2010 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

2010 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
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Season	2009–10
Teams	64
Finals site	Alamodome San Antonio, Texas
Champions	Connecticut (7th title)
Runner-up	Stanford (4th title game)
Semifinalists	Baylor (2nd Final Four) Oklahoma (3rd Final Four)
Winning coach	Geno Auriemma (7th title)
MOP	Maya Moore Connecticut
NCAA Women's Division I Tournaments «2009  2011»

The 2010 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament started Saturday, March 20, 2010 and was completed on Tuesday, April 6 of the same year with University of Connecticut Huskies defending their title from the previous year by defeating Stanford, 53-47. The tournament bids were announced on Monday, March 15, 2010, 7:00 p.m. ET.

Subregionals

Austin

Berkeley

Knoxville

Minneapolis

Norfolk

South Bend

Tempe

Louisville

Palo Alto

Durham

Norman

Seattle

Pittsburgh

Cincinnati

Tallahassee

Ames

2010 NCAA subregionals — Green 21 & 23 March — Orange 20 & 22 March

The format is the same as the Men's Tournament, except that there are 64 teams and no play-in game. There are 31 automatic bids for conference champions and 33 at-large bids available. The subregionals, based on the "pod system" keeping teams at or close to home, will be at these locations from March 21 through 24. Prior to the committee's decision to expand the number of subregional sites to sixteen, eight sites were chosen. This list included the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. When the decision was made to increase the number of sites to sixteen, Trenton declined to participate.

The remaining seven sites continue to be part of the final list of sixteen:

• Frank Erwin Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas (Sunday, Tuesday)
• Haas Pavilion, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California (Saturday, Monday)
• Thompson-Boling Arena, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee (Saturday, Monday)
• Williams Arena, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Sunday, Tuesday)
• Ted Constant Convocation Center, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia (Sunday, Tuesday)
• Edmund P. Joyce Center, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana (Sunday, Tuesday)
• Wells Fargo Arena, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona (Saturday, Monday)

As per the expansion of the subregional sites, these nine sites were added in 2008:

• Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville) (Saturday, Monday)
• The Pit, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (Saturday, Monday)
• Lloyd Noble Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma (Sunday, Tuesday)
• Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (Saturday, Monday)
• Petersen Events Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Sunday, Tuesday)
• Cintas Center, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio (Sunday, Tuesday)
• Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Florida (Host: Florida State University) (Saturday, Monday)
• Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa (Sunday, Tuesday)

That list included Albuquerque, but Albuquerque had to withdraw, due to construction issues. The NCAA added Stanford, as a replacement:

• Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California (Saturday, Monday)

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, all locations are on-campus sites.

Regionals

Dayton

Kansas City

Memphis

Sacramento

San Antonio

2010 NCAA Regionals and Final Four — Blue 27 & 29 March — Purple 28 & 30 March

The Regionals, named for the city rather than the region of geographic importance since 2005, which will be held from March 28 to 31, will be at these sites:

• Dayton Regional, University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio.
• Kansas City Regional, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 12 Conference).
• Memphis Regional, FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee (Host: University of Memphis).
• Sacramento Regional, ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California (Host: University of the Pacific).

The Final Four, which will be on April 4 and 6, will be at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, and will be hosted by the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Game summaries

Dayton region

First round

Sixth seeded St. John's took on the eleventh seeded Ivy League champion Princeton. The Tigers had won their last 21 games, the nation's third longest win streak. While Princeton stayed close early, only down 15–12 at one time, they missed 15 of their next sixteen shots while St. John's pulled out to a sixteen point halftime lead. The two teams played roughly evenly the second half, but the halftime lead was more than enough and the Red Storm prevailed 65–47.

Fourteenth seeded Louisiana Tech (La Tech) was returning to the NCAA Tournament after a three year absence. Under Maggie Dixon award winning new coach Teresa Weatherspoon, the Lady Techsters took on third seeded Florida State. La tech started out strong, pulling out to a nine point lead late in the first half, but the Seminoles fought back to a 40–40 tie at halftime. The score was close well into the second half, with Florida State holding onto a one point lead with just under nine minutes to go, but the Seminoles gradually increased the lead to ten. Although the Lady Techsters cut the lead in half to 65–61 with just under two minutes left, they would not score again and La Tech would hit ten straight free throws in the closing minutes to win 75–61.

