The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Women's Basketball national championship has been held annually since 1981. The NAIA Women's Tournament was established one year before the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament. It was created to crown a women's national title for smaller colleges and universities. From 1992 to 2020, the NAIA sponsored a women's division II championship tournament. The entire tournament is played in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

. Prior to the merger of D-I and D-II, a separate Division I tournament was held in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

, while the Division II tournament was in Sioux City. Contracts for host cities for both divisions initially expired in 2017. Following renewals, the 2018 and 2019 tournaments were held in the same cities, but in 2020, the tournaments were called off due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Results

Single division (1981–1991)

For the first eleven years that the NAIA sponsored women's basketball, it held a single national championship for all programs across its entire membership. The tournament field was initially set at eight before later expansions to 16 and 32 teams.

Division I (1992–2020)

The NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Tournament was held at the

Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark First Interstate Arena (colloquially known as The Metra) is a multi-purpose arena located at MetraPark, the fairgrounds of Billings, Montana. The arena has a capacity of 8,700 for ice hockey and indoor football games, 10,500 for basketball, and u ...

and has been played there since in 2012.NAIA Women's DI History
/ref> The NAIA was the only international intercollegiate athletic association in North America; the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship was the first championship to feature a college from outside the United States in the championship game. Former member

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

was the national DI runner-up in 1996 and 1997.

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

has the most tournament championships with 9, and most championship game appearances with 11.

Single division (2021–present)

In 2018, the NAIA announced a new format for the 2021 tournament after the merger of Divisions I and II.

Championships by school

*Division II titles are not included in this list. Schools in ''italics'' are no longer in the NAIA. * Schools highlighted in pink are closed or no longer sponsor athletics. * Schools highlight in yellow have reclassified athletics from the NAIA.

References

External links

* {{National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Basketball, Women Championships College women's basketball competitions in the United States Postseason college basketball competitions in the United States NAIA basketball