NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament

The NCAA Division III women's basketball championship is the annual tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the national champions of women's collegiate basketball among its Division III members in the United States. It has been held every year since 1982 (when the NCAA began to sponsor women's sports at all three levels), except for 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19.^[1]

NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament

Current season, competition or edition: 2025 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
Association	NCAA
Sport	College basketball
Founded	1982; 43 years ago (1982)
Division	Division III
No. of teams	64
Country	United States
Most recent champion(s)	NYU (3rd)
Most titles	Washington St. Louis (5)
Official website	NCAA.com

Washington St. Louis has been the most successful program, with five national titles.

The most recent champions are NYU, who won their third national title in 2025.

History

1982 Final Four

Held in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, the 1982 Women's Final Four Basketball Tournament was the first sponsored by the NCAA. Featuring host Elizabethtown College, Clark University (Massachusetts), Pomona College and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the tournament was played in a classic field house over a three-day period. In the first game of the National Semi-Final Elizabethtown took control right from the tip-off against Clark and easily cruised to a 71–51 victory. In the second game of the Final Four Pomona took the lead early in the game, but UNC Greensboro battled back to tie the game at 56 with six minutes to play. UNC Greensboro then went on a run and pulled away for a 77–66 win. Elizabethtown and UNC Greensboro turned the championship game into an epic battle of lead changes and shifts in momentum. Last second heroics by UNC Greensboro sent the game into overtime, but Elizabethtown came up with the final stop in overtime to win 67–66 in overtime. Television coverage was provided by a fledgling ESPN while exclusive radio coverage was provided by KSPC Radio - Pomona College's tiny KSPC sports broadcasting group with Geoff Willis (Pomona '83) and James Timmerman (Pomona '82) providing the play by play and color. ESPN was so embryonic that the game was broadcast multiple times during the following two weeks and ESPN hired the KSPC Radio staff to help with background and color research about the players and the teams.

Results

NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship
Year	Finals Site	Arena		Championship Game				Semifinalists
				Winner	Score	Runner-up
1982 Details	Elizabethtown, PA	Thompson Gymnasium		Elizabethtown	67–66 (OT)	UNC Greensboro		Pomona-Pitzer, Clark
1983 Details	Worcester, MA	Kneller Athletics Center		North Central (IL)	83–71	Elizabethtown		Knoxville, Clark
1984 Details	Scranton, PA	John Long Center		Rust	51–49	Elizabethtown		Salem St, North Central
1985 Details	De Pere, WI	Schuldes Sports Center		Scranton	68–59	New Rochelle		Millikin, St. Norbert
1986 Details	Salem, MA	Twohig Gymnasium		Salem State	89–85	Bishop (TX)		Capital, Rust
1987 Details	Scranton, PA	John Long Center		UW–Stevens Point	81–74	Concordia–Moorhead		Scranton, Kean
1988 Details	Moorhead, MN	Memorial Auditorium		Concordia–Moorhead	65–57	St. John Fisher		UNC-Greensboro, Southern Maine
1989 Details	Danville, KY	Alumni Gymnasium		Elizabethtown	66–65	Cal State Stanislaus		Centre, Clarkson
1990 Details	Holland, MI	Holland Civic Center		Hope	65–63	St. John Fisher		Heidelberg, Centre
1991 Details	St. Paul, MN	Schoenecker Arena		St. Thomas (MN)	73–55	Muskingum		Eastern Connecticut, Washington University in St. Louis
1992 Details	Bethlehem, PA	Johnston Hall		Alma	79–75	Moravian		Luther, Eastern Connecticut St
1993 Details	Pella, IA	Kuyper Gymnasium		Central (IA)	71–63	Capital		Scranton, St. Benedict
1994 Details	Eau Claire, WI	W.L. Zorn Arena		Capital	82–63	Washington University in St. Louis		UW-Eau Claire, Wheaton (MA)
1995 Details	Columbus, OH	Alumni Gymnasium		Capital	59–55	UW–Oshkosh		St. Thomas, Salem State
1996 Details	Oshkosh, WI	Kolf Sports Center		UW–Oshkosh	66–50	Mount Union		St. Thomas, New York University
1997 Details	New York City, NY	Coles Sports Center		NYU	72–70	UW–Eau Claire		Capital, Scranton
1998 Details	Gorham, ME	Warren Hill Gymnasium		Washington University in St. Louis	77–69	Southern Maine		Mount Union, Rowan
1999 Details	Danbury, CT	O'Neill Center		Washington University in St. Louis	74–65	St. Benedict		Salem State, Scranton
2000 Details				Washington University in St. Louis	79–33	Southern Maine		St. Thomas, Scranton
2001 Details				Washington University in St. Louis	67–45	Messiah		Ohio Wesleyan, Emmanuel
2002 Details	Terre Haute, IN	Hulbert Arena		UW–Stevens Point	67–65	St. Lawrence		DePauw, Marymount
2003 Details				Trinity (TX)	60–58[2]	Eastern Connecticut State		UW-Eau Claire, Rochester
2004 Details	Virginia Beach, VA	Jane P. Batten Student Center		Wilmington (OH)	59–53[3]	Bowdoin		Rochester, UW–Stevens Point
2005 Details				Millikin	70–50[4]	Randolph–Macon		Southern Maine, Scranton
2006 Details	Springfield, MA	Springfield Civic Center		Hope	69–56	Southern Maine		Scranton, Hardin–Simmons
2007 Details				DePauw	55–52	Washington University in St. Louis		Mary Washington, NYU
2008 Details	Holland, MI	DeVos Fieldhouse		Howard Payne	68–54	Messiah		UW–Whitewater, Oglethorpe
2009 Details				George Fox	60–53[5]	Washington University in St. Louis		TCNJ, Amherst
2010 Details	Bloomington, IL	Shirk Center		Washington University in St. Louis	65–59[6]	Hope		Amherst, Rochester
2011 Details				Amherst	64–55	Washington University in St. Louis		Christopher Newport, Illinois Wesleyan
2012 Details	Holland, MI	DeVos Fieldhouse		Illinois Wesleyan	57–48[7]	George Fox		St. Thomas, Amherst
2013 Details				DePauw	69–51	UW–Whitewater		Williams, Amherst
2014 Details	Stevens Point, WI	Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse		FDU–Florham	80–72[8]	Whitman		UW-Whitewater, Tufts
2015 Details	Grand Rapids, MI	Van Noord Arena		Thomas More (vacated)[9]	83–63[10]	George Fox		Montclair State, Tufts
2016 Details	Indianapolis, IN[n 1]	Bankers Life Fieldhouse[n 1]		Thomas More	63–51[12]	Tufts		Amherst, Wartburg
2017 Details	Grand Rapids, MI	Van Noord Arena		Amherst	52–29	Tufts		Christopher Newport, St Thomas
2018 Details	Rochester, MN	Mayo Civic Center		Amherst[13][14]	65–45	Bowdoin		Thomas More, Wartburg
2019[15] Details	Salem, VA	Cregger Center		Thomas More	81–67	Bowdoin		Scranton, St. Thomas (MN)
2020 Details	Columbus, OH	Capital University Performance Arena		Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Details	Salem, VA	Cregger Center
2022 Details	Pittsburgh, PA	UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse		Hope	71–58	UW-Whitewater		Amherst, Trine
2023 Details	Dallas, TX[n 2]	American Airlines Center		Transylvania	57–52	Christopher Newport		Smith, Rhode Island College
2024 Details	Columbus, OH	Capital University Performance Arena		NYU (2)	51–41	Smith		Transylvania, Wartburg
2025 Details	Salem, VA	Cregger Center		NYU (3)	77–49	Smith		Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Stout
2026

Championships

Washington

Amherst

Hope

DePauw

UWSP

Capital

Elizabethtown

TMU

Transylvania

FDUF

IWU

George Fox

Howard Payne

Trinity

Concordia

Rust

Central

St. Thomas

UWO

Salem
State

NYU

Millikin

Wilmington

Alma

Scranton

North Central

Schools that have won the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship
5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Active programs

Team	Titles	Years
Washington University	5	1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010
Amherst	3	2011, 2017, 2018
Hope	3	1990, 2006, 2022
NYU	3	1997, 2024, 2025
DePauw	2	2007, 2013
Wisconsin–Stevens Point	2	1987, 2002
Capital	2	1994, 1995
Elizabethtown	2	1982, 1989
Transylvania	1	2023
FDU Florham	1	2014
Illinois Wesleyan	1	2012
George Fox	1	2009
Howard Payne	1	2008
Millikin	1	2005
Wilmington (OH)	1	2004
Trinity (TX)	1	2003
Wisconsin–Oshkosh	1	1996
Central (IA)	1	1993
Alma	1	1992
Concordia Moorhead	1	1988
Salem State	1	1986
Scranton	1	1985
North Central (IL)	1	1983

Former programs

Team	Titles	Years
Thomas More[Note 1]	2	2015[a], 2016, 2019
St. Thomas (MN)[Note 2]	1	1991
Rust[Note 3]	1	1984

1. 2015 championship vacated by Thomas More, which returned to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in July 2019, but rejoined the NCAA in July 2022, that time as a Division II provisional member, albeit on a one-year dual membership with the NAIA.

Final Fours

Schools in italics no longer compete in NCAA Division III.

Appearances	School
10	Washington University in St. Louis
8	Amherst, Scranton
6	St. Thomas (MN)
5	Capital, Southern Maine
4	Elizabethtown, Salem State, Thomas More, Tufts, UW-Whitewater
3	Christopher Newport, DePauw, Eastern Connecticut, George Fox, Hope, NYU, Rochester, UW–Eau Claire, UW–Stevens Point
2	Centre, Clark, Concordia–Moorhead, Illinois Wesleyan, Messiah, Millikin, Mount Union, North Central (IL), Rust, Saint Benedict, St. John Fisher, UNC Greensboro, UW–Oshkosh, Bowdoin, Wartburg

See also

• NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• NAIA women's basketball championship
• NAIA Division II women's basketball championship

Footnotes

1. Only the final game was held in Indianapolis. The semifinals were held at Performance Arena at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.^[11]
2. Only the final game was held in Dallas. The semifinals were held at Oosting Gymnasium on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.^[16][17]

1. As of 2024–25, this school is a current member of NCAA Division II.
2. As of 2024–25, this school is a current member of NCAA Division I.
3. As of 2024–25, this school is a current member of the NAIA.