1996 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

The 1996 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament took place March 15–31, 1996. The Final Four consisted of Connecticut, Georgia, Stanford, and Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Georgia 83–65 in the championship game.

1996 NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament

Teams	64
Finals site	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Champions	Tennessee Volunteers (4th title, 6th title game, 9th Final Four)
Runner-up	Georgia Bulldogs (2nd title game, 4th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Connecticut Huskies (3rd Final Four) Stanford Cardinal (5th Final Four)
NCAA Division I women's tournaments «1995 1997»

Tournament records

• Three-point field goal percentage – Nykesha Sales, Connecticut, hit four of five three-point field goal attempts(80%) in the semi-final game against Tennessee, tying a record for three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game, held by four other players.
• Three-point field goal percentage – Abby Conklin, Tennessee hit four of five three-point field goal attempts(80%) in the championship game against Georgia, tying a record for three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game, held by four other players.
• Three-point field goals – Harvard hit 16 three-point field goals in a Mideast first-round game, setting the record for most three-point field goals in an NCAA tournament game, subsequently tied by two other teams.

Qualifying teams – automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid.

Automatic Bids
		Record
Qualifying School	Conference	Regular Season	Conference	Seed
Appalachian State University	Southern Conference	24–5	14–0	13
Austin Peay State University	Ohio Valley Conference	21–7	13–3	14
Butler University	Midwestern Collegiate	21–8	13–3	15
Clemson University	ACC	22–7	9–7	3
University of Colorado at Boulder	Big Eight	25–8	9–5	3
Colorado State University	WAC	25–4	12–2	8
University of Connecticut	Big East	30–3	17–1	1
The George Washington University	Atlantic 10	25–6	14–2	6
Grambling State University	SWAC	21–6	13–1	16
Harvard University	Ivy League	20–6	13–1	14
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	Big West Conference	23–5	15–3	11
College of the Holy Cross	Patriot League	23–9	9–3	15
Howard University	MEAC	20–9	13–3	16
Louisiana Tech University	Sun Belt Conference	28–1	14–0	1
University of Maine	North Atlantic Conference	27–4	18–0	11
Manhattan College	MAAC	19–10	11–3	14
University of Memphis	Conference USA	20–10	10–4	8
Missouri State University	Missouri Valley Conference	25–4	16–2	12
University of Montana	Big Sky Conference	24–4	13–1	12
Old Dominion University	Colonial	27–2	16–0	2
Pennsylvania State University	Big Ten	25–6	13–3	2
Radford University	Big South Conference	17–11	10–4	16
University of San Francisco	West Coast Conference	22–7	12–2	12
St. Francis (PA)	Northeast Conference	19–10	13–5	15
Stanford University	Pac-10	25–2	18–0	1
Stephen F. Austin State University	Southland	25–3	18–0	11
University of Tennessee	SEC	26–4	9–2	1
Texas A&M University	Southwest	20–11	8–6	7
University of Toledo	MAC	24–5	15–3	10
University of Central Florida	Trans America	15–13	7–8	16
Youngstown State University	Mid-Continent	20–8	14–4	15

Qualifying teams – at-large

Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.

At-large Bids
		Record
Qualifying School	Conference	Regular Season	Conference	Seed
University of Alabama	Southeastern	22–7	7–4	4
Auburn University	Southeastern	20–8	6–5	6
DePaul University	Conference USA	20–9	13–1	7
Duke University	Atlantic Coast	25–6	12–4	4
University of Florida	Southeastern	21–8	6–5	5
University of Georgia	Southeastern	23–4	10–1	2
University of Iowa	Big Ten	25–3	15–1	2
James Madison University	Colonial	21–8	12–4	13
University of Kansas	Big Eight	20–9	11–3	4
Kent State University	Mid-American	23–6	16–2	10
University of Massachusetts	Atlantic 10	20–9	11–5	8
Michigan State University	Big Ten	17–10	9–7	9
Middle Tennessee State University	Ohio Valley	24–5	13–3	13
University of Mississippi	Southeastern	18–10	6–5	7
University of Nebraska–Lincoln	Big Eight	19–9	8–6	9
North Carolina State University	Atlantic Coast	19–9	10–6	5
University of Notre Dame	Big East	22–7	15–3	12
Ohio State University	Big Ten	20–12	8–8	9
Oklahoma State University–Stillwater	Big Eight	19–9	8–6	7
University of Oregon	Pacific-10	18–10	10–8	11
Oregon State University	Pacific-10	19–10	11–7	6
University of Portland	West Coast	23–6	12–2	13
Purdue University	Big Ten	20–10	11–5	5
University of Rhode Island	Atlantic 10	21–7	13–3	10
Southern Methodist University	Southwest	19–10	9–5	10
University of Southern Mississippi	Conference USA	21–7	11–3	9
University of Texas at Austin	Southwest	20–8	13–1	5
Texas Tech University	Southwest	25–4	13–1	4
Tulane University	Conference USA	21–9	9–5	14
University of Utah	Western Athletic	21–7	12–2	8
Vanderbilt University	Southeastern	20–7	7–4	3
University of Virginia	Atlantic Coast	23–6	13–3	3
University of Wisconsin–Madison	Big Ten	21–7	12–4	6

