The 1985 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 14 and ended on March 31 and featured 32 teams. The Final Four consisted of Old Dominion, Northeast Louisiana, Western Kentucky, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, with Old Dominion defeating Georgia, 70–65 in the championship game. Old Dominion's Tracy Claxton was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. 1985 is the first year ESPN began televising some of the Tournament games. They televised two of the four Regional finals (East and West Regional), as well as the two national semifinals. The Georgia vs Western Kentucky match up was shown live, while the Old Dominion vs. Northeast Louisiana game was shown tape-delayed. The Championship game was broadcast by CBS.

Notable events

Georgia faced Western Kentucky in the semi-final. This was a rematch of a game played in December, when Western Kentucky prevailed, 72–67. However, in that game, Katrina McClain had been sidelined with an ankle injury. She was available to play in the Final Four, and achieved a career high total of 25 points. Her teammate,

Teresa Edwards Teresa Edwards (born July 19, 1964) is an American former women's basketball player and four time Olympic gold medalist. In 2000, ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine placed her as 22nd of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century". She ...

, scored 27, and the two helped Georgia win the semi-final 91–78. Katrina McClain in 1985 Final Four

In the championship game, Georgia took on Old Dominion. The Lady Monarchs weren't hitting their shots, scoring on only 38% of their field goal attempts, but they made up for their misses with rebounds. The Old Dominion team had set an NCAA Final Four record (still standing in 2012) with 57 rebounds in the semi-final game, and they repeated that performance in the championship game, pulling down 57 rebounds and limiting Georgia to 30. The game would be close, but Old Dominion prevailed, 70–65, to win the national Championship.

Records

In the second half of the semi-final game between Georgia and Western Kentucky, Georgia scored 57 points while Western Kentucky scored 44. The combined point total of 101 points in a half, as well as the points scored by a single team in a half are both Final Four records, still standing in 2012. In the other semi-final game, Old Dominion pulled down 57 rebounds against Northeast Louisiana. That number still stands as a Final Four rebounds record, although it was tied two days later by Old Dominion in the championship game against Georgia. In a first-round game, Teresa Carmichael of

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

, attempted eleven field goals and hit all eleven. That's the most number of field goal attempts without a miss in tournament history, though 2012.

Qualifying teams – automatic

Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in the 1985 NCAA Tournament. Eighteen conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1985 NCAA tournament.

Qualifying teams – at-large

Fourteen additional teams were selected to complete the thirty-two invitations.

Bids by conference

Bids by state

The thirty-two teams came from twenty-one states. California and Tennessee had the most teams with four each. Twenty-nine states did not have any teams receiving bids.

Round 1 venues

The 32 teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-8 in each region. In Round 1, the higher seed was given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In each case, the higher seed accepted the opportunity.

Regionals and Final Four

The regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 21 to March 24 at these sites: * East Regional Old Dominion University Fieldhouse,

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

(Host:

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

) * Midwest Regional Ewing Coliseum, Monroe,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

(Host:

Northeast Louisiana University The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it becam ...

) * Mideast Regional E.A. Diddle Arena,

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

(Host:

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

) * West Regional Pauley Pavilion,

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

(Host:

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

) Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held March 29 and March 31 in Austin, Texas at the

Frank Erwin Center The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center (originally Special Events Center) was a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. It was also sometimes referred to as "The Drum" or "The Superdrum", owing to ...

. The

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

served as the host institution.

Brackets

East regional – Old Dominion – Norfolk, VA ( Old Dominion University Fieldhouse)

Midwest regional – Northeast Louisiana University – Monroe, LA ( Fant–Ewing Coliseum)

Mideast regional – Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY ( E. A. Diddle Arena)

West regional – UCLA, Los Angeles, CA ( Pauley Pavilion)

Final Four – University of Texas – Austin, Texas (
Frank Erwin Center The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center (originally Special Events Center) was a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. It was also sometimes referred to as "The Drum" or "The Superdrum", owing to ...
)

Record by conference

Eleven conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play: Nine conferences went 0-1:

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

, Big Eight, High Country, MAAC, MAC,

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

, Mountain West,

Northern Pacific Northern Pacific may refer to: * Northern Pacific Airways, an upcoming airline * Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference, an NCAA Division I conference * Northern Pacific Hockey League, an American Tier III junior ice hockey league * Northern Paci ...

, and

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

All-Tournament team

* Tracy Claxton, Old Dominion University *

Medina Dixon Medina Dixon (November 2, 1962 – November 8, 2021) was an American basketball player born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was a member of the United States women's national basketball team during the late 1980s and the early 1990s, collecting th ...

, Old Dominion University *

, University of Georgia * Katrina McClain, University of Georgia * Lillie Mason, Western Kentucky University

Game officials

* Bob Olsen (semifinal) * John Schleyer (semifinal) * June Courteau (semifinal, final) * Bill Stokes (semifinal, final)

Notes

{{1985 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs basketball navbox NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

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 ...

Basketball competitions in Austin, Texas Women's sports in Texas College basketball tournaments in Texas

Notable events

Records

Qualifying teams – automatic

Qualifying teams – at-large

Bids by conference

Bids by state

Round 1 venues

Regionals and Final Four

Brackets

East regional – Old Dominion – Norfolk, VA ( Old Dominion University Fieldhouse)

Midwest regional – Northeast Louisiana University – Monroe, LA ( Fant–Ewing Coliseum)

Mideast regional – Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY ( E. A. Diddle Arena)

West regional – UCLA, Los Angeles, CA ( Pauley Pavilion)

Record by conference

All-Tournament team

Game officials

See also

Notes