The 1994 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament featured 64 teams for the first time ever. The Final Four consisted of

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, with North Carolina defeating Louisiana Tech 60–59 to win its first NCAA title on a 3-point shot by Charlotte Smith as time expired. The ball was inbounded with only 00:00.7 left on the clock, making it one of the most exciting finishes in tournament history.

Notable events

The Alabama team was a six seed in the Midwest region. After beating the 11 seed Oregon State, they faced a higher seed, Iowa, who were seeded third in the region. Alabama won that game, and went on to face another higher seed in Texas Tech, the defending national champions. Alabama won again, and went on to face Penn State, the top seed in the region. Alabama won yet again, this time by 14 points, to advance to their first final Four. In the semi-final game of the Final Four, they faced Louisiana Tech, a team they had played earlier in the year. In their December match-up, Alabama had beaten the Lady Techsters by 22 points, 99–77. In this game La tech opened up a six-point lead at the half. Alabama's All-American guard Niesa Johnson cut her hand on a locker room sink, which required seven stitches. Because it was such an important game, Johnson was bandaged and medicated and returned to the game. The Alabama team fought back from an eleven-point deficit and cut the margin to two points with seconds to play. The plan was to get the ball to

Betsy Harris Betsy Harris (born April 2, 1972) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. Early life Harris was born in Jacksonville, Florida. She went to Decatur High School, in Decatur, Mississippi, where she won the state championship ...

to attempt a three-point play, but Harris stepped out of bounds. After a made free throw, they had one more chance with a three-point attempt but it failed, and La Tech moved on to the championship game. In the other semifinal game, the North Carolina team faced Purdue. North Carolina's Charlotte Smith was expected to be an important key to the game, and the Purdue coach,

Lin Dunn Lin Dunn (born May 10, 1947) is an American women's basketball coach, currently general manager with the Indiana Fever. She is most known for being the first coach and general manager for the Seattle Storm. She has more than 500 wins to her name. ...

, tried to prepare the team to handle Smith. That planning was ineffective, as Smith scored 23 points, and set a personal career records for assists with eight. The Purdue team was down 13 points in the first half, but fought back and managed to take a two-point lead in the second half. However, the Tar Heels switched to a zone defense after made baskets, and retook the lead, ending up with an 89–74 victory, and the first North Carolina team to make it to the Championship game. In addition to Charlotte Smith, North Carolina had a freshman guard

Marion Jones Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is an American former world champion track and field athlete and former professional basketball player. She won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the 200 ...

who would later be known for world class performances in track and field. Jones picked up her third foul only six minutes in the game and had to sit. This "rattled" the North Carolina team but they kept the game close. When the game drew to a close, the La Tech team had a two-point advantage with less than a second on the clock, but North Carolina had the ball. With 0.7 seconds left, there was just enough time to catch and shoot. The ball was inbounded to Charlotte Smith who had made only eight three-pointers on 31 attempts during the season. Smith launched the ball, but never saw what happened as her vision was blocked. Her teammates mobbed her, and she realized she had hit the shot to complete one of the most dramatic finishes in NCAA Championship history. North Carolina won the Championship 60–59.

Tournament records

* Rebounds - Charlotte Smith recorded 23 rebounds in the championship game between North Carolina and Louisiana Tech, the most number of rebounds recorded in a Final Four game. The result is also a tie for the most number of rebounds in an NCAA tournament game. * Winning Margin - Tennessee beat North Carolina A&T by a score of 111–37. The 74 point margin is the largest ever record in an NCAA tournament game. * Three-point field goals -

scored 20 three-point attempts in the tournament, tied for the most ever scored in a complete tournament. Harris scored the baskets in five games, while the two other record holders,

Diana Taurasi Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has w ...

and

Maya Moore Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx, who is currently on sabbatical. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the greates ...

, accomplished the feat in six games.

Qualifying teams – automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 1994 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-two conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1994 NCAA tournament.

Qualifying teams – at-large

Thirty-two additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.

Bids by conference

Thirty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In sixteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-two additional at-large teams were selected from sixteen of the conferences.

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from thirty-six states, plus Washington, D.C. Texas had the most teams with five bids. Fourteen states did not have any teams receiving bids. NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 1994

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 1994

Brackets

First- and second-round games played at higher seed except where noted.

East Region

Mideast Region

Midwest Region

West Region

Final Four – Richmond, Virginia

E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West.

Record by conference

Eighteen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play: Fourteen conferences went 0-1:

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

, MAAC, MAC,

MEAC The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

, Midwestern Collegiate,

North Atlantic Conference The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) is an athletic conference, affiliated with the NCAA ’s Division III, consisting primarily of small liberal arts colleges in the Northern New England states of Maine and Vermont, as well as New York. The conf ...

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

, SWAC, and Trans America.

All-Tournament team

* Charlotte Smith, North Carolina * Tonya Sampson, North Carolina *

Vickie Johnson Vickie Johnson (born April 15, 1972) is an American former basketball player and head coach of the Dallas Wings. Johnson is the former head coach of the San Antonio Stars. Upon the sale and relocation of the Stars, Johnson was hired by head coach ...

, Louisiana Tech *

Pam Thomas Pamela Thomas is a Canadian-born television producer, director, and casting director. She served as a co-producer for ''The Kids in the Hall'' from 1988 to 1995 and has also served as a producer on ''I'm With Bugsey'' and ''Saturday Night Live'', ...

, Louisiana Tech *

, Alabama

Game officials

Dee Kantner Dee Kantner (born May 3, 1960) is a women's basketball referee for the National Collegiate Athletic Association since 1984. Kantner started with the Southern Conference before appearing in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conferenc ...

(semifinal) * Violet Palmer (semifinal) * Sally Bell (semifinal) * Sidney Bunch (semifinal) * Sally Bell (final) * John Morningstar (final)

References

{{1994 North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball navbox

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 Women's sports, women's college basketball teams from the NCAA Division I, Division I level of t ...

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Basketball in Austin, Texas Basketball in Lubbock, Texas 1994 in sports in Texas