The 2008 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament involved 64 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the 2007–08 national champion of women's NCAA Division I college basketball. It commenced on March 22, 2008, and concluded when the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers defeated the Stanford University Cardinal 64–48 on April 8, 2008, at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.
Notable events The preliminary rounds largely followed the seeding, with every number one and number two seed advancing to the regional finals. In the Greensboro and Oklahoma City Regionals, the top seeds Connecticut and Tennessee won respectively to head to the Final Four. Connecticut had to beat Big East rival Rutgers to make the advance. Tennessee' Candace Parker was injured in the game against Texas A&M and had to leave twice, and be fitted with a sleeve to stabilize her shoulder. She still scored 26 points in a game which was won by only eight.
In the other two regionals, the two seeds prevailed. In the New Orleans Regional, LSU beat North Carolina to reach the Final Four for the fifth consecutive time, tying a record set by Connecticut between 2000 and 2004. In the Spokane Regional, Stanford beat the top seed Maryland to go to their first Final Four since 1997, but one that would be the first of a five-year string of consecutive Final Four appearances.
Connecticut and Stanford met in one semifinal. They had played each other earlier in the season at the Paradise Jam held in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands in November. The Huskies had won that game 66–54, but the team had been at full strength. Subsequent to that game Mel Thomas and Kalana Greene both starters, had season ending injuries. Connecticut cut a Stanford lead to a single point, 47–46 when Candice Wiggins hit two three-pointers to start a 10–0 run. Wiggins would go on to score 25 points in the game and would be named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association national player of the year. The Cardinal went on to win the game, and advance to the national championship.
The game between SEC foes Tennessee and LSU didn't win style points, and was described by the New York Times as "one of the ugliest games played this or any season". Tennessee led early opening up a ten-point lead at 37–27, but LSU responded with a 10–0 run to tie the game. With seconds left in the game LSU hit two free throws to take a one-point lead. Tennessee inbounded the ball to Candace Parker who passed it inside to Nicky Anosike, but her shot was deflected to Alexis Hornbuckle, who had missed seven of her field goal attempts. With under one second remaining, Hornhuckle caught the deflection and hit the winning basket. The Lady Vols won 47–46, as the two teams combined scores set an NCAA record for the fewest points scored in a semifinal game.
LSU fell to 0–5 in the Women's Final Four. Combined with the 0–6 mark of the men's team, LSU's 0–11 all-time combined Final Four mark was the worst for schools which have made multiple appearances in both the men's and women's Final Fours. LSU's women ended this drought by defeating Virginia Tech in the 2023 national semifinals.
After the drama of a one-point game in the semifinal, the final game was anticlimactic. The Lady Vols pulled out to a 30–19 lead, and the Stanford Cardinal were unable to close the gap. The win gave Tennessee their second consecutive national championship and a career total of 982 wins, the most of any coach in basketball, men's or women's, along with eight national championships for coach Pat Summitt.
Subregionals
Once again, the system was the same as the Division I men's basketball tournament, with the exception that only 64 teams received bids, and there was no play-in game. Automatic bids were secured by 31 conference champions and 33 at-large bids.
The subregionals, which once again used the "pod system", keeping most teams at or close to the home cities, were held from March 22 to March 25 at these locations:
March 22 and 24: The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico) Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana State University) Wells Fargo Arena at the Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, Iowa (Host: Iowa State University) Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California (Host: Stanford University)
March 23 and 25: Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut (Host: Fairfield University) Comcast Center, College Park, Maryland (Host: University of Maryland, College Park) Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Virginia (Host: Old Dominion University) Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University)
This was the fourth and final year that eight sites hosted subregional games. The committee, in September 2007, voted to return to the 16-site format for the early rounds starting with the 2009 tournament.
Regionals
The regions (once again named after the host cities, a practice begun in 2005) were held from March 29 to April 1 in the following regions:
March 29 and 31: New Orleans Regional, New Orleans Arena, New Orleans (Host: University of New Orleans) Spokane Regional, Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (Host: Washington State University)
March 30 and April 1: Greensboro Regional, Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference) Oklahoma City Regional, Ford Center, Oklahoma City (Host: University of Oklahoma)
The regional winners advanced to the Final Four, held April 6 and 8, 2008, at the St. Pete Times Forum, in Tampa, Florida, hosted by the University of South Florida. USF and the St. Pete Times Forum also hosted a first and second round Men's Tournament subregional on March 21 and 23. Also, akin to the men's tournament, at the regional sites, the NCAA installed floors that were custom made for the first time.
