The 2008 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament was the 27th annual

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 concen ...

hosted by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

to determine the national champion of

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

women's collegiate basketball in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Howard Payne defeated

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

in the championship game, 68–54, to claim the Yellow Jackets' first Division III national title. The championship rounds were hosted by

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan, United States. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman coll ...

at the DeVos Fieldhouse in

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa and Allegan County, Michigan, Allegan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in the West Michigan, western region of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula, the city is si ...

from March 21–22.

Qualifying

For the third consecutive year, the tournament featured sixty-three teams. All teams but one, Howard Payne, started play in the First Round, with the Yellow Jackets receiving the singular bye to the Second Round.

Bracket

Top left sectional

Bottom left sectional

Top right sectional

Bottom right sectional

Final Four

All-tournament team

* Meia Daniels, Howard Payne * Kim Hoffman, Howard Payne * Nikki Lobach, Messiah * Tina Grace, Oglethorpe * Tiffany Morton, Wisconsin–Whitewater

References

{{NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament navbox NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 2008 in sports in Michigan Howard Payne Yellow Jackets Messiah Falcons