The NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament is annual

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

hosted by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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 women's collegiate lacrosse among its Division I members 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 ...

. It has been held every year since 1982, except for 2020.

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

have been the most successful program, with fourteen titles.

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

is the reigning national champions, winning their fourth title in 2025.

History

Lacrosse was one of twelve women's sports added to 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. ...

championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same twelve (and other) sports; however, after a year of dual women's championships, the AIAW held its last championship in 1982 and ceased operation. Separate championships are held for Division II, founded in 2001, and Division III, founded in 1985.

Results

''See Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Champions for the women's lacrosse champions from 1978 to 1982. NOTE: In 1982 there were both NCAA and AIAW Division I champions.''

Team titles

Results by year

* National Champion * National Runner-up * Semifinals * Quarterfinals * Round of 12 (''1983 through 1984, 1998 through 2000''); Round of 16 (''2001 through present'') * First Round (''2013 to present'') * Opening Round (''2018 through 2019'') * Play-in Game (''2004 through 2012. Unlike the Opening Round game of 2018 and 2019, the losers of these Play-in Games are not considered by the NCAA to have been NCAA participants. They appear in the table below, but not counted as having an appearance in the total column.'') The NCAA began seeding the top 4 teams in 1998. The No. 1 seed is marked with , and teams seeded between No. 2 and No. 4 are shown with . Starting in 2005, the top 8 teams were seeded. Teams seeded between No. 5 and No. 8 are shown with .

All-time record

* Note: ''As of end of 2023 championship'' * indicates schools belong to Division II and indicates a school belongs to Division III.

References

External links

Division I women's lacrosse
{{Lacrosse topics Division I Women's lacrosse competitions in the United States

Women's lacrosse Women's lacrosse (or girls' lacrosse), sometimes shortened to lax, is a field sport played at the international level with two opposing teams of ten players each (12 players per team at the U.S. domestic level). Originally played by indigenous ...