The 2000 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 17 and ended on April 2. The tournament featured 64 teams. The Final Four consisted of Connecticut, Penn St., Tennessee, and Rutgers, with Connecticut defeating Tennessee 71–52 to win its second NCAA title. Connecticut's Shea Ralph was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
Notable events Two of the number one seeds advanced to the Final four – Tennessee and Connecticut – while two failed to advance. Penn State upset Louisiana Tech in the Midwest Regional, while Rutgers upset Georgia in the West Regional. Tennessee faced Rutgers in one of the Final Four match ups. At the end of the half, the Lady Vols held only a two-point lead 28–26. Pat Summitt challenged her players at halftime, and advised Tamika Catchings to move around more. That advice helped, as Catchings, who had only scored two points in the first half, scored eleven in the second half. Michelle Snow blocked seven shots in the game setting a Final Four record. Kara Lawson ran the offense, and scored a total of 19 points, of which 14 were scored in the second half, and ended up earning the Player of the Game award, helping her team win 64–54 and advance to the national championship.
The other semifinal match up was Connecticut against Penn State. The regional win by Penn State gave the team a chance to play in a Final Four in their home state. The Lady Lions were led by point guard Helen Darling, who would go on to win the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award that year. However, the defense by the Huskies held Darling scoreless on this day. UConn's point guard Sue Bird, had a better day, scoring 19 points, hitting five of her seven three point attempts. 20,060 fans were in the stands, the largest crowd ever to see a college basketball game in Pennsylvania. Connecticut had a nine-point lead at halftime, but Penn State had cut the lead to five points midway through the second half. However, the Huskies responded, and ended up winning the game by 22 points.
The match up in the finals between Tennessee and Connecticut was highly anticipated. The teams have met ten times prior to this meeting, with each team winning five. In eight of the ten meetings, one of the teams has had a number one ranking in the country. Much has been at stake, not just rankings, but winning streaks, national championships and pride.
Tennessee entered the final game on a 19-game winning streak; Connecticut on a 15-game winning streak, with their only loss of the season coming by a single point at the hands of Tennessee. UConn started the game with a 9–2 run. Kelly Schumacher set a record for blocks in a championship game, and had the record, with six, at halftime. She went on to record nine blocks, setting a new Final Four record, breaking the one established by Tennessee just two days before. The Huskies led 31–19 at the half, but the second half was yet to be played. Any chance of a comeback faded early, as UConn scored eight consecutive points to start the second half. Eight UConn players would get eleven or more minutes, giving Tennessee the impression that they were seeing fresh players every few minutes. Shea Ralph would score 15 points, on her way to winning the Most Outstanding Player award, and Svetlana Abrosimova scored 14. Connecticut ultimately defeated Tennessee by a score of 71–52 to win their second national championship.
The 2000 Final Four, played at the then-First Union Center (now Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia, was notable for featuring three head coaches who had ties to the Philadelphia area: Penn State coach Rene Portland grew up in the Philadelphia area, played at Immaculata College (now Immaculata University) in suburban Philadelphia, and briefly coached at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia; Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer coached at then-Cheyney State College (now Cheyney University) in suburban Philadelphia earlier in her career, and national championship-winning Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma spent most of his childhood living in Norristown, Pennsylvania, located approximately 20 miles from Philadelphia, and served as a high school and college assistant coach in the Philadelphia area early in his coaching career.
Tournament records Blocks – Kelly Schumacher, Connecticut, recorded nine blocks in the championship game against Tennessee, setting the record for blocks in a Final Four game. Blocks – Connecticut recorded eleven blocks in the championship game against Tennessee, setting the record for blocks in a Final Four game. Points – Connecticut scored 547 points in the tournament, setting the record for most points scored in an NCAA tournament. Field goal percentage – Connecticut hit 203 of 363 field goal attempts(56.1%), setting the record for the field goal percentage in an NCAA tournament. Steals – Connecticut recorded 81 steals in the tournament, setting the record for most steals in an NCAA tournament. Turnovers – Tennessee turned the ball over 26 times, a record for a championship game.
Qualifying teams – automatic Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Thirty conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2000 NCAA tournament.
Automatic bids Record Qualifying School Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Alcorn State University SWAC 16 Campbell University Trans America 15 University of Connecticut Big East 1 Dartmouth College Ivy League 13 Drake University Missouri Valley Conference 8 Duke University ACC 2 Furman University Southern Conference 16 University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Horizon League 13 Hampton University MEAC 16 College of the Holy Cross Patriot League 15 Iowa State University Big 12 3 Kent State University MAC 9 Liberty University Big South Conference 14 Louisiana Tech University Sun Belt Conference 1 University of Montana Big Sky Conference 16 Old Dominion University Colonial 4 University of Oregon Pac-10 6 Purdue University Big Ten 4 Rice University WAC 13 University of San Diego West Coast Conference 15 St. Francis (PA) Northeast Conference 14 Saint Peter's College MAAC 14 Stephen F. Austin State University Southland 11 University of Tennessee SEC 1 Tennessee Technological University Ohio Valley Conference 14 Tulane University Conference USA 6 University of California, Santa Barbara Big West Conference 4 University of Vermont America East 11 Xavier University Atlantic 10 6 Youngstown State University Mid-Continent 15
Qualifying teams – at-large Thirty-four additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.
