The Summit League women's basketball tournament has existed since 1993. The winner of the tournament receives the Summit League's automatic bid into the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship.
The Summit League was known as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU) from 1982–1989 and Mid-Continent Conference from 1989–2007.
Tournament champions Year (Seed) Champion Score Runner-up Tournament MVP 1992–93 (1) Northern Illinois 75–58 (2) Wisconsin–Green Bay Dawn Schirmacher, Wisconsin–Green Bay 1993–94 (2) Wisconsin–Green Bay 73–70 (1) Northern Illinois E. C. Hill, Northern Illinois 1994–95 (1) Western Illinois 73–60 (2) Youngstown State Oberon Pitterson, Western Illinois 1995–96 (1) Youngstown State 53–43 (2) Buffalo Shannon Beach, Youngstown State 1996–97 (1) Troy State 89–75 (2) Youngstown State Samantha Tomlinson, Troy State 1997–98 (1) Youngstown State 78–69 (2) Valparaiso Sarrah Stricklett, Valparaiso 1998–99 (4) Oral Roberts 57–52 (2) Youngstown State Krista Ragan, Oral Roberts 1999–00 (2) Youngstown State 73–57 (4) Valparaiso Brianne Kenneally, Youngstown State 2000–01 (2) Oral Roberts 61–46 (1) Oakland Krista Ragan, Oral Roberts 2001–02 (2) Oakland 52–40 (1) Valparaiso Sarah Judd, Oakland 2002–03 (4) Valparaiso 48–46 (6) Oakland Katie Boone, Valparaiso 2003–04 (2) Valparaiso 64–63 (4) Oral Roberts Leah Cannon, Oral Roberts 2004–05 (4) Oral Roberts 48–42 (7) UMKC Elisha Turek, Oral Roberts 2005–06 (6) Oakland 65–56 (1) Western Illinois Anne Hafeli, Oakland 2006–07 (3) Oral Roberts 72–55 (1) Oakland Elisha Turek, Oral Roberts 2007–08 (4) Oral Roberts 66–53 (3) IUPUI Elisha Turek, Oral Roberts 2008–09 (1) South Dakota State 79–69 (2) Oakland Jennifer Warkenthien, South Dakota State 2009–10 (3) South Dakota State 79–75 (OT) (1) Oral Roberts Maria Boever, South Dakota State 2010–11 (3) South Dakota State 61–54 (4) Oakland Kristin Rotert, South Dakota State 2011–12 (1) South Dakota State 78–77 (OT) (3) UMKC Jennie Sunnarborg, South Dakota State 2012–13 (1) South Dakota State 56–53 (3) South Dakota Ashley Eide, South Dakota State 2013–14 (4) South Dakota 82–71 (6) Denver Polly Harrington, South Dakota 2014–15 (2) South Dakota State 72–57 (1) South Dakota Nicole Seekamp, South Dakota 2015–16 (2) South Dakota State 61–55 (1) South Dakota Macy Miller, South Dakota State 2016–17 (1) Western Illinois 77–69 (OT) (2) IUPUI Emily Clemens, Western Illinois2017–18 (2) South Dakota State 65–50 (1) South Dakota Macy Miller, South Dakota State 2018–19 (1) South Dakota State 83–71 (2) South Dakota Macy Miller, South Dakota State2019–20 (1) South Dakota 63–58 (2) South Dakota State Hannah Sjerven, South Dakota2020–21 (2) South Dakota 66-43 (8) Omaha Chloe Lamb, South Dakota 2021–22 (2) South Dakota 56–45 (1) South Dakota State Chloe Lamb (2), South Dakota 2022–23 (1) South Dakota State 93–51(6) Omaha Haleigh Timmer, South Dakota State 2023–24 (1) South Dakota State 67–54 (2) North Dakota State Paige Meyer, South Dakota State 2024–25 (1) South Dakota State 84–68 (2) Oral Roberts Paige Meyer (2), South Dakota State 2025–26 (2) South Dakota State 64–51 (1) North Dakota StateBrooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State 2026–27
Tournament wins by school School Championships Championship Years South Dakota State 13 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012,2013, 2015, 2016, 2018,2019, 2023, 2024, 2025,2026 Oral Roberts 5 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007,2008 South Dakota 4 2014, 2020, 2021, 2022 Youngstown State 3 1996, 1998, 2000 Western Illinois 2 1995, 2017 Oakland 2 2002, 2006 Valparaiso 2 2003, 2004 Northern Illinois 1 1993 Green Bay 1 1994 Troy State 1 1997
Teams in bold are currently in the Summit League. Oral Roberts left for the Southland Conference after the 2011–12 season, but returned for 2014–15. Teams in italics are former members. Among current Summit League members, Denver, Kansas City, North Dakota State, and Omaha have reached the tournament final but failed to win the championship, while North Dakota and St. Thomas have yet to advance to the tournament final. Kansas City, which rejoined in 2020–21, had competed under its academic identity of UMKC during its previous Summit tenure (1994–95 to 2012–13).
Tournament locations Year Location Notes 1993 Green Bay, Wisconsin 1994 DeKalb, Illinois 1995 Macomb, Illinois 1996 Buffalo, New York 1997 1998 Moline, Illinois 1999 2000 Fort Wayne, Indiana 2001 2002 2003 Kansas City, Missouri 2004 2005 Tulsa, Oklahoma 2006 2007 2008 2009 Sioux Falls, South Dakota 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Highest attended Division I women's conference championship title game to date (6,926). Record has since been broken. 2016 20172018 Highest attended Division I women's conference championship title game to date (8,704).201920202021202220232024 Highest collective attendance in Summit League women's basketball tournament history to date (36,504)2025 2026
See also Summit League men's basketball tournament
References