1988 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
| 1988 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament |
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| Teams | 40 | ||||
| Finals site |
Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington |
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| Champions | Louisiana Tech (2nd title) | ||||
| Runner-up | Auburn (1st title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| MOP | Erica Westbrooks Louisiana Tech | ||||
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The 1988 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament began on March 16 and ended on April 3. The tournament featured 40 teams. The Final Four consisted of Long Beach State, Auburn, Tennessee, and Louisiana Tech. Louisiana Tech won its second title with a 56-54 victory over Auburn. Louisiana Tech's Erica Westbrooks was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
Long Beach state reached the Final Four averaging over 100 points per game. Long Beach beat Colorado 103–64 in their opening game. Long Beach then defeated the three seed Washington 104–78 in the West Regional semifinal. That matched Long Beach up with the one seed Iowa. Long Beach didn't score 100, but came close, beating the top seed in their regional by a score of 98–78, allowing Long Beach to reach the Final Four for the second straight year. Their opponent in the semifinal was Auburn, who had reached the Sweet Sixteen in 1985 and 1986, then followed it with a trip to the Elite Eight in 1987. This year Auburn advanced to the Final Four for the first time defeating Maryland in the Mideast Regional 103–74.
In the semifinal game, the Long Beach 49ers team started out slowly, but their coach Joan Bonvicini wasn't worried; she was convinced they would come back. Auburn had a small lead in the second half when the 49ers scored 11 consecutive points to take a 46–42 lead. However, the Tigers tied the game at 46 apiece, then 48 then 50 apiece. Then the Tigers opened up a seven-point lead. The 49ers cut it back to five points, but too many turnovers were too much to overcome. Ruthie Bolton scored eleven points in the final six minutes for the Tigers to help seal the 68–55 victory, and the right to play for the national championship.
The other semifinal game matched up Tennessee and Louisiana Tech. Tennessee was the defending national champion, having won their first national championship in 1987. They won the East Regional with a win over the two seed Virginia. Their opponent, Louisiana Tech, had won the first NCAA Tournament in 1982, and had finished as runner up to Tennessee in the previous year's championship game. The two teams met in the regular season, with Tennessee winning 76–74 in an overtime game played in Knoxville. The Lady Techsters were a two seed, but upset top ranked Texas 83–80 in the Midwest Regional to make it to the semifinal game. The Lady Techsters said they had been looking forward to this game ever since their loss in the prior year and they played like it. They took the lead early in the game and never relinquished it. Louisiana Tech held Tennessee to 33% shooting in the first half, and held on to win the game 68–59, and a berth in the championship game.
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