The 1984 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 16 and ended on April 1. It featured 32 teams, four fewer than the previous year.

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

, Cheyney, and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

were the Final Four, with Southern California defeating Tennessee, 72-61, for its second straight title. USC's

Cheryl Miller Cheryl D. Miller (born January 3, 1964) is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster f ...

was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. The semi-finals and finals were held in

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The ...

on the campus of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Notable events

Three of the four team earning a bid to the Final Four did so winning the Regional game on their own floor. The exception, the East Regional was held at a neutral site, the

Norfolk Scope Norfolk Scope is a multi-function complex in Norfolk, Virginia, comprising an 11,000-person arena, a 2,500-person theater known as Chrysler Hall, a exhibition hall and a 600-car parking garage. The arena was designed by Italian architect/engin ...

, but that was the home town of Old Dominion, who had won 45 consecutive home games, before meeting Cheyney State in the East Regional final. Cheyney State won by a score of 80–71. The win matched them up against the three seed Tennessee, who upset Georgia to win the Mideast Regional. The score of the semi-final was also 80–71, but this time the Lady Vols were the victor. In 1983, USC and Louisiana Tech met in the National championship game, with USC prevailing. The two teams next played in the regular season in January 1984, with Louisiana Tech beating USC 75–66 in at the home court of La Tech.. In the 1984 Tournament, USC advanced to the Final Four by beating Long Beach State 90–74, in the West Region, while Louisiana Tech beat Texas 85–60, to win the Midwest Regional. This set up a rematch, in the national semifinal. The game was close, and tied at 57 points apiece with under three minutes to go, when Cheryl Miller scored the last five points of the game to help USC advance to the championship game 62–57. The score of the championship game was reasonably close, 72–61, but according to Sports Illustrated, "USC outscored, out-passed, outdanced and just plain outflashed Tennessee". Led by

and the McGee twins, Pamela and Paula, USC won its second consecutive National Championship. Helped by the school's proximity to the media outlets, Women's basketball received considerable media coverage, with the three stars of the team participating in many print interviews and almost 75 television appearances.

Records

Mary Ostrowski hit nine of nine attempted free throws, the second most for an individual player in a Final Four game, the National Semi-final. Over the two games of the Final four, she hit 15 of 15, the only player to hit every free throw (minimum 12 attempts) in Final Four games. Tennessee, as a team, hit nine of nine attempted free throws, the second most for team in a Final Four game, in the National championship game. Long Beach State scored 22 points in an overtime period, in the West Regional semi-final, the most ever scored in an NCAA tournament overtime period.

Qualifying teams – automatic

Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in the 1984 NCAA Tournament. Seventeen conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1984 NCAA tournament. (Not all conference records are available for 1984)

Qualifying teams – at-large

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

Bids by conference

Seventeen conferences earned an automatic bid. In eleven cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Twelve at-large teams were selected from six of the conferences. In addition, three independent (not associated with an athletic conference) teams earned at-large bids.

First round

In 1984, the field returned to 32 teams, in the same format as in 1982. The 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 most cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity. The exceptions: * Ole Miss was a 4 seed, but unable to host, so the game was played at 5 seed Ohio State * Alabama was a 2 seed, but played at Central Michigan, the 7 seed * Missouri was a 4 seed, but played at LSU, the 5 seed * Kansas State was a 3 seed, but played at Northeast Louisiana, the 6 seed * Oregon was a 3 seed, but played at San Diego State, the 6 seed * Long Beach State was a 2 seed, playing the 7 seed, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The game was played at the University of Southern California (USC). For this reason there are only 15 first round venues, as all locations hosted one game except the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, home of USC, which hosted two games. The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the 15 first round locations.

Regionals and Final Four

The regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 22 to March 25 at these sites: * East Regional

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...

(Host:

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia w ...

) * Mideast Regional Stokely Athletic Center,

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the stat ...

(Host:

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th sta ...

) * Midwest Regional

Thomas Assembly Center The Samuel M. Thomas Assembly Center is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Ruston, Louisiana. The arena, named for its benefactor and businessman Samuel M. Thomas, is home to the Division I NCAA Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs (men) and La ...

Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in the Eastern Ark-La-Tex region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,859, reflecting an increase of 6.4 perce ...

(Host:

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research act ...

) * West Regional

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park, in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and just south of the campus of the University of ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

(Host:

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

) Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held March 30 and April 1 in Los Angeles, California at

Bids by state

The thirty-two teams came from twenty-two states. California and Louisiana had the most teams with three each. Twenty-eight states did not have any teams receiving bids. NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 1984

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 1984

Brackets

Mideast regional – University of Tennessee - Knoxville, TN ( Stokely Athletic Center)

Midwest regional – Louisiana Tech - Ruston, LA (
Thomas Assembly Center The Samuel M. Thomas Assembly Center is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Ruston, Louisiana. The arena, named for its benefactor and businessman Samuel M. Thomas, is home to the Division I NCAA Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs (men) and La ...
)

East regional – Old Dominion - Norfolk, VA (
Norfolk Scope Norfolk Scope is a multi-function complex in Norfolk, Virginia, comprising an 11,000-person arena, a 2,500-person theater known as Chrysler Hall, a exhibition hall and a 600-car parking garage. The arena was designed by Italian architect/engin ...
)

West regional – Los Angeles, CA (
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park, in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and just south of the campus of the University of ...
)

Final Four – University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA (
Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The ...
)

Record by conference

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

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Easter ...

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, High Country, Metro, MAC,

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

, and

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...

All-Tournament team

, Southern California *

Paula McGee Paula McGee (born December 1, 1962) is an American preacher, writer, inspirational speaker and former basketball player. She played college basketball for the University of Southern California where she won the NCAA championship in 1983 and 198 ...

, Southern California * Pam McGee, Southern California * Janice Lawrence, Louisiana Tech * Mary Ostrowski, Tennessee

Game officials

* Tommie Salerno (semifinal) * Larry Sheppard (semifinal) * Bob Olsen (semifinal, final) * Marcy Weston (semifinal, final)

References

{{NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic ...

Basketball in Austin, Texas

Notable events

Records

Qualifying teams – automatic

Qualifying teams – at-large

Bids by conference

First round

Regionals and Final Four

Bids by state

Brackets

Mideast regional – University of Tennessee - Knoxville, TN ( Stokely Athletic Center)

Record by conference

All-Tournament team

Game officials

See also

References