Bids by conference

Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In seventeen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from fourteen of the conferences.

Bids	Conference	Teams
7	Southeastern	Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt
6	Big Ten	Penn St., Iowa, Michigan St., Ohio St., Purdue, Wisconsin
4	Atlantic Coast	Clemson, Duke, North Carolina St., Virginia
4	Big Eight	Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma St.
4	Conference USA	Memphis, DePaul, Southern Miss., Tulane
4	Southwest	Texas A&M, SMU, Texas, Texas Tech
3	Atlantic 10	George Washington, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
3	Pacific-10	Stanford, Oregon, Oregon St.
2	Big East	Connecticut, Notre Dame
2	Colonial	Old Dominion, James Madison
2	Mid-American	Toledo, Kent St.
2	Ohio Valley	Austin Peay, Middle Tenn.
2	West Coast	San Francisco, Portland
2	Western Athletic	Colorado St., Utah
1	Big Sky	Montana
1	Big South	Radford
1	Big West	Hawaii
1	Ivy	Harvard
1	Metro Atlantic	Manhattan
1	Mid-Continent	Youngstown St.
1	Mid-Eastern	Howard
1	Midwestern Collegiate	Butler
1	Missouri Valley	Missouri St.
1	North Atlantic	Maine
1	Northeast	St. Francis (PA)
1	Patriot	Holy Cross
1	Southern	Appalachian St.
1	Southland	Stephen F. Austin
1	Southwestern	Grambling State
1	Sun Belt	Louisiana Tech
1	Trans-America	UCF

First and second rounds

Norfolk

Charlottesville

Knoxville

Lawrence

Iowa City

Storrs

Nashville

Durham

Athens

Ruston

Clemson

Lubbock

University Park

Boulder

Stanford

Tuscaloosa

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1996 NCAA NCAA first and second round venues

In 1996, the field remained at 64 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-16 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 1 and 16 faced each other, as well as seeds 2 and 15, seeds 3 and 14, seeds 4 and 13, seeds 5 and 12, seeds 6 and 11, seeds 7 and 10, and seeds 8 and 9. In the first two rounds, the top four seeds were given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In all cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity.

The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations:

Region	Rnd	Host	Venue	City	State
East	1&2	Old Dominion University	Old Dominion University Fieldhouse	Norfolk	Virginia
East	1&2	University of Virginia	University Hall (University of Virginia)	Charlottesville	Virginia
East	1&2	University of Tennessee	Thompson-Boling Arena	Knoxville	Tennessee
East	1&2	University of Kansas	Allen Field House	Lawrence	Kansas
Mideast	1&2	University of Iowa	Carver–Hawkeye Arena	Iowa City	Iowa
Mideast	1&2	University of Connecticut	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion	Storrs	Connecticut
Mideast	1&2	Vanderbilt University	Memorial Gymnasium (Vanderbilt University)	Nashville	Tennessee
Mideast	1&2	Duke University	Cameron Indoor Stadium	Durham	North Carolina
Midwest	1&2	University of Georgia	Georgia Coliseum (Stegeman Coliseum)	Athens	Georgia
Midwest	1&2	Louisiana Tech University	Thomas Assembly Center	Ruston	Louisiana
Midwest	1&2	Clemson University	Littlejohn Coliseum	Clemson	South Carolina
Midwest	1&2	Texas Tech University	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum	Lubbock	Texas
West	1&2	Pennsylvania State University	Recreation Building (Rec Hall)	University Park	Pennsylvania
West	1&2	University of Colorado	CU Events Center (Coors Events Center)	Boulder	Colorado
West	1&2	Stanford University	Maples Pavilion	Stanford	California
West	1&2	University of Alabama	Coleman Coliseum	Tuscaloosa	Alabama

Regionals and Final Four

Charlottesville

Nacogdoches

Seattle

Rosemont

Charlotte

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1996 NCAA regionals and Final Four

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 23 to March 25 at these sites:

• East Regional University Hall (University of Virginia), Charlottesville, Virginia (Host: University of Virginia)
• Midwest Regional William R. Johnson Coliseum, Nacogdoches, Texas (Host: Stephen F. Austin University)
• West Regional Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington)
• Mideast Regional Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois (Host: DePaul University)

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four held March 29 and March 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Charlotte Coliseum, (co-hosted by Davidson College and UNC Charlotte).

