The 2002 NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game was the final game of the

2002 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 2002 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament concluded on March 31, 2002 when Connecticut won the national title. The Final Four was held at the Alamodome in San Antonio on March 29–31, 2002. Connecticut, coached by Geno Auriemma, ...

. It determined the champion of the 2001–02 NCAA Division I women's basketball season and was contested by the

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big Eas ...

and the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

. The game was played on March 31, 2002, at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. After leading 42–30 at halftime, No. 1 UConn defeated No. 4 Oklahoma 82–70 to capture the program's third National championship, and complete the fourth unbeaten season in women's NCAA history (Texas, 1986; Connecticut, 1995; Tennessee, 1998). Connecticut's

Swin Cash Swintayla Marie Cash Canal (born September 22, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. She played in college for the University of Connecticut and professionally for 15 years in the Women's National Basketball Association (WN ...

was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Participants

Oklahoma Sooners

The Sooners, representing the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

, were led by head coach

Sherri Coale Sherri Kay Coale (; Born on January 19, 1965) is a retired college basketball coach. She was the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball, University of Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team for 25 years, from 1996 to 2021. Coale ...

in her 6th season at the school. Oklahoma began the season ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll. The team's first loss of the season was at No. 1 UConn on December 22. The team won Big 12 regular season (14–2) and tournament titles. The Sooners finished No. 4 in the final AP poll. Entering the NCAA tournament at 27–3, OU held the No. 1 seed in the West region. They defeated No. 16 seed Hartford, No. 9 seed Villanova, No. 4 seed Texas Tech, and No. 3 seed Colorado to reach the Final Four for the first time in program history. In the National semifinals, the Sooners defeated the No. 1 seed from the East region, No. 3 Duke, 86–71.

Connecticut Huskies

The Huskies, who represented the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

Storrs, Connecticut Storrs ( ) is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The village is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, ...

, were led by head coach

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the NCAA basketball records for wins and winning percentage with a mi ...

, in his 17th season at the school. UConn opened the season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, and possessed the top spot for the entirety of the season. Connecticut closed out a perfect regular season, including a 16–0 record in the Big East, before winning the Big East tournament to improve to 33–0 overall. In the NCAA tournament, the No.1 seeded Huskies defeated No. 16 seed St. Francis (PA), No. 9 seed

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, No. 4 seed Penn State, and No. 7 seed Old Dominion to reach the sixth NCAA Final Four in program history. They won 79–56 over rival and Midwest region No. 2 seed Tennessee in the national semifinal to reach the national championship game with a 38–0 record.

Starting lineups

Game summary

Media coverage

The game was broadcast on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

with

Mike Patrick Michael Patrick (September 9, 1944 – April 20, 2025) was an American sportscaster, known for his long tenure with ESPN. Early career Patrick began his broadcasting career in the fall of 1966 at WVSC-Radio (now WGGI (AM), WGGI) in Somerset, P ...

on play-by-play duties,

Ann Meyers Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American retired pro basketball player and a sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and at professiona ...

as the color analyst, and

Michele Tafoya Michele Tafoya (born 1964/1965) is an American reporter and retired sports broadcaster for CBS and NBC. Most notably, from 2011 to 2022, she worked primarily as a sideline reporter for ''NBC Sunday Night Football''. Over the course of her career ...

as the sideline reporter.

References

{{2002 Connecticut Huskies women's basketball navbox

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

NCAA Division I women's basketball championship games College basketball tournaments in Minnesota NCAA Division I Women NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game Women's sports in Minnesota UConn Huskies women's basketball Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball