The Ivy League women's basketball tournament is the conference tournament in basketball for the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

, and is held alongside the Ivy League men's tournament at the same venue. The overall event is currently marketed as Ivy Madness. As with the men's tournament, the women's event is a single-elimination tournament involving the top four schools in the standings. The tournament format consists of two semifinal games on the first day (Saturday), with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed playing the No. 3 seed, followed by the championship game played the next day (Sunday). The tournament winner receives the League's automatic bids to the

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Div ...

. The teams that finish with the best records from the 14-game, regular-season conference schedule will continue to be recognized as Ivy League champions. Unlike the men's Ivy tournament, in which the regular-season champion receives an automatic berth in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

should it fail to win the conference tournament, a women's regular-season champion is technically not guaranteed a postseason berth if it does not make the NCAA tournament. However, the

Women's National Invitation Tournament The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is a women's national college basketball tournament. It used to feature both a preseason and postseason version played every year, but the preseason tournament was last held in 2023. It is operate ...

has a standing policy of inviting the top available team from each NCAA Division I conference once the NCAA women's tournament field has been set. (This difference is because unlike the men's NIT, the WNIT is neither owned nor operated by the NCAA.) Prior to the formal tournament, the Ivy League used a

one-game playoff A one-game playoff, sometimes known as a pennant playoff, tiebreaker game or knockout game, is a tiebreaker in certain sports—usually but not always professional—to determine which of two teams, tied in the final standings, will qualify for a ...

if necessary to break ties eight times with two teams, and in 2001-02, a three-team tournament, in order to settle the conference championship. The first two tournaments in 2017 and 2018 were held at the

Palestra The Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball, is a historic arena and the home gym of the Penn Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball. Located at 235 So ...

on the campus of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. The 2019 event was held at John J. Lee Amphitheater, a venue located within

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Payne Whitney Gymnasium The Payne Whitney Gymnasium is the gymnasium of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. One of the largest athletic facilities ever built, its twelve acres of interior space include a nine-story tower containing a third-floor swimming pool, fe ...

. In 2019, the Ivy League announced that the men's and women's tournaments would rotate among the remaining conference members through 2025. Due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

disruptions, the 2020 tournament was canceled, and the Ivy League did not play a 2020–21 season. The tournament resumed in 2022, with all venues shifted forward by two years.

Champions

Tournament championships by school

Tournament appearances by school

List of regular season champions

Since 1974, the Ivy League has had regular season titles for women's basketball.Ivy League Basketball: Women's Postseason History
(PDF) * 1974–75: Princeton * 1975–76: Princeton * 1976–77: Princeton * 1977–78: Princeton * 1978–79: Yale * 1979–80: Dartmouth * 1980–81: Dartmouth * 1981–82: Dartmouth * 1982–83: Dartmouth * 1983–84: Brown * 1984–85: Brown & Princeton * 1985–86: Dartmouth & Harvard * 1986–87: Dartmouth * 1987–88: Dartmouth & Harvard * 1988–89: Dartmouth * 1989–90: Dartmouth * 1990–91: Harvard * 1991–92: Brown * 1992–93: Brown * 1993–94: Brown & Dartmouth * 1994–95: Dartmouth * 1995–96: Harvard * 1996–97: Harvard * 1997–98: Harvard * 1998–99: Dartmouth & Princeton * 1999–00: Dartmouth * 2000–01: Penn * 2001–02: Harvard * 2002–03: Harvard * 2003–04: Penn * 2004–05: Dartmouth &Harvard * 2005–06: Brown, Dartmouth & Princeton * 2006–07: Harvard * 2007–08: Cornell, Dartmouth & Harvard * 2008–09: Dartmouth * 2009–10: Princeton * 2010–11: Princeton * 2011–12: Princeton * 2012–13: Princeton * 2013–14: Penn * 2014–15: Princeton * 2015–16: Penn * 2016–17: Penn * 2017–18: Princeton * 2018–19: Penn & Princeton * 2019–20: Princeton * 2021–22: Princeton * 2022–23: Columbia & Princeton * 2023–24: Columbia & Princeton * 2024-25: Columbia

References

External links

* {{NCAA women's college basketball tournament navbox Recurring sporting events established in 2016 2016 establishments in Pennsylvania