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from thirty-two states, plus Washington, D.C. Texas and Tennessee had the most teams with five bids. Eighteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 1996

Bids	State	Teams
5	Tennessee	Austin Peay, Memphis, Tennessee, Middle Tenn., Vanderbilt
5	Texas	Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M, SMU, Texas, Texas Tech
4	Ohio	Toledo, Youngstown St., Kent St., Ohio St.
4	Virginia	Old Dominion, Radford, James Madison, Virginia
3	Indiana	Butler, Notre Dame, Purdue
3	Louisiana	Grambling State, Louisiana Tech, Tulane
3	Massachusetts	Harvard, Holy Cross, Massachusetts
3	North Carolina	Appalachian St., Duke, North Carolina St.
3	Oregon	Oregon, Oregon St., Portland
2	Alabama	Alabama, Auburn
2	California	San Francisco, Stanford
2	Colorado	Colorado, Colorado St.
2	District of Columbia	George Washington, Howard
2	Florida	UCF, Florida
2	Mississippi	Ole Miss, Southern Miss.
1	New York	Manhattan
1	Connecticut	Connecticut
1	Georgia	Georgia
1	Hawaii	Hawaii
1	Illinois	DePaul
1	Iowa	Iowa
1	Kansas	Kansas
1	Maine	Maine
1	Michigan	Michigan St.
1	Missouri	Missouri St.
1	Montana	Montana
1	Nebraska	Nebraska
1	Oklahoma	Oklahoma St.
2	Pennsylvania	Penn St., St Francis
1	Rhode Island	Rhode Island
1	South Carolina	Clemson
1	Utah	Utah
1	Wisconsin	Wisconsin

Brackets

East Region

	First round March 15 and 16					Second round March 17 and 18					Regional semifinals March 23 University Hall Charlottesville, VA					Regional finals March 25 University Hall Charlottesville, VA
	1	Tennessee	97
	16	Radford	56
						1	Tennessee	97
	Knoxville, TN
						9	Ohio State	65
	8	Memphis	75
	9	Ohio State	97
											1	Tennessee	92
											4	Kansas	71
	5	Texas	73
	12	SW Missouri St.	55
						5	Texas	70
	Lawrence, KS
						4	Kansas	77
	4	Kansas	72
	13	Middle Tennessee State	57
																1	Tennessee	52
																3	Virginia	46
	6	George Washington	83
	11	Maine	67
						6	George Washington	43
	Charlottesville, VA
						3	Virginia	62
	3	Virginia	100
	14	Manhattan	55
											3	Virginia	72
											2	Old Dominion	60
	7	Ole Miss	53
	10	Toledo	65
						10	Toledo	66
	Norfolk, VA
						2	Old Dominion	72
	2	Old Dominion	83
	15	Holy Cross	56

Mideast Region

	First round March 15 and 16					Second round March 17 and 18					Regional semifinals March 23 Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL					Regional finals March 25 Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL
	1	Connecticut	94
	16	Howard	63
						1	Connecticut	88
	Storrs, CT
						9	Michigan State	68
	8	Massachusetts	57
	9	Michigan State	60
											1	Connecticut	72
											12	San Francisco	44
	5	Florida	61
	12	San Francisco	68
						12	San Francisco	64
	Durham, NC
						4	Duke	60
	4	Duke	85
	13	James Madison	53
																1	Connecticut	67
																3	Vanderbilt	57
	6	Wisconsin	74
	11	Oregon	60
						6	Wisconsin	82
	Nashville, TN
						3	Vanderbilt	96
	3	Vanderbilt	100
	14	Harvard	83
											3	Vanderbilt	74
											2	Iowa	63
	7	DePaul	96
	10	SMU	82
						7	DePaul	71
	Iowa City, IA
						2	Iowa	72
	2	Iowa	72
	15	Butler	67

