1990 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament
| 1990 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament |
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| Teams | 48 | ||||
| Finals site |
Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
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| Champions | Stanford (1st title) | ||||
| Runner-up | Auburn (3rd title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| MOP | Jennifer Azzi Stanford | ||||
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The 1990 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament began on March 11 and ended on April 1. The tournament featured 48 teams. The Final Four consisted of Virginia, Stanford, Auburn, and Louisiana Tech, with Stanford defeating Auburn 76-60 to win its first NCAA title. Stanford's Jennifer Azzi was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
Forty-eight teams started the tournament on the eleventh of March. Thirteen days later, there were four team left, Virginia, Auburn, Louisiana Tech and Stanford, headed to Knoxville, Tennessee for the Final Four.
Stanford, after playing in the initial 1982 tournament, did not qualify between 1983–1987, but had reached the Sweet Sixteen in 1988, and the Elite Eight in 1989. Virginia was competing in their seventh consecutive NCAA tournament, finishing as high as the Elite Eight in 1988. However, they had been knocked out of the tournament by Tennessee in each of the last three tournaments.
Auburn, coached by Joe Ciampi, had been to all but one of the NCAA tournaments, and reached the last two Final Fours, but finished in the Runner-up position in each year. Louisiana Tech had not just played in every NCAA tournament, but had reached at least the Elite Eight every year, and had two National Championships.
For the fourth consecutive year, Virginia faced Tennessee in the tournament. The previous three match ups were all won by Tennessee, including an 80–37 win in the 1989 tournament. This time, led by Dawn Staley who would win the MVP for her performance in the East Regional, the Cavaliers took the Volunteers to overtime, and won 79–75. Virginia next faced Stanford, who had only lost one game all season, and reached the final four by beating Arkansas 114–87 in the West Regional. Stanford wouldn't lose this game, and prevailed over Virginia 75–66.
In the other semi-final game, Auburn faced Louisiana Tech. Auburn came into the tournament as the prior year's runner-up, but was a two seed in the bracket with Washington, the only team to beat Stanford during the regular season. Auburn won easily, beating the Huskies 76–50. The Tech team, only two years removed from their last National Championship, were a 1 seed and beat Texas to advance to the Final Four. Auburn was too strong for the Lady Techsters, and advanced to the championship game with an 81–69 victory.
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