Kansas City region

First round

Michigan State's fifth year senior Aisha Jefferson had stomach problems from a pre-game meal severe enough to keep her hunched over the front of a trash can in the first half, but it wasn't enough to keep her out of the game. She scored 17 points along with nine rebounds to help lead the fifth seeded Spartans over 12 seed Bowling Green 72–62.

Thirteenth seeded Liberty tried to challenge fourth seeded Kentucky, scoring the first six points, and leading by as much as nine early, but Kentucky's freshman A'dia Mathies, scored 32 points to set a personal career high and an NCAA tournament record for Kentucky to help the Wildcats retake the lead. The Liberty Flames fought back, and had a slim two-point lead at halftime, but the Kentucky team, behind 26 of 36 free-throws, pulled ahead to win 83–77.

Memphis region

First round

Seventh seeded LSU easily beat tenth seeded Hartford 60–39. This was Hartford's first at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament, but without leading scorer Erica Beverly, lost to a season-ending injury, the Hawks were unable to stay with the Tigers. LSU held Hartford scoreless for nearly eight minutes, scoring 17 consecutive points to take an early lead they would never give up.

Top seeded Tennessee defeated 16 seed Austin Peay 75–42. Playing at their home court "The Summitt", the Lady Vols scored 15 points before allowing a score by the Lady Govs.

Second-seeded Duke took on 15 seed Hampton in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils home court, where Duke had won twelve consecutive NCAA Tournament games. The Pirates managed to hold a slim lead in the early minutes of the game, but Duke quickly took over, moving out to a 40–14 halftime lead and winning easily 72–37.

Eighth seeded Dayton took on ninth seeded TCU in their first ever NCAA appearance. Early in the second half, it appeared that Dayton would only be playing one game, as they were behind by 18 points, 50–32. However, the Flyers did not fold, and hit a basket with one second left in the game to win by a single point 67–66.

Twelve seed Marist scored the first seven points in their game against five seed Georgetown, which may have reminded fans of the way Marist played in 2007, coming to the tournament as a 13 seed, and knocking off Ohio State and Middle Tennessee to make it to the round of sixteen. Georgetown, which hasn't been to the tournament in 17 years, started slowly, but managed to hold a two point lead at halftime. Georgetown's Monica McNutt hit back-to-back three pointers to start a 13–0 run at the beginning of the second half. The Red Foxes would never close the gap, and Georgetown went on to win 62–42.

Fourth seed Baylor took on 13th seed Fresno State. Baylor's Brittney Griner returned to the floor, after sitting out a two-game suspension for hitting an opponent in a game. This was freshman Griner's first tournament, and she confessed to having jitters, but she controlled the lane, and help keep Fresno State from winning their first ever NCAA game. Baylor held a sic point lead at halftime, which they stretched out to a 69–55 final score.

Sacramento region

First round

A fifteen seed has never beaten a two seed in the NCAA Women's Tournament, but with under five minutes left in the first half, 15th seeded Portland State was ahead of the second seed Texas A&M. The lead didn't last long, as the Aggies pulled to an eight point lead at halftime, and extended the lead through the second half. Texas A&M's Tanisha Smith just missed a triple double, with nine assist to go along with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The final score favored the Aggies 84–53.

Normally, a four seed would be a large favorite against a 13 seed, but normally, the four seed isn't required to bench one of their players, and not just any player, but Andrea Riley, the third leading scorer in Division 1. Two years earlier, Riley had thrown punch in an NCAA game, which earned her a one-game suspension. NCAA rules required that it be an NCAA game. Oklahoma State lost the game in which the punch was thrown, and did not make it to the Tournament in 2009, so the suspension was served two years later. The 13th seeded Chattanooga tried to take advantage of the situation, and led by as much as 18 in the first half. Riley could only cheer on the team from the bench. Freshman Toni Young responded by scoring 22 points, and senior Tegan Cunningham, after struggling in the first half, began hitting in the second half and ended up with 25 points, enough to help Oklahoma State win 70–63.

The 8/9 match-up between Iowa and Rutgers pitted current Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer against the program she helped bring to national prominence two decades earlier. Iowa had lost a game in the Big Ten tournament, after a big lead, and they didn't want to experience that again. Rutgers played even with the Hawkeyes, in the second half, but the seven point halftime lead stood up and Iowa won 70–63.

Seventh seed Gonzaga took on tenth seeded North Carolina. Gonzaga's Tiffanie Shives was scoreless for 31 minutes, but then scored 14 in the next five minutes. Her first basket cut the Tarheels lead to two, and her next basket gave Gonzaga a lead they would not relinquish, although North Carolina cut the lead to one with under four minutes to go, only to fall short 82–76.

Twelfth seed Tulane stayed with fifth seed Georgia for 32 minutes, in a game with five lead changes and four ties, but then the Bulldogs went on an 18–2 run to take the lead for good. Georgia's Ashley Houts would score 22 points for the winning team, and teammate Angel Robinson had a double-double (18 points, 13 rebounds) to help lead the Bulldogs over the Green Wave 64–59.

The last time Stanford was a number 1 seed, they became to only top seed in the men's or women's tournament to lose to a sixteen seed. Earlier in the day, the top seeded men's team, Kansas, lost to Northern Iowa, so no one felt safe in the opening match against UC Riverside. Stanford jumped out to an 8–0 lead, and behind Ogwumike's double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) won easily over the Big West champion 79–47.

Brackets

Results to date (* indicates game went to overtime):

Dayton Regional – Dayton, Ohio

	First round March 20–21					Second round March 22–23					Regional semifinals March 28					Regional finals March 30
	1	Connecticut	95
	16	Southern	39
						1	Connecticut	90
	Norfolk, VA
						8	Temple	36
	8	Temple	65
	9	James Madison	53
											1	Connecticut	74
										4	Iowa State	36
	5	Virginia	67
	12	Green Bay	69
						12	Green Bay	56
	Ames, IA
						4	Iowa State	60
	4	Iowa State	79
	13	Lehigh	42
																1	Connecticut	90
															3	Florida State	50
	6	St. John's	65
	11	Princeton	47
						6	St. John's	65
	Tallahassee, FL
						3	Florida State	66*
	3	Florida State	75
	14	Louisiana Tech	61
											3	Florida State	74
										7	Mississippi State	71
	7	Mississippi State	68
	10	Middle Tennessee	64
						7	Mississippi State	87
	Pittsburgh, PA
						2	Ohio State	67
	2	Ohio State	93
	15	St. Francis (Pa.)	59

Memphis Regional – Memphis, Tennessee

	First round March 20–21					Second round March 22–23					Regional semifinals March 27					Regional finals March 29
	1	Tennessee	75
	16	Austin Peay	42
						1	Tennessee	92
	Knoxville, TN
						8	Dayton	64
	8	Dayton	67
	9	TCU	66
											1	Tennessee	62
										4	Baylor	77
	5	Georgetown	62
	12	Marist	42
						5	Georgetown	33
	Berkeley, CA
						4	Baylor	49
	4	Baylor	69
	13	Fresno State	55
																4	Baylor	51
															2	Duke	48
	6	Texas	63
	11	San Diego State	74
						11	San Diego State	64
	Austin, TX
						3	West Virginia	55
	3	West Virginia	58
	14	Lamar	43
											11	San Diego State	58
										2	Duke	66
	7	LSU	60
	10	Hartford	39
						7	LSU	52
	Durham, NC
						2	Duke	60
	2	Duke	72
	15	Hampton	37

Sacramento Regional – Sacramento, California

	First round March 20–21					Second round March 22–23					Regional semifinals March 27					Regional finals March 29
	1	Stanford	79
	16	UC Riverside	47
						1	Stanford	96
	Stanford, CA
						8	Iowa	67
	8	Iowa	70
	9	Rutgers	63
											1	Stanford	73
										5	Georgia	36
	5	Georgia	64
	12	Tulane	59
						5	Georgia	74*
	Tempe, AZ
						4	Oklahoma State	71
	4	Oklahoma State	70
	13	Chattanooga	63
																1	Stanford	55
															3	Xavier	53
	6	Vanderbilt	83*
	11	DePaul	76
						6	Vanderbilt	62
	Cincinnati, OH
						3	Xavier	63
	3	Xavier	94
	14	East Tennessee State	82
											3	Xavier	74
										7	Gonzaga	56
	7	Gonzaga	82
	10	North Carolina	76
						7	Gonzaga	72
	Seattle, WA
						2	Texas A&M	71
	2	Texas A&M	84
	15	Portland State	53

Kansas City Regional – Kansas City, Missouri

	First round March 20–21					Second round March 22–23					Regional semifinals March 28					Regional finals March 30
	1	Nebraska	83
	16	Northern Iowa	44
						1	Nebraska	83
	Minneapolis, MN
						8	UCLA	70
	8	UCLA	74
	9	NC State	54
											1	Nebraska	67
										4	Kentucky	76
	5	Michigan State	72
	12	Bowling Green	62
						5	Michigan State	52
	Louisville, KY
						4	Kentucky	70
	4	Kentucky	83
	13	Liberty	77
																4	Kentucky	68
															3	Oklahoma	88
	6	Georgia Tech	53
	11	Arkansas-Little Rock	63
						11	Arkansas-Little Rock	44
	Norman, OK
						3	Oklahoma	60
	3	Oklahoma	68
	14	South Dakota State	57
											3	Oklahoma	77*
										2	Notre Dame	72
	7	Wisconsin	55
	10	Vermont	64
						10	Vermont	66
	Notre Dame, IN
						2	Notre Dame	84
	2	Notre Dame	86
	15	Cleveland State	58

Final Four – San Antonio, Texas

	National Semifinals April 4					National Championship Game April 6
	D1	Connecticut	70
	M4	Baylor	50
						D1	Connecticut	53
						S1	Stanford	47
	S1	Stanford	73
	K3	Oklahoma	66

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Round of 32	Sweet Sixteen	Elite Eight	Final Four	Championship Game
Big 12	7	14–7	.667	6	4	2	2	0 !–
Big East	7	11–6	.647	5	2	1	1	1
ACC	6	6–6	.500	2	2	2	0 !–	0 !–
SEC	6	11–6	.647	6	4	1	0 !–	0 !–
Big Ten	4	3–4	.429	3	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–
Atlantic 10	3	5–3	.625	3	1	1	0 !–	0 !–
America East	2	1–2	.333	1	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–
Horizon	2	1–2	.333	1	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–
Mountain West	2	2–2	.500	1	1	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–
Pac-10	2	6–2	.750	2	1	1	1	1
Sun Belt	2	1–2	.333	1	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–
WAC	2	0–2	.000	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–
West Coast	1	2–1	.667	1	1	0 !–	0 !–	0 !–

Eighteen conferences went 0–1: the Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Conference USA, Ivy League, MAAC, MEAC, MAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC and Summit.

Qualifying teams

Automatic bids

All automatic bids were granted for winning a conference championship tournament, except for the automatic bid of the Ivy League given to the regular season champion.

Automatic Bids
Legend	School	Conference
1	Austin Peay	OVC
2	Bowling Green	MAC
3	Chattanooga	SoCon
4	Cleveland State	Horizon
5	Connecticut	Big East
6	Duke	ACC
7	East Tennessee St.	Atlantic Sun
8	Gonzaga	WCC
9	Hampton	MEAC
10	James Madison	CAA
11	Lamar	Southland
12	Lehigh	Patriot
13	Liberty	Big South
14	Louisiana Tech	WAC
15	Marist	MAAC
16	Middle Tennessee	Sun Belt
17	Northern Iowa	MVC
18	Ohio State	Big Ten
19	Portland State	Big Sky
20	Princeton	Ivy
21	Saint Francis	NEC
22	San Diego State	MWC
23	South Dakota State	The Summit
24	Southern	SWAC
25	Stanford	Pac-10
26	Tennessee	SEC
27	Texas A&M	Big 12
28	Tulane	C-USA
29	UC Riverside	Big West
30	Vermont	America East
31	Xavier	A10

See also

• 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
• 2010 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament