NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament

The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is an annual tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II women's college basketball national champion.^[1]

NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament

Current season, competition or edition: 2025 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
Association	NCAA
Sport	College basketball
Founded	1982; 43 years ago (1982)
Division	Division II
No. of teams	64
Country	United States  Canada
Most recent champion(s)	Grand Valley State (2nd)
Most titles	Cal Poly Pomona (5) North Dakota State (5)
Broadcaster(s)	CBS Sports Network
Official website	NCAA.com

Basketball was one of 12 women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA and Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) sought for sole governance of women's collegiate athletics. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championships; however, after a year of dual women's championships at the national level, the AIAW disbanded.

The 2020 Elite Eight was due to be held at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, AL before the NCAA called off the tournament due to the COVID-19 outbreak.^[2]

The field was reduced to 48 in 2021 and returned to the normal 64 in 2022.

Grand Valley State are the defending national champions, winning their second national title in 2025.

Qualification

A total of 64 bids are normally available for each tournament: 23 automatic bids (awarded to the champion of each Division II all-sports conference) and 41 at-large bids. Due to COVID-19 issues, the 2020 tournament was canceled, and the 2021 tournament was reduced to 48 teams when nine all-sports conferences chose not to compete in women's basketball in 2020–21.

The bids are allocated evenly among the eight NCAA-designated regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West), each of which contains either two or three of the 23 Division II conferences that sponsor women's basketball. Each region normally consists of two or three automatic qualifiers (the teams who won their respective conference tournaments) and five or six at-large bids (awarded regardless of conference affiliation).

Conference tournaments

Region	Conference	Tournament	Debut	Most titles	Current champion (2025)
Atlantic[a]	CIAA	Tournament	1975	Shaw (11)	Fayetteville State (6th)
	Mountain East	Tournament	2014	Glenville State (5)	Fairmont State (2nd)
	PSAC	Tournament	1980	California (PA) (7)	Kutztown (1st)
Central	Great American	Tournament	2012	Southwestern Oklahoma State (4)	Harding (3rd)
	MIAA	Tournament	1983	Emporia State and Washburn (9)	Pittsburg State (2nd)
	NSIC	Tournament	2000	Minnesota–Duluth (8)	Concordia St. Paul (5th)
East	CACC	Tournament	2002	Holy Family (8)	Holy Family (8th)
	East Coast	Tournament	1991	Saint Rose (7)	Daemen (5th)
	Northeast-10	Tournament	1982	Bentley (24)	Bentley (24th)
Midwest	GLIAC	Tournament	1991	Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech (8)	Grand Valley State (5th)
	GLVC	Tournament	1998	Drury (10)	Quincy (3rd)
	G-MAC	Tournament	2013	Ashland (4)	Ashland
South[b]	Gulf South	Tournament	1983	Delta State (16)	Union (TN) (7th)
	SIAC	Tournament	1979	Fort Valley State (11)	Miles (2nd)
	Sunshine State	Tournament	1982	Florida Southern (12)	Embry–Riddle (1st)
South Central	Lone Star	Tournament	1983	West Texas A&M (16)	Texas Woman's (3rd)
	RMAC	Tournament	1985	CSU Pueblo (6) Nebraska–Kearney (6)	Colorado–Colorado Springs (2nd)
Southeast	Carolinas	Tournament	1996	Belmont Abbey (7)	Belmont Abbey (7th)
	Peach Belt	Tournament	1992	Columbus State (5) Lander (5) Georgia College (5) North Georgia (5)	North Georgia (5th)
	SAC	Tournament	1991	Wingate Bulldogs (10)	Anderson (SC) (3rd)
West	CCAA	Tournament	1986	Cal Poly Pomona (11)	Cal State Dominguez Hills (5th)
	GNAC	Tournament	2011	Alaska Anchorage (7)	Alaska Anchorage (7th)
	Pacific West	Tournament	2013	Azusa Pacific and Hawaii Pacific (4)	Point Loma (1st)

1. Also includes D-II independent Salem
2. Also includes D-II independents UPR Bayamón, UPR Mayagüez, and UPR Río Piedras

Results

NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship
Year	Site (Host Team)		Championship				Third Place Match / Semifinalists
			Champion	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place
1982 Details	Springfield, MA (Springfield Civic Center)		Cal Poly Pomona	93–74	Tuskegee		Mount St. Mary's	73–62	Oakland
1983 Details			Virginia Union	73–60	Cal Poly Pomona		Southern Connecticut State Central Missouri State
1984 Details			Central Missouri State	80–73	Virginia Union		Dayton Valdosta State
1985 Details			Cal Poly Pomona (2)	80–69	Central Missouri State		Hampton Mercer
1986 Details			Cal Poly Pomona (3)	70–63	North Dakota State		Delta State Philadelphia Textile
1987 Details			New Haven	77–75	Cal Poly Pomona		Northern Kentucky Pitt Johnstown
1988 Details	Fargo, ND (Bison Sports Arena)		Hampton	65–48	West Texas State		Delta State North Dakota State
1989 Details	Cleveland, MS (Walter Sillers Coliseum)		Delta State	88–58	Cal Poly Pomona		Bentley	83–81	Central Missouri State
1990 Details	Pomona, CA (Kellogg Gymnasium)		Delta State (2)	77–43	Bentley		Cal Poly Pomona	87–68	Oakland
1991 Details	Cape Girardeau, MO (Show Me Center)		North Dakota State	81–74	Southeast Missouri State		Bentley	60–58	Norfolk State
1992 Details	Fargo, ND (Bison Sports Arena)		Delta State (3)	65–63	North Dakota State		Portland State	72–69	Bentley
1993 Details	Waltham, MA (Dana Athletic Center)		North Dakota State (2)	95–63	Delta State		Michigan Tech	74–60	Bentley
1994 Details	Fargo, ND (Bison Sports Arena)		North Dakota State (3)	89–56	Cal State San Bernardino		North Alabama	79–75	Bellarmine
1995 Details			North Dakota State (4)	98–85	Portland State		Missouri Western State	76–66	Stonehill
1996 Details			North Dakota State (5)	104–78	Shippensburg		Abilene Christian	83–65	Delta State
1997 Details	Grand Forks, ND (Hyslop Sports Center)		North Dakota	94–78	Southern Indiana		UC Davis	76–61	Bentley
1998 Details	Pine Bluff, AR (H.O. Clemmons Arena)		North Dakota (2)	92–76	Emporia State		Francis Marion Northern Michigan
1999 Details			North Dakota (3)	80–63	Arkansas Tech		Emporia State Northern Kentucky
2000 Details			Northern Kentucky	71–62 (OT)	North Dakota State		Columbus State Western Washington
2001 Details	Rochester, MN (Mayo Civic Center)		Cal Poly Pomona (4)	87–80 (OT)	North Dakota		Shippensburg Columbus State
2002 Details			Cal Poly Pomona (5)	74–62	Southeastern Oklahoma		Glenville State South Dakota State
2003 Details	St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena)		South Dakota State	65–50	Northern Kentucky		Bentley California (PA)
2004 Details			California (PA)	75–72	Drury		Henderson State Merrimack
2005 Details	Hot Springs, AR (Summit Arena)		Washburn	70–53	Seattle Pacific		Central Arkansas Merrimack
2006 Details			Grand Valley State	58–52	American International		Chico State St. Cloud State
2007 Details	Kearney, NE (Health and Sports Center)		Southern Connecticut State	61–45	Florida Gulf Coast		Clayton State UC San Diego
2008 Details			Northern Kentucky (2)	63–58	South Dakota		Alaska Anchorage Delta State
2009 Details	San Antonio, TX (Bill Greehey Arena)		Minnesota State	103–94	Franklin Pierce		Alaska Anchorage Delta State
2010 Details	St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena)		Emporia State	65–53	Fort Lewis		Franklin Pierce Gannon
2011 Details			Clayton State	69–50	Michigan Tech		Shaw Northwest Missouri State
2012 Details	San Antonio, TX (Bill Greehey Arena)		Shaw	88–82 (OT)	Ashland		Bentley Rollins
2013 Details			Ashland	71–56	Dowling		Augustana (SD) Western Washington
2014 Details	Erie, PA (Erie Insurance Arena)		Bentley	73–65	West Texas A&M		Cal Poly Pomona Nova Southeastern
2015 Details	Sioux Falls, SD (Sanford Pentagon)		California (PA) (2)	86–69	California Baptist		Emporia State Limestone
2016 Details	Indianapolis, IN (Bankers Life Fieldhouse)		Lubbock Christian	78–73	Alaska Anchorage		Bentley Grand Valley State
2017 Details	Columbus, OH (Alumni Hall)		Ashland (2)	93–77	Virginia Union		California Baptist Harding
2018 Details	Sioux Falls, SD (Sanford Pentagon)		Central Missouri (2)	66–52[3]	Ashland		Indiana (PA) Union (TN)
2019 Details	Columbus, OH (Alumni Hall)		Lubbock Christian (2)	95–85 (2OT)	Southwestern Oklahoma		Drury Indiana (PA)
2020 Details	Birmingham, AL (Birmingham CrossPlex)		Canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic
2021 Details	Columbus, OH (Alumni Hall)		Lubbock Christian (3)	69–59	Drury		Central Missouri Lander
2022 Details	Birmingham, AL (Birmingham CrossPlex)		Glenville State	85–72	Western Washington		Grand Valley State North Georgia
2023 Details	Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center)[a]		Ashland (3)	78–67	Minnesota–Duluth		Catawba Glenville State
2024 Details	St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena)		Minnesota State (2)	89–73	Texas Woman's		Cal State San Marcos Ferris State
2025 Details	Pittsburgh, PA (UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse)		Grand Valley State (2)	70–58	Cal State Dominguez Hills		Pittsburg State Union (TN)
2026

1. Only the final game was held in Dallas. The remainder of the Elite Eight was held at St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Champions

Cal Poly Pomona

NDSU

Delta State

Lubbock Christian

UND

Ashland

Central Missouri

California

NKU

Minnesota State

Grand Valley State

Bentley

Clayton State

Emporia State

Glenville State

HU

New Haven

Shaw

SDSU

SCSU

VUU

Washburn

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

Active programs

Team	Titles	Years
Cal Poly Pomona	5	1982, 1985, 1986, 2001, 2002
Ashland	3	2013, 2017, 2023
Lubbock Christian	3	2016, 2019, 2021
Delta State	3	1989, 1990, 1992
Grand Valley State	2	2006, 2025
Minnesota State	2	2009, 2024
Central Missouri	2	1984, 2018
California (PA)	2	2004, 2015
Glenville State	1	2022
Bentley	1	2014
Shaw	1	2012
Clayton State	1	2011
Emporia State	1	2010
Southern Connecticut	1	2007
Washburn	1	2005
New Haven	1	1987
Virginia Union	1	1983

Former programs

Team	Titles	Years
North Dakota State[Note 1]	5	1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
North Dakota[Note 1]	3	1997, 1998, 1999
Northern Kentucky[Note 1]	2	2000, 2008
South Dakota State[Note 1]	1	2003
Hampton[Note 1]	1	1988

See also

• NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
• NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Championship

Notes

1. As of 2024–25, this school is a current member of NCAA Division I.