The 2001

NCAA Division I softball tournament The NCAA Division I softball tournament is held annually in May/June and features 64 college softball teams in the United States, culminating in the Women's College World Series (WCWS), which is played in Oklahoma City. Tournament play and team ...

was the twentieth annual tournament to determine the national champion of

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. ...

women's collegiate softball. Held during May 2001, forty-eight Division I college softball teams contested the championship. The tournament featured eight regionals of six teams, each in a

double elimination A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimin ...

format. The 2001 Women's College World Series was held in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

from May 24 through May 28 and marked the conclusion of the

2001 NCAA Division I softball season The 2001 NCAA Division I softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2001. The season progressed through the regular ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

won their sixth NCAA championship by defeating

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

1–0 in the final game. Arizona pitcher

Jennie Finch Jennie Lynn Finch-Daigle (born September 3, 1980) is an American former softball player. She played for the Arizona Wildcats softball team from 1999 to 2002, where she won the 2001 Women's College World Series and was named collegiate All-Ameri ...

was named

Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player The Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player is an award for the best individual performance during the Women's College World Series, the college softball national championship event in the United States. The recipient of the award is a ...

Qualifying

Regionals

Regional No. 1

''Opening Round'' *

defeated , 4–2 * defeated , 1–0 * defeated , 2–1 ''Loser's Bracket'' *Texas Tech defeated Saint Peter's, 3–2. Saint Peter's eliminated. *Texas Tech defeated Hawaii, 4–2. Hawaii eliminated. ''Semifinals and Finals'' *Cal State Fullerton defeated Texas State, 10–1 (5 innings). *Arizona defeated Texas Tech, 8–0 (6 innings). Texas Tech eliminated *Arizona defeated Texas State, 6–2. *Texas State defeated Cal State Fullerton, 4–3. *Arizona defeated Cal State Fullerton, 5–4. Arizona advances to WCWS.

Regional No. 2

''Opening Round'' *

defeated , 8–0 (5 innings). * defeated , 3–1 (9 innings). * defeated , 2–0. ''Loser's Bracket'' *Fresno State defeated Coastal Carolina, 6–4. Coastal Carolina eliminated. *Cal State Northridge defeated Fresno State, 3–1. Fresno State eliminated. ''Semifinals and Finals'' *San Diego State defeated Wisconsin, 1–0. *UCLA defeated Cal State Northridge, 9–0. Cal State Northridge eliminated. *UCLA defeated San Diego State, 3–1. *San Diego State defeated Wisconsin, 6–1. Wisconsin eliminated. *UCLA defeated San Diego State, 11–0 (5 innings). UCLA advances to WCWS.

Regional No. 3

''Opening Round'' * defeated , 8–0 (6 innings). * defeated , 4–1. * defeated , 5–1. ''Loser's Bracket'' *Penn State defeated Cornell, 5–0. Cornell eliminated. *Penn State defeated Southern Miss, 1–0. Southern Miss eliminated. ''Semifinals and Finals'' *Arizona State defeated Louisiana–Lafayette, 2–1. *LSU defeated Penn State, 2–1. Penn State eliminated. *LSU defeated Arizona State, 3–2. *Louisiana–Lafayette defeated Arizona State, 5–0. Arizona State eliminated. *LSU defeated Louisiana–Lafayette, 2–1. LSU advances to WCWS.

Regional No. 4

''Opening Round'' * defeated , 8–2. * defeated , 1–0. * defeated , 2–1. ''Loser's Bracket'' *Chattanooga defeated UIC, 5–2. UIC eliminated. *Oregon State defeated Chattanooga, 13–0 (5 innings). Chattanooga eliminated. ''Semifinals and Finals'' *Michigan defeated South Florida, 6–2 (13 innings). *Alabama defeated Oregon State, 1–0. Oregon State eliminated. *Michigan defeated Alabama, 3–2. *South Florida defeated Alabama, 3–2. Alabama eliminated. *Michigan defeated South Florida, 12–5. Michigan advances to WCWS.

Regional No. 5

''Opening Round'' * defeated , 9–2. * defeated , 6–0. * defeated , 4–2. ''Loser's Bracket'' *Lehigh defeated Seton Hall, 2–0. Seton Hall eliminated. *North Carolina defeated Lehigh, 4–0. Lehigh eliminated. ''Semifinals and Finals'' *Washington defeated UMass, 8–0 (5 innings). *Oklahoma defeated North Carolina, 13–0 (5 innings). North Carolina eliminated. *Oklahoma defeated Washington, 3–2. *Washington defeated UMass, 7–1. UMass eliminated. *Oklahoma defeated Washington, 10–2. Oklahoma advances to WCWS.

Regional No. 6

''Opening Round'' * defeated , 3–1. * defeated , 8–0 (6 innings). * defeated , 4–0. ''Loser's Bracket'' *Hofstra defeated BYU, 4–2. BYU eliminated. *Central Michigan defeated Hofstra, 10–0 (5 innings). Hofstra eliminated. ''Semifinals and Finals'' *Nebraska defeated Pacific, 2–1 (8 innings). *Stanford defeated Central Michigan, 6–0. Central Michigan eliminated. *Stanford defeated Nebraska, 5–1. *Pacific defeated Nebraska, 3–1. Nebraska eliminated. *Pacific defeated Stanford, 2–0. *Stanford defeated Pacific, 9–1 (5 innings). Stanford advances to WCWS.

Regional No. 7

''Opening Round'' * defeated , 8–0 (5 innings). * defeated , 2–1. * defeated , 3–2 (9 innings). ''Loser's Bracket'' *Illinois State defeated Western Illinois, 4–0. Western Illinois eliminated. *Illinois State defeated South Carolina, 1–0. South Carolina eliminated. ''Semifinals and Finals'' *Iowa defeated DePaul, 7–4. *Notre Dame defeated Illinois State, 2–1. Illinois State eliminated. *Iowa defeated Notre Dame, 6–0. *Notre Dame defeated DePaul, 8–1. DePaul eliminated. *Iowa defeated Notre Dame, 6–2. Iowa advances to WCWS.

Regional No. 8

''Opening Round'' * defeated , 6–2. * defeated , 2–0. * defeated

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, 3–0. ''Loser's Bracket'' *Connecticut defeated Bethune–Cookman, 2–1. Bethune–Cookman eliminated. *Florida defeated Connecticut, 8–0 (5 innings). Connecticut eliminated. ''Semifinals and Finals'' *California defeated Florida Atlantic, 2–0. *Florida State defeated Florida, 6–2. Florida eliminated. *California defeated Florida State, 1–0. *Florida State defeated Florida Atlantic, 2–0. Florida Atlantic eliminated. *Florida State defeated California, 2–1. *California defeated Florida State, 3–2 (10 innings). California advances to WCWS.

Women's College World Series

Participants

*: Excludes UCLA's vacated 1995 WCWS participation.
†: Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.

Results

Bracket

Game results

Championship game

All-Tournament Team

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team:

References

{{2000–01 NCAA Division I championships navbox 2001 NCAA Division I softball season NCAA Division I softball tournament

Women's sports in Oklahoma