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2023 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament

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2023 NCAA Division III
women's basketball tournament
Teams64
Finals siteOosting Gymnasium (semifinals)
American Airlines Center (final)
Connecticut Hartford, Connecticut (semifinals)
Texas Dallas, Texas (final)
ChampionsTransylvania (1st title)
Runner-upChristopher Newport (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachJuli Fulks (1st title)
NCAA Division III women's tournaments
«2022 2024»

The 2023 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament was the tournament hosted by the NCAA to determine the national champion of Division III women's college basketball in the United States for the 2022–23 season. It featured 64 teams.

During the 2022–23 academic year, the NCAA organized many events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, federal legislation outlawing sex discrimination in higher education. As part of this celebration, the NCAA scheduled the women's basketball championship games of all three of its divisions at the site of the 2023 Division I Final Four.[1] Accordingly, the championship game was held on April 1, 2023 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The national semifinals were played at Oosting Gymnasium at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut on March 18.[2]

This scheduling also created an unusually long break in the tournament. Normally, the national championship game is played one or two days after the semifinals, but this year's final took place 14 days after the semifinals.[1]

Tournament schedule and venues

2023 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament is located in the United States
Northampton
Northampton
Medford
Medford
Wellesley
Wellesley
Lexington
Lexington
Hartford
Hartford
Dallas
Dallas
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2023 NCAA Division III Women's Tournament sites

Regionals

The first and second rounds took place at campus sites from March 3–4, 2023. Teams were sent to one of 16 locations, each hosted by one team from the group of four.

The third and fourth rounds (sectional semifinals and finals) also took place at campus sites from March 10–11, 2023. Teams were sent to the home arena of one of the four teams remaining in their sectional bracket.

Final Four

The national semifinals and finals were held at predetermined sites: the former at the Oosting Gymnasium at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, on March 18,[2] and the latter at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The national championship was played on April 1, 2023, in Dallas, which was also the host of the 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four.

Qualifying

A total of sixty-four bids were available for the tournament: Forty-four automatic bids—awarded to the champions of the 44 NCAA-recognized Division III conference tournaments—and 20 at-large bids.

While this is the first season for the newly established Collegiate Conference of the South, its conference tournament champion will not be eligible for an automatic bid until 2024.[3]

This was also the final year that the Colonial States Athletic Conference and United East Conference receive separate bids; the two conferences will merge ahead of the 2023–24 season, consolidating their bids into one, although the name and legacy of the combined conference have not yet been announced.[4] It was also the final year for the New England Collegiate Conference as an all-sports league. After steady losses of membership in recent years, it had only four members in the 2022–23 season. All four would join other conferences for 2023–24 and beyond.

Automatic bids (44)

Brackets

Source[5]

Upper Left

First Round
March 3–4, 2023
Campus sites 		Second Round
March 3–4, 2023
Campus sites 		Sectional Semifinals
March 10, 2023
Northampton, MA 		Sectional Finals
March 11, 2023
Northampton, MA
        
Smith 100
SUNY Morrisville 50
Smith 65
Northampton, MA
St. John Fisher 64
Marymount 72
St. John Fisher 80
Smith 68
Mary Washington 65
Mary Washington 69
Roger Williams 60
Mary Washington 75
Center Valley, PA
DeSales 69
DeSales 78
Mitchell 60
Smith 63
Trinity (CT) 46
Trinity (CT) 58
Notre Dame (MD) 43
Trinity (CT) 64
Hartford, CT
SUNY Cortland 59
SUNY Cortland 62
Saint Vincent 51
Trinity (CT) 63
Wisconsin–Whitewater 56
Ohio Wesleyan 68
Gustavus Adolphus 84
Gustavus Adolphus 63
Whitewater, WI
Wisconsin–Whitewater 68
Wisconsin–Whitewater 69
Webster 50

Bottom Left

First Round
March 3–4, 2023
Campus sites 		Second Round
March 3–4, 2023
Campus sites 		Sectional Semifinals
March 10, 2023
Lexington, KY 		Sectional Finals
March 11, 2023
Lexington, KY
        
Transylvania 58
Rhodes 45
Transylvania 71
Lexington, KY
Millikin 59
Emory 70
Millikin 76
Transylvania 67
Ohio Northern 43
Wisconsin–Oshkosh 58
Washington and Lee 55
Wisconsin–Oshkosh 60
Ada, OH
Ohio Northern 71
Ohio Northern 54
Berea 43
Transylvania 79
NYU 63
Loras 68
Knox 56
Loras 54
Dubuque, IA
Trine 60
Washington St. Louis 69
Trine 79
Trine 49
NYU 66
Messiah 47
Bridgewater State 43
Messiah 39
Mechanicsburg, PA
NYU 62
NYU 71
Greensboro 54

Upper Right

First Round
March 3–4, 2023
Campus sites 		Second Round
March 3–4, 2023
Campus sites 		Sectional Semifinals
March 10, 2023
Medford, MA 		Sectional Finals
March 11, 2023
Medford, MA
        
Christopher Newport 89
Brooklyn 52
Christopher Newport 65
Newport News, VA
Elizabethtown 55
Elizabethtown 79
Stevens Tech 68
Christopher Newport 60
Wartburg 51
Baldwin Wallace 43
Wartburg 57
Wartburg 81
Holland, MI
Hope 67
Hope 82
St. Norbert 61
Christopher Newport 72
Tufts 56
Trinity (TX) 79
UT Dallas 62
Trinity (TX) 88
San Antonio, TX
Hardin–Simmons 69
Hardin-Simmons 77
Redlands 60
Trinity (TX) 52
Tufts 65
Skidmore 62
Johns Hopkins 59
Skidmore 50
Medford, MA
Tufts 59
Tufts 72
Merchant Marine 57

Bottom Right

First Round
March 3–4, 2023
Campus sites 		Second Round
March 3–4, 2023
Campus sites 		Sectional Semifinals
March 10, 2023
Wellesley, MA 		Sectional Finals
March 11, 2023
Wellesley, MA
        
Babson 69
Maine Maritime 44
Babson 76
Wellesley, MA
SUNY New Paltz 66
Gettysburg 47
SUNY New Paltz 63
Babson 73
Marietta 59
Marietta 61
Eastern Connecticut State 57
Marietta 44
Ithaca, NY
Ithaca 42
Ithaca 58
La Roche 42
Babson 47
Rhode Island College 60
Chicago 63
Northwestern St. Paul 48
Chicago 56
Chicago, IL
Whitman 54
Wisconsin–Eau Claire 81
Whitman 85
Chicago 56
Rhode Island College 64
Rhode Island College 67
Rowan 59
Rhode Island College 62
Scranton, PA
Scranton 55
Scranton 64
Saint Joseph's (ME) 45

Final Four

National semifinal
March 18
Hartford, CT 		National championship
April 1
Dallas, TX
      
Smith College 65
Transylvania 76
Transylvania 57
Christopher Newport 52
Christopher Newport 56
Rhode Island College 51

Sectional hosting controversy

When sectional hosts were announced on March 5, there was some controversy as three of the four hosts were placed in the state of Massachusetts and all four in the Eastern Time Zone. Most of the controversy came when Tufts, with its 21–6 regular season record, was granted hosting rights over 26–1 Trinity (TX), with top seed Christopher Newport unable to host due to the men's sectional being held at CNU the same weekend. Three teams would have to travel via air regardless of where the pod was placed, an unusual occurrence for a Division III sectional. D3sports.com's Pat Coleman observed "[Division III] Texas teams get screwed so often [by the NCAA], in every sport. This was a chance for a makeup call that was sorely missed, and it's an example Texas teams can point to and say, even when the number of flights is equal, we still get screwed."[6] Further analysis by Coleman showed a long-standing NCAA policy to deny sectional hosts in Texas or the larger Region 10 (which also includes the states of Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington). Since the sectional concept was introduced to the men's and women's tournaments in 2000, there had been 84 sectionals in each tournament through the 2023 editions. On the women's side, no Region 10 school had hosted a sectional since 2014, and the previous Region 10 host had done so in 2008, meaning that only one of the past 56 sectionals had been held in Region 10. The perceived snubbing of Region 10 was even greater in the men's tournament; only one sectional had been held in Region 10, with none since 2004.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "DII, DIII teams ready to battle for national titles, honor Title IX at Women's Final Four" (Press release). NCAA. March 27, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "2023 Division III Women's Basketball Official Bracket | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  3. ^ Coleman, Pat; McHugh, Dave (February 16, 2022). "USA South Athletic Conference to split in two". D3Sports. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  4. ^ "CSAC AND UNITED EAST CONFERENCE - INTENT TO MERGE". csacsports.com. Colonial States Athletic Conference. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  5. ^ "2023 Division III Women's Basketball Official Bracket | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  6. ^ Coleman, Pat. "Tweet". Twitter. d3sports.com. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  7. ^ Coleman, Pat (March 5, 2023). "Sweet 16 has a critical mass". D3Hoops.com. D3Sports. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
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