Tournament records Rebounds—Sylvia Fowles, LSU, recorded 20 rebounds in the semifinal game against Tennessee, most ever recorded in an NCAA semifinal game. Points—Tennessee and LSU combined for 93 points (47–46) setting the record for fewest points scored by both teams combined in a semifinal game. Free throws—Tennessee hit two of seven free throw attempts in the national semifinal game against LSU, the lowest free throw percentage (28.6%) recorded in an NCAA Tournament game. Final Four appearances—LSU appeared in their fifth consecutive Final Four, tied for the longest such streak, with Connecticut (2000–04) Free throws—Kansas State made 21 of 21 free throw attempts, tied with several others for 100% free throw shooting percentage in an NCAA Tournament game, while the 21 completions is the largest number of completions.
Qualifying teams – automatic Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA tournament. Of these thirty-one automatic bids, a total of 30 teams receive automatic bids for winning their conference tournament championship. The Ivy League does not hold a tournament, so its regular season champion receives the automatic bid. Because Cornell, Dartmouth, and Harvard finished in a tie for first place, Ivy League rules called for a two-game stepladder playoff. Dartmouth defeated Harvard in the first game and went on to face Cornell for the automatic bid, which Cornell won 64–47.
Automatic bids Record Qualifying School Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Bucknell University Patriot League 16 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Southern Conference 12 Cleveland State University Horizon League 15 University of Connecticut Big East 1 Coppin State University MEAC 16 Cornell University Ivy League 16 East Tennessee State University Atlantic Sun Conference 14 California State University, Fresno WAC 14 University of Hartford America East 10 Illinois State University Missouri Valley Conference 13 Jackson State University SWAC 15 Liberty University Big South Conference 12 Marist College MAAC 7 Miami University MAC 13 University of Montana Big Sky Conference 13 Murray State University Ohio Valley Conference 14 University of New Mexico Mountain West 12 University of North Carolina ACC 1 Old Dominion University Colonial 5 Oral Roberts University Summit League 16 Purdue University Big Ten 9 Robert Morris University Northeast Conference 15 University of San Diego West Coast Conference 14 Southern Methodist University Conference USA 12 Stanford University Pac-10 2 University of Tennessee SEC 1 Texas A&M University Big XII Conference 2 University of California, Santa Barbara Big West Conference 13 University of Texas at San Antonio Southland 15 Western Kentucky University Sun Belt Conference 10 Xavier University Atlantic 10 9
Qualifying teams – at-large Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.
At-large Bids Record Qualifying School Conference Regular Season Conference Seed Arizona State University Pacific-10 6 Auburn University Southeastern 11 Baylor University Big 12 3 University of California, Berkeley Pacific-10 3 DePaul University Big East 10 Duke University Atlantic Coast 3 Florida State University Atlantic Coast 11 The George Washington University Atlantic 10 6 University of Georgia Southeastern 8 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlantic Coast 10 University of Iowa Big Ten 9 Iowa State University Big 12 7 Kansas State University Big 12 5 University of Louisville Big East 4 Louisiana State University Southeastern 2 University of Maryland, College Park Atlantic Coast 1 University of Minnesota Big Ten 9 University of Nebraska–Lincoln Big 12 8 University of Notre Dame Big East 5 Ohio State University Big Ten 6 University of Oklahoma Big 12 4 Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Big 12 3 University of Pittsburgh Big East 6 Rutgers University Big East 2 Syracuse University Big East 7 Temple University Atlantic 10 11 University of Texas at Austin Big 12 8 University of Utah Mountain West 8 University of Texas at El Paso Conference USA 7 Vanderbilt University Southeastern 4 University of Virginia Atlantic Coast 4 West Virginia University Big East 5 University of Wyoming Mountain West 11
Tournament seeds