At-large Bids Record Qualifying School Conference Regular Season Conference Seed University of Arizona Pacific-10 8 Auburn University Southeastern 7 Boston College Big East 5 Brigham Young University Mountain West 12 Clemson University Atlantic Coast 9 The George Washington University Atlantic 10 7 University of Georgia Southeastern 1 University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Big Ten 6 University of Kansas Big 12 8 Louisiana State University Southeastern 3 University of Maine America East 12 Marquette University Conference USA 7 University of Michigan Big Ten 8 Mississippi State University Southeastern 3 Southwest Missouri State University Missouri Valley 10 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Big 12 12 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Atlantic Coast 5 North Carolina State University Atlantic Coast 5 University of Notre Dame Big East 2 University of Oklahoma Big 12 5 Pennsylvania State University Big Ten 2 Pepperdine University West Coast 13 Rutgers University Big East 2 Southern Methodist University Western Athletic 12 Saint Joseph's University Atlantic 10 10 Stanford University Pacific-10 9 University of Texas at Austin Big 12 7 Texas Tech University Big 12 3 University of Alabama at Birmingham Conference USA 11 University of California, Los Angeles Pacific-10 10 University of Utah Mountain West 11 Vanderbilt University Southeastern 9 University of Virginia Atlantic Coast 4 Western Kentucky University Sun Belt 10
Bids by conference Thirty conferences earned an automatic bid. In fifteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-four additional at-large teams were selected from fifteen of the conferences.
Bids Conference Teams 6 Big 12
Iowa St., Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech 6 Southeastern
Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi St., Vanderbilt 5 Atlantic Coast
Duke, Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina St., Virginia 4 Big East
Connecticut, Boston College, Notre Dame, Rutgers 4 Big Ten
Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, Penn St. 4 Pacific-10
Oregon, Arizona, Stanford, UCLA 3 Atlantic 10
Xavier, George Washington, St. Joseph's 3 Conference USA
Tulane, Marquette, UAB 2 America East
Vermont, Maine 2 Missouri Valley
Drake, Missouri St. 2 Mountain West
BYU, Utah 2 Northeast
St. Francis Pa., St. Peter's 2 Sun Belt
Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky 2 West Coast
San Diego, Pepperdine 2 Western Athletic
Rice, SMU 1 Big Sky
Montana 1 Big South
Liberty 1 Big West
UC Santa Barb. 1 Colonial
Old Dominion 1 Horizon
Green Bay 1 Ivy
Dartmouth 1 Mid-American
Kent St. 1 Mid-Continent
Youngstown St. 1 Mid-Eastern
Hampton. 1 Ohio Valley
Tennessee Tech 1 Patriot
Holy Cross 1 Southern
Furman 1 Southland
Stephen F. Austin 1 Southwestern
Alcorn St. 1 Trans America
Campbell
2000 NCAA tournament schedule and venues
In 2000, the field remained at 64 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-16 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 1 and 16 faced each other, as well as seeds 2 and 15, seeds 3 and 14, seeds 4 and 13, seeds 5 and 12, seeds 6 and 11, seeds 7 and 10, and seeds 8 and 9. In the first two rounds, the top four seeds were given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In most cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity. The exception: Third seeded Mississippi State was unable to host, so sixth-seeded Oregon hosted three first- and second-round games
First and Second rounds
The following lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first- and second-round locations: March 17 and 19 East Region Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana State University) Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut) Mideast Region Joyce Center, Notre Dame, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame) University Hall, Charlottesville, Virginia (Host: University of Virginia) Midwest Region Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State University) Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania (Host: Pennsylvania State University) West Region Louis Brown Athletic Center, Piscataway, New Jersey (Host: Rutgers University) McArthur Court, Eugene, Oregon (Host: University of Oregon) March 18 and 20 East Region Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University) Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina (Host: Duke University) Mideast Region Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee) United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas (Host: Texas Tech University) Midwest Region Old Dominion University Fieldhouse, Norfolk, Virginia (Host: Old Dominion University) Thomas Assembly Center, Ruston, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana Tech University) West Region Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia (Host: University of Georgia) UC Santa Barbara Events Center, Santa Barbara, California (Host: University of California, Santa Barbara)
Regional semifinals and finals
The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 25 to March 27 at these sites: March 25 and 27 East Regional, Siegel Center, Richmond, Virginia (Host: Virginia Commonwealth University) Mideast Regional, Pyramid Arena, Memphis, Tennessee (Host: University of Memphis) Midwest Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: University of Kansas)