The 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a 68-team single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 42nd edition of the tournament began on March 20, 2024, and concluded with the championship game on April 7, 2024 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
This is the most recent appearance for Stanford Cardinal, who made 32 appearances before missing the tournament in 2025.
Big South champion Presbyterian, Southland champion Texas A&M–Corpus Christi, WAC champion California Baptist an at-large bid Columbia all made their NCAA tournament debuts. Additionally, Big Sky champion Eastern Washington made its second-ever appearance and first since 1987, Big West champion UC Irvine made its first appearance since 1995 and Sun Belt champion Marshall made its first appearance since 1997. In the championship game, Iowa returned for their second straight appearance while South Carolina entered their third championship game in seven years and became the tenth team in Division I women's tournament history to finish an undefeated season at 38–0.
This was the first time that the top #1 seed won both the Men's & Women's NCAA Tournament since 2012.
Tournament procedure
A total of 68 teams participated in the 2024 tournament, consisting of the 32 conference champions, and 36 "at-large" bids that were determined by the NCAA Selection Committee. The last four at-large teams and teams seeded 65 through 68 overall competed in First Four games, whose winners advanced to the 64-team first round.
Schedule and venues The first two rounds, also referred to as the subregionals, were played at the sites of the top 16 seeds.
First Four March 20–21 Four of the campuses seeded in the Top 16
Subregionals (first and second rounds) March 22 and 24 (Fri/Sun) Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina (host: University of South Carolina) Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon (host: Oregon State University) Moody Center, Austin, Texas (host: University of Texas at Austin) Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California (host: Stanford University) Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kansas (host: Kansas State University) Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (host: Louisiana State University) Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Virginia (host: Virginia Tech) Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio (host: Ohio State University) March 23 and 25 (Sat/Mon) Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana (host: Indiana University) Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, Indiana (host: University of Notre Dame) McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, Washington (host: Gonzaga University) Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (host: North Carolina State University) Carver–Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa (host: University of Iowa) Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (host: University of California, Los Angeles) Galen Center, Los Angeles, California (host: University of Southern California) Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut (host: University of Connecticut)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 29 – April 1 Albany Regional, MVP Arena, Albany, New York (hosts: The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Siena College) Portland Regional, Moda Center, Portland, Oregon (host: Oregon State University)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and Championship) April 5 and April 7 Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio (hosts: Cleveland State University and the Mid-American Conference)
Cleveland hosted the women's Final Four for the second time; the first was in 2007.
Qualification and selection of teams
Automatic qualifiers The following teams automatically qualified for the 2024 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament. +Automatic qualifiersConferenceTeamRecordAppearanceLast bidAmerica EastMaine24–910th2019AmericanRice19–144th2019Atlantic 10Richmond29–54th2005ACCNotre Dame26–629th2023ASUNFlorida Gulf Coast29–410th2023Big 12Texas30–436th2023Big EastUConn29–535th2023Big SkyEastern Washington29–52nd1987Big SouthPresbyterian20–141stBig TenIowa29–430th2023Big WestUC Irvine23–82nd1995CAA Drexel19–143rd2021CUSAMiddle Tennessee29–421st2023HorizonGreen Bay27–619th2018Ivy LeaguePrinceton25–411th2023MAACFairfield31–16th2022MACKent State21–106th2002MEACNorfolk State27–53rd2023Missouri ValleyDrake29–515th2023UNLV30–211th2023NECSacred Heart24–95th2023Ohio ValleyUT Martin16–165th2014Pac-12USC26–518th2023Patriot Holy Cross20–1214th2023SECSouth Carolina32–020th2023SouthernChattanooga28–417th2023Southland23–81stSWACJackson State26–67th2022Summit27–512th2023Sun BeltMarshall26–62nd1997WCCPortland21–126th2023WACCalifornia Baptist28–31stNever
Bids by state The sixty-eight teams came from thirty-four states.
BidsState(s)Schools 5CaliforniaCalifornia Baptist, Stanford, UC Irvine, UCLA, USCTennesseeChattanooga, Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, UT Martin, VanderbiltTexasBaylor, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 3ConnecticutFairfield, Sacred Heart, UConnIowaDrake, Iowa, Iowa StateNorth CarolinaDuke, NC State, North CarolinaVirginiaNorfolk State, Richmond, Virginia Tech 2AlabamaAlabama, AuburnFloridaFlorida Gulf Coast, Florida StateIndianaIndiana, Notre DameKansasKansas, Kansas StateMichigan Michigan, Michigan StateMississippiJackson State, Ole MissNebraskaCreighton, NebraskaNew YorkColumbia, SyracuseOhioKent State, Ohio StateOregonOregon State, PortlandSouth CarolinaPresbyterian, South CarolinaWashingtonGonzaga, Eastern WashingtonWest VirginiaMarshall, West VirginiaWisconsinGreen Bay, Marquette 1ArizonaArizonaColoradoColoradoKentuckyLouisvilleLouisianaLSUMaineMaineMarylandMarylandMassachusettsHoly CrossNevadaUNLVNew JerseyPrincetonOklahomaOklahomaPennsylvaniaDrexelSouth DakotaSouth Dakota StateUtahUtah
Bids by conference Thirty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In nineteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-six additional at-large teams were selected from twelve of the conferences.
