1983 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
| 1983 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament |
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| Teams | 36 | ||||
| Finals site |
Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia |
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| Champions | USC (1st title, 2nd final four title) | ||||
| Runner-up | Louisiana Tech (2nd title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| MOP | Cheryl Miller USC | ||||
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The 1983 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament began on March 18 and concluded on April 3 with USC winning the title. The tournament consisted of 36 teams. The Final Four was held in Norfolk, Virginia and consisted of USC, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, and Georgia. USC's Cheryl Miller was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
Neither semifinal game in the final four turned out to be close. Defending national champion Louisiana Tech beat long time powerhouse Old Dominion by sixteen points, handing them their 30th consecutive victory. In the other semifinal, Southern California had an easier time, beating Georgia by 24 points. This set up the championship game between the only two top seeds to advance to the Final Four.
The two teams had met twice before in regular season, both coming away with a win, but in both cases, on the opponents home court. USC beat the Lady Techsters in Louisiana, 64–58, giving the La Tech team their only loss for the year. La Tech turned around and beat USC in Los Angeles by two points in January, one of only two losses suffered by the USC team all season.
The game would come down to the final seconds. USC had a two-point lead with six seconds left in the game, and freshman star Cheryl Miller at the line for a one-and-one attempt. In the era before the three point shot, simply making the foul shot would virtually guarantee the win. But Miller would miss the shot, the Techsters would grab the rebounds, with a chance for a final shot. They ran up the court, where Kim Mulkey took the final shot, but it failed to go in, and USC won their first National Championship.
In the National Championship game, Jennifer White hit eight of nine free throw attempts to set a Championship game record for free throw percentage.
In the same game, Cheryl Miller attempted 14 free throws, a National Championship record.
The NCAA did not officially start keeping track of blocked shots in women's basketball until 1998 (it had begun doing so in the men's game in 1986). However, Anne Donovan of Old Dominion had twelve blocked shot in a regional game, two more than the official record of ten.
Thirty-six teams were selected to participate in the 1983 NCAA Tournament. Fourteen conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1983 NCAA tournament. (Not all conference records are available for 1983)
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