Midwest Region

	First round March 15 and 16					Second round March 17 and 18					Regional semifinals March 23 William R. Johnson Coliseum Nacogdoches, Texas					Regional finals March 25 William R. Johnson Coliseum Nacogdoches, Texas
	1	Louisiana Tech	98
	16	Central Florida	41
						1	Louisiana Tech	84
	Ruston, LA
						9	Southern Mississippi	46
	8	Utah	66
	9	Southern Mississippi	74
											1	Louisiana Tech	66
											4	Texas Tech	55
	5	Purdue	60
	12	Notre Dame	73
						12	Notre Dame	67
	Lubbock, Texas
						4	Texas Tech	82
	4	Texas Tech	78
	13	Portland	61
																1	Louisiana Tech	76
																2	Georgia	90
	6	Oregon State	65
	11	Stephen F. Austin	67
						11	Stephen F. Austin	93
	Clemson, SC
						3	Clemson	88
	3	Clemson	79
	14	Austin Peay	52
											11	Stephen F. Austin	64
											2	Georgia	78
	7	Oklahoma State	90
	10	Rhode Island	82
						7	Oklahoma State	55
	Athens, GA
						2	Georgia	83
	2	Georgia	98
	15	St. Francis PA	66

West Region

	First round March 15 and 16					Second round March 17 and 18					Regional semifinals March 23 Alaska Airlines Arena Seattle, WA					Regional finals March 25 Alaska Airlines Arena Seattle, WA
	1	Stanford	82
	16	Grambling State	43
						1	Stanford	94
	Stanford, CA
						8	Colorado State	63
	8	Colorado State	66
	9	Nebraska	62
											1	Stanford	78
											4	Alabama	76
	5	North Carolina State	77
	12	Montana	68
						5	North Carolina State	68
	Tuscaloosa, AL
						4	Alabama	88
	4	Alabama	95
	13	Appalachian State	66
																1	Stanford	71
																6	Auburn	57
	6	Auburn	73
	11	Hawaii	53
						6	Auburn	68
	Boulder, CO
						3	Colorado	61
	3	Colorado	83
	14	Tulane	75
											6	Auburn	75
											2	Penn State	69
	7	Texas A&M	68
	10	Kent State	72
						10	Kent State	59
	University Park, PA
						2	Penn State	86
	2	Penn State	94
	15	Youngstown State	71

Final Four – Charlotte, North Carolina

	National semifinals March 29					National championship March 31
	E1	Tennessee	88
	ME1	Connecticut	83OT
						E1	Tennessee	83
						MW2	Georgia	65
	MW2	Georgia	86
	W1	Stanford	76

Record by conference

Sixteen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play:

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Round of 32	Sweet Sixteen	Elite Eight	Final Four	Championship Game
Southeastern	7	19–6	.760	5	5	4	2	2
Big Ten	6	7–6	.538	5	2	–	–	–
Atlantic Coast	4	6–4	.600	4	1	1	–	–
Big Eight	4	4–4	.500	3	1	–	–	–
Southwest	4	3–4	.429	2	1	–	–	–
Conference USA	4	2–4	.333	2	–	–	–	–
Pacific-10	3	4–3	.571	1	1	1	1	–
Atlantic 10	3	1–3	.250	1	–	–	–	–
Big East	2	5–2	.714	2	1	1	1	–
Colonial	2	2–2	.500	1	1	–	–	–
Mid-American	2	2–2	.500	2	–	–	–	–
West Coast	2	2–2	.500	1	1	–	–	–
Western Athletic	2	1–2	.333	1	–	–	–	–
Ohio Valley	2	0–2	–	–	–	–	–	–
Sun Belt	1	3–1	.750	1	1	1	–	–
Southland	1	2–1	.667	1	1	–	–	–

Fifteen conferences went 0-1: Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Ivy League, MAAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Midwestern Collegiate, Missouri Valley Conference, North Atlantic Conference, Northeast Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, SWAC, and Trans America

All-Tournament team

• Michelle M. Marciniak, Tennessee
• Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
• Tiffani Johnson, Tennessee
• La'Keshia Frett, Georgia
• Saudia Roundtree, Georgia

Game officials

• Art Bomegen (semifinal)
• Doug Cloud (semifinal)
• Wes Dean (semifinal)
• John Morningstar (semifinal)
• Bob Trammell (semifinal)
• Scott Yarborough (semifinal)
• Sally Bell (final)
• Dee Kantner (final)
• Violet Palmer (final)

This was the first year the NCAA used three officials in tournament games, which was the standard for men's games since the 1978-79 season. Several conferences, including the SEC, assigned three officials to its regular season and conference tournament games for several seasons before the NCAA changed its rules.

See also

• 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1996 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 1996 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 1996 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1996 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament