mississippi (Sat/Mon)
9 Oklahoma State 56
8 Syracuse 57
9 Oklahoma State 84
1 Mississippi State 71
4 NC State 57
5 Maryland 77
12 Princeton 57
5 Maryland 60
Raleigh, North Carolina (Fri/Sun)
4 NC State 74
4 NC State 62
13 Elon 35
1 Mississippi State 89
3 UCLA 73
6 Iowa 70
11 Creighton 76
11 Creighton 64
Los Angeles, California (Sat/Mon)
3 UCLA 86
3 UCLA 71
14 American 60
3 UCLA 84
2 Texas 75
7 Arizona State 73
10 Nebraska 62
7 Arizona State 65
Austin, Texas (Sat/Mon)
2 Texas 85
2 Texas 83
15 Maine 54

Kansas City Regional final

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ESPN
Sunday, March 25
7:30 pm
#1 Mississippi State Bulldogs 89, #3 UCLA Bruins 73
Scoring by quarter: 23–17, 19–9, 21–24, 26–23
Pts: V. Vivians 24
Rebs: T. McCowan 21
Asts: R. Johnson/M. William 5		 Pts: J. Canada 23
Rebs: J. Canada 8
Asts: J. Canada 5
Sprint Center – Kansas City, MO
Attendance: 4,089
Referees: Tina Napier, Charles Gonzalez, Susan Blauch

Kansas City Regional all tournament team

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Lexington Regional – Lexington, Kentucky

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First Round
Round Of 64
March 16–17 		Second Round
Round Of 32
March 18–19 		Regional Semifinals
Sweet 16
March 23 		Regional Final
Elite 8
March 25
            
1 Louisville 74
16 Boise State 42
1 Louisville 90
Louisville, Kentucky (Fri/Sun)
8 Marquette 72
8 Marquette 84
9 Dayton 65
1 Louisville 86
4 Stanford 59
5 Missouri 70
12 Florida Gulf Coast 80
12 Florida Gulf Coast 70
Stanford, California (Sat/Mon)
4 Stanford 90
4 Stanford 82
13 Gonzaga 68
1 Louisville 76
6 Oregon State 43
6 Oregon State 82
11 Western Kentucky 58
6 Oregon State 66
Knoxville, Tennessee (Fri/Sun)
3 Tennessee 59
3 Tennessee 100
14 Liberty 60
6 Oregon State 72
2 Baylor 67
7 Michigan 75
10 Northern Colorado 61
7 Michigan 58
Waco, Texas (Fri/Sun)
2 Baylor 80
2 Baylor 96
15 Grambling State 46

Lexington Regional Final

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ESPN
Sunday, March 25
12:00 pm
#1 Louisville Cardinals 76, #6 Oregon State Beavers 43
Scoring by quarter: 14–8, 17–16, 28–12, 17–7
Pts: A. Durr 18
Rebs: J. Jones 6
Asts: K. McWilliams		 Pts: M. Gülich 14
Rebs: M. Gülich 8
Asts: D. Evans 5
Rupp Arena – Lexington, KY
Attendance: 6,268
Referees: Dee Kantner, Jesse Dickerson, Michol Murray

Lexington Regional all tournament team

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Spokane Regional – Spokane, Washington

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First Round
Round Of 64
March 16–17 		Second Round
Round Of 32
March 18–19 		Regional Semifinals
Sweet 16
March 24 		Regional Final
Elite 8
March 26
            
1 Notre Dame 99
16 Cal State Northridge 81
1 Notre Dame 98
Notre Dame, Indiana (Fri/Sun)
9 Villanova 72
8 South Dakota State 74
9 Villanova 81*
1 Notre Dame 90
4 Texas A&M 84
5 DePaul 90
12 Oklahoma 79
5 DePaul 79
College Station, Texas (Fri/Sun)
4 Texas A&M 80
4 Texas A&M 89
13 Drake 76
1 Notre Dame 84
2 Oregon 74
6 LSU 69
11 Central Michigan 78
11 Central Michigan 95
Columbus, Ohio (Sat/Mon)
3 Ohio State 78
3 Ohio State 87
14 George Washington 45
11 Central Michigan 68
2 Oregon 83
7 Green Bay 77
10 Minnesota 89
10 Minnesota 73
Eugene, Oregon (Fri/Sun)
2 Oregon 101
2 Oregon 88
15 Seattle 45

Spokane Regional Final

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ESPN
Monday, March 26
9:00 pm
#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 84, #2 Oregon Ducks 74
Scoring by quarter: 22–21, 18–25, 21–9, 23–19
Pts: K. Westbeld 20
Rebs: J. Young 13
Asts: M. Mabrey 7		 Pts: S. Ionescu 26
Rebs: R. Hebard 10
Asts: S. Ionescu 4
Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena – Spokane, WA
Attendance: 5,226
Referees: Lisa Mattingly, Penny Davis, Kevin Pethtel

Spokane Regional all tournament team

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Final Four

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During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region (Connecticut's Albany Region) plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region (Notre Dame's Spokane Region), and the champion of the second overall top seed's region (Mississippi State's Kansas City Region) plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region (Louisville's Lexington Region).

Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio

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National Semifinals
Final Four
March 30 		National Championship Game
April 1
      
A1 UConn 89
S1 Notre Dame 91*
S1 Notre Dame 61
KC1 Mississippi State 58
KC1 Mississippi State 73*
L1 Louisville 63

* – Denotes overtime period

Final Four

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ESPN2
Friday, March 30
7:00 pm
#1 Mississippi State Bulldogs 73, #1 Louisville Cardinals 63 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 13–11, 18–19, 15–18, 13–11, Overtime: 14–4
Pts: Vivians – 25
Rebs: McCowan – 25
Asts: William – 4		 Pts: Durr – 18
Rebs: Jones – 9
Asts: Carter – 3
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, OH
Attendance: 19,564
Referees: Lisa Mattingly, Penny Davis, Denise Brooks
ESPN2
Friday, March 30
9:52 pm
#1 Connecticut Huskies 89, #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 91 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 14–24, 27–10, 19–23, 19–22, Overtime: 10–12
Pts: Collier – 24
Rebs: Williams – 10
Asts: Williams – 7		 Pts: Young – 32
Rebs: Shepard, Young – 11
Asts: Shepard, Westbeld – 5
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, OH
Attendance: 19,564
Referees: Lisa Jones, Michael McConnell, Karen Preato

National Championship

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Main article: 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Game
ESPN
Sunday, April 1
12:00 pm
#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 61, #1 Mississippi State Bulldogs 58
Scoring by quarter: 14–17, 3–13, 24–11, 20–17
Pts: J. Shepard – 19
Rebs: K. Westbeld – 9
Asts: Three tied – 2		 Pts: V. Vivians – 21
Rebs: T. McCowan – 17
Asts: M. William – 2
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, OH
Attendance: 19,599
Referees: Dee Kantner, Brenda Pantoja, Joseph Vaszily

Final Four all-tournament team

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Record by conference

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Conference Bids Record Win % R64 R32 S16 E8 F4 CG NC
ACC 8 16–7 .696 8 6 4 2 2 1 1
SEC 7 12–7 .632 7 5 3 2 1 1 –
American 2 4–2 .667 2 1 1 1 1 – –
Pac-12 6 12–6 .667 6 5 4 3 – – –
Big 12 4 5–4 .556 4 3 2 – – – –
Mid-American 2 4–2 .667 2 2 2 – – – –
Big Ten 6 4–6 .400 6 4 – – – – –
Big East 4 4–4 .500 4 4 – – – – –
MAAC 1 1–1 .500 1 1 – – – – –
Atlantic Sun 1 1–1 .500 1 1 – – – – –
Atlantic 10 2 0–2 .000 2 – – – – – –
  • The R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the round of 64 (first round), round of 32 (second round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.
  • The America East, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Conference USA, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy League, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Summit, Sun Belt, SWAC, WAC and West Coast conferences each had one representative that was eliminated in the first round.

Media coverage

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Television

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ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament.[14] During the first and second rounds, ESPN aired select games nationally on ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPNews. All other games aired regionally on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPN3 and were streamed online via WatchESPN. Most of the nation got whip-a-round coverage during this time, which allowed ESPN to rotate between the games and focus the nation on the game that had the closest score.

Studio host and analysts

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Broadcast assignments

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Radio

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Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament.[15][16] Teams participating in the regional finals, Final Four, and Championship were allowed to have their own local broadcasts, but they weren’t allowed to stream those broadcasts online.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Women's basketball: Columbus to host Final Four in 2018". Buckeye Xtra Sports. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Women's Final Four sites for 2017-20 includes record fourth for New Orleans". NCAA.com. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  3. ^ "2016-18 regional hosts". NCAA.com. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  4. ^ "Big 12 To Host 2016 and 2018 NCAA Women's Basketball Regionals". Big12Sports.com. November 20, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  5. ^ "Broadcast Info". NCAA.com. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "DI WBB Nitty Gritty 3-11-18 Selections" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Nixon, Rick. "2023 Women's Final Four Championship Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. p. 85. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  8. ^ Adamec, Carl. "Williams keeps a cool head throughout". Journal Inquirer. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d e Journal, Logan Lowery Daily. "MSU NOTEBOOK: Vivians, McCowan share MVP honor". Daily Journal. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  10. ^ "Louisville routs Oregon State 76-43 to reach Final Four". NewsTimes. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Resilient Notre Dame headed to Final Four". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  12. ^ a b c "Kevin Pelton on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  13. ^ "Arike Ogunbowale of Notre Dame wins most outstanding player honors in NCAA women's basketball tournament". April 2, 2018.
  14. ^ Margolis, Rachel (December 15, 2011). "ESPN and NCAA Extend Rights Agreement through 2023–24". ESPN. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  15. ^ "NCAA, Westwood One extend deal". NCAA. January 13, 2011. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
  16. ^ "WO Sports to Air NCAA Women's Basketball". Radio Online. March 6, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
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