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 ...

women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national champions for those years.

History

The AIAW tournament was preceded by a tournament sponsored by the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW), which was held from 1969 to 1971. Sixteen teams were invited to the AIAW tournament following qualifying rounds played on college campuses (except 24 teams were invited for the 1980 and 1981 tournaments). Ten of the sixteen teams were the winners of regional tournaments. The country had nine regions, but the Eastern regional was subdivided in a Region 1A and a Region 1B. The winners of those regional championships automatically proceeded to the national tournament, then a selection committee chose additional teams based upon considerations for individual team performance and geographical balance. Beginning in 1975, the AIAW divided its teams into divisions, and held separate tournaments for Division II and Division III teams. The AIAW tournament was discontinued after 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. ...

began sponsoring a women's collegiate basketball tournament in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

. (In 1982, both the AIAW and NCAA sponsored competing tournaments.) Pre-NCAA statistics, based on AIAW Archives, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries.

Division I/large college

CIAW

*1969 West Chester (Pennsylvania) def. Western Carolina 65-39 ''(CIAW invitational tournament, six player format)'' *1970 Cal State-Fullerton def. West Chester 50-46 ''(CIAW invitational tournament, six player format)'' *1971 Mississippi State College for Women def. West Chester 57-55 ''(CIAW qualification tournament)''

AIAW

Team appearances

The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament: * National Champion * National Runner-up * , , Semifinals (3rd-4th place) * , , , Quarterfinals (5th-8th place) * , Round of 12 or 16 (9th-16th place) * Play-in Round (''Starting 1980'') Round of 24 (17th-24th place)

Division II/small college

Results

Appearances

Division III

Results

Appearances

Junior/community college

*1973 Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College *1974 Anderson College (South Carolina) *1975 Anderson College *1976 Anderson College *1977 Anderson College

References

Sources

* {{Major women's sport leagues in North America 1982 disestablishments in the United States College women's basketball competitions in the United States Postseason college basketball competitions in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1972 1972 establishments in the United States Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1982

History

Division I/large college

CIAW

AIAW

Team appearances

Division II/small college

Results

Appearances

Division III

Results

Appearances

Junior/community college

See also

References

Sources