The 1998–99 Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball team was the first Purdue basketball team to win an NCAA national championship. The team was undefeated in conference play and finished the regular season with one loss.

Background

This season was

Carolyn Peck Carolyn Arlene Peck (born January 22, 1966) is an American television sportscaster and former college basketball coach. She was the head coach for the women's basketball teams of Purdue University and the University of Florida, and also the first ...

's second and final season coaching Purdue's women's basketball team.

Schedule

Non-conference

The season started off with two wins, including a road win at the University of Arizona. They lost their third game to Stanford, their only loss of the season. The team closed out their non-conference schedule with wins against 4th ranked Louisiana Tech and 20th ranked Florida.

Conference

The team finished their conference schedule undefeated, winning sixteen games in a row. They played two ranked teams, beating them three times.

NCAA tournament

Purdue began the tournament as a number 1 seed in the Midwest region, played in

Normal, Illinois Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most ...

. The team played

Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christianity, Christian televangelist, ordained in both the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, Pentecostal Holin ...

, winning 68–48. The team then played 9th seed

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. Purdue won that matchup 55–41. They moved on to play 4th seed

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, winning 82–59 in the Regional semifinals. The last game in the Midwest region was played against 3rd seed Rutgers, which Purdue beat 75–62. Purdue moved on to the Final Four, played in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. They played

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

, the number 1 seed from the West region. Purdue won 77–63. They faced

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

in the finals, who was coached by a former Purdue coach. Two of the Duke players also formerly played at Purdue before transferring.

coached Purdue to a 62–45 win, in what was her last game before moving on to the

Orlando Miracle The Orlando Miracle were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Orlando, Florida. It began play in the 1999 WNBA season. The Miracle relocated, in 2003, to Uncasville, Connecticut, where the team became the Connecticut Su ...

. This was the Boilermaker's first national championship. It was also the first ncaa national title by a women's basketball team from the Big Ten. Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball team

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball seasons

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four seasons NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament championship seasons