Bids Conference Teams 8 Atlantic Coast 8 Southeastern 7 Big 12 7 Big Ten 7 Pac-12 3 Big East Creighton, Marquette, UConn 2 Ivy Columbia, Princeton 2 West Coast Gonzaga, Portland 1 America East Maine 1 American Rice 1 Atlantic 10 Richmond 1 Atlantic Sun Florida Gulf Coast 1 Big Sky Eastern Washington 1 Big South Presbyterian 1 Big West UC Irvine 1 Coastal Drexel 1 Conference USA Middle Tennessee 1 Horizon Green Bay 1 Metro Atlantic Fairfield 1 Mid-American Kent State 1 Mid-Eastern Norfolk State 1 Missouri Valley Drake 1 Mountain West UNLV 1 Northeast Sacred Heart 1 Ohio Valley UT Martin 1 Patriot Holy Cross 1 Southern Chattanooga 1 Southland Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 1 Southwestern Jackson State 1 Summit South Dakota State 1 Sun Belt Marshall 1 Western Athletic California Baptist
Seeds
The tournament seeds and regions were determined through the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and were published by the selection committee after the brackets were released on March 17. +Albany Regional 1 – MVP Arena, Albany, NYSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall seedBerth typeLast bid1South Carolina SEC32–0Automatic20232Notre Dame ACC26–6Automatic20233Oregon State Pac-1224–7At-large20214Indiana Big Ten24–5At-large20235OklahomaBig 1222–9At-large20236Nebraska Big Ten22–11At-large20227Ole MissSEC23–8At-large20238North CarolinaACC19–12At-large20239Michigan State Big Ten22–8At-large202110MarquetteBig East23–8At-large202311Texas A&MSEC19–12At-large202112Florida Gulf CoastASUN29–4Automatic202313FairfieldMAAC31–1Automatic202214Eastern Washington Big Sky29–5Automatic198715Kent StateMAC21–10Automatic200216*Sacred HeartNortheast24–9Automatic2023PresbyterianBig South20–14AutomaticNever+Portland Regional 4 – Moda Center, Portland, OregonSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall seedBerth typeLast bid1TexasBig 1230–4Automatic20232StanfordPac-1228–5At-large20233NC StateACC27–6At-large20234GonzagaWCC30–3At-large20235UtahPac-1222–10At-large20236TennesseeSEC19–12At-large20237Iowa State Big 1220–11At-large20228AlabamaSEC23–9At-large20239Florida State ACC23–10At-large202310MarylandBig Ten19–13At-large202311Green BayHorizon27–6Automatic201812South Dakota State Summit27–5Automatic202313UC IrvineBig West23–8Automatic199514ChattanoogaSouthern28–4Automatic202315Norfolk State MEAC27–5Automatic202316DrexelCoastal19–14Automatic2021+ Albany Regional 2 – MVP Arena, Albany, NYSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall seedBerth typeLast bid1IowaBig Ten29–4Automatic20232UCLAPac-1225–6At-large20233LSUSEC28–5At-large20234Kansas State Big 1225–7At-large20225ColoradoPac-1222–9At-large20236LouisvilleACC24–9At-large20237CreightonBig East25–5At-large20238West Virginia Big 1224–7At-large20239Princeton Ivy League25–4Automatic202310UNLVMountain West30–2Automatic202311Middle Tennessee C-USA29–4Automatic202312DrakeMissouri Valley29–5Automatic202313PortlandWCC21–12Automatic202314RiceAmerican19–14Automatic201915California BaptistWAC28–3AutomaticNever16*Holy CrossPatriot20–12Automatic2023UT MartinOhio Valley16–16Automatic2014+ Portland Regional 3 – Moda Center, Portland, OregonSeedSchoolConferenceRecordOverall seedBerth typeLast bid1USC Pac-1226–5Automatic20232Ohio StateBig Ten25–5At-large20233UConnBig East29–5Automatic20234Virginia Tech ACC24–7At-large20235BaylorBig 1224–7At-large20236SyracuseACC23–7At-large20217DukeACC20–11At-large20238KansasBig 1219–12At-large20229Michigan Big Ten20–13At-large202310RichmondAtlantic 1029–5Automatic200511*AuburnSEC20–11At-large2019ArizonaPac-1217–15At-large202312*Vanderbilt SEC22–9At-large2014Columbia Ivy League23–6At-largeNever13Marshall Sun Belt26–6Automatic199714Jackson StateSWAC26–6Automatic202215MaineAmerica East24–9Automatic201916Texas A&M–Corpus ChristiSouthland23–8AutomaticNever *See First Four Source:
Tournament bracket All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)
First Four
The First Four games involve eight teams: the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams.
Albany regional 1 – Albany, NY
Albany regional 1 final
Albany regional 1 all-tournament team Kamilla Cardoso (MOP) – South Carolina Raven Johnson – South Carolina Raegan Beers – Oregon State Timea Gardiner – Oregon State Sydney Parrish – Indiana
Portland regional 4 – Portland, OR
Portland 4 regional final
Portland 4 regional all-tournament team Aziaha James (MOP) – NC State Saniya Rivers – NC State Aaliyah Moore – Texas Shay Holle – Texas Kiki Iriafen – Stanford
Albany regional 2 – Albany, New York
Albany regional 2 final
Albany regional 2 all-tournament team Caitlin Clark (MOP) – Iowa Lauren Betts – UCLA Angel Reese – LSU Flau'jae Johnson – LSU Sydney Affolter – Iowa
Portland regional 3 – Portland, Oregon
Portland regional 3 final
Portland regional 3 all-tournament team Paige Bueckers (MOP) – UConn Rayah Marshall – USC McKenzie Forbes – USC JuJu Watkins – USC Aaliyah Edwards – UConn
Final Four – Cleveland, Ohio
National semifinals
National championship
Final Four all-tournament team Kamilla Cardoso (MOP) – South Carolina Tessa Johnson – South Carolina Caitlin Clark – Iowa Hannah Stuelke – Iowa Paige Bueckers – UConn
Record by conference