2007 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2007 NCAA Women's Division I
Basketball Tournament

The birthplace of Rock and Roll was honored with a guitar
on the 2007 Women's Final Four logo.

Teams

Finals Site

Quicken Loans Arena
Cleveland, Ohio

Champions

Tennessee (7th title)

Runner-Up

Rutgers (1st title game)

Semifinalists

North Carolina (2nd Final Four)
LSU (4th Final Four)

Winning Coach

Pat Summitt (7th title)

MOP

Candace Parker Tennessee

NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournaments

«2006

2008»

The 2007 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament began on March 17, 2007 and concluded on April 3 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The Final Four consisted of Tennessee, LSU, Rutgers, and North Carolina, with Tennessee defeating Rutgers 59-46 for their seventh National Title. Tennessee's Candace Parker was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

1 Regionals
2 Qualifying teams
- 2.1 Automatic bids
3 Brackets
4 Television and radio
5 Notes
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Regionals

Once again, the system was the same as the Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, with the exception that only 64 teams go and there is no play-in game. Automatic bids are secured by 31 conference champions and 33 at-large bids.

The regionals were held from March 24 to 27 in the following regions. (Please note that the regionals are still named for the cities in which they occur. The women's committee has not renamed them for sections of the country as the men's committee did in 2007. Both tourneys originally shed their geographic names in 2005.)

March 24 and 26:

Fresno Regional, Save Mart Center, Fresno, California (Host: Fresno State University)

Greensboro Regional, Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)

March 25 and 27:

Dallas Regional, Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas (Hosts: Conference USA and Southern Methodist University)

Dayton Regional, University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio.

The subregionals, which once again used the "pod system", keeping most teams at or close to the home cities, were held from March 17 to 20 at these locations:

March 17 and 19:

Frank Erwin Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Williams Arena, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis

Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California

Galen Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

March 18 and 20:

Breslin Student Events Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut)

Petersen Events Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

RBC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)

NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, the sites were on-campus sites.

The regional winners advanced to the Final Four, held on April 1 and 3, 2007 at Quicken Loans Arena, in Cleveland, Ohio, hosted by both Cleveland State University and the Mid-American Conference.

[edit] Qualifying teams

[edit] Automatic bids

School	Record	Conference
Boise State	24-8	WAC
Bowling Green	28-3	MAC
Chattanooga	25-7	Southern
Drake	14-18	MVC
East Carolina	19-13	Conference USA
Gonzaga	24-9	West Coast
Harvard	14-12	Ivy League
Holy Cross	15-17	Patriot League
Marist	27-5	MAAC
UMBC	16-16	America East
Middle Tennessee	28-3	Sun Belt
North Carolina	30-3	ACC
Oklahoma	24-4	Big 12
Oral Roberts	21-10	Mid-Continent
Purdue	28-5	Big 10
Prairie View	19-13	SWAC
Rutgers	22-8	Big East
Southeast Missouri	24-7	Ohio Valley
Stanford	28-4	Pacific 10
Vanderbilt	27-5	SEC
Xavier	26-7	Atlantic 10 Idaho State

[edit] Brackets

(*) - Number of asterisks denotes number of overtimes.

[edit] Dallas Regional

First round March 17-18			Second round March 19-20			Regional semifinals March 25			Regional finals March 27

1	North Carolina	77
16	Prairie View A&M	38
			1	North Carolina	60

			9	Notre Dame	51
8	California	59

9	Notre Dame	62
						1	North Carolina	70

						5	George Washington	56
5	George Washington	76

12	Boise State	67
			5	George Washington	59

			4	Texas A&M	47
4	Texas A&M	58

13	Texas - Arlington	50
									1	North Carolina	84

									2	Purdue	72
6	Iowa State	79

11	Washington	60
			6	Iowa State	56

			3	Georgia	76
3	Georgia	53

14	Belmont	36
						3	Georgia	65

						2	Purdue	78
7	Georgia Tech	55

10	DePaul	54
			7	Georgia Tech	63

			2	Purdue	76
2	Purdue	63

15	Oral Roberts	42

[edit] Dayton Regional

First round March 17-18			Second round March 19-20			Regional semifinals March 25			Regional finals March 27

1	Tennessee	76
16	Drake	37
			1	Tennessee	68

			8	Pittsburgh	54
8	Pittsburgh	71

9	James Madison	61
						1	Tennessee	65

						13	Marist	46
5	Middle Tennessee State	85

12	Gonzaga	46
			5	Middle Tennessee State	59

			13	Marist	73
4	Ohio State	63

13	Marist	67
									1	Tennessee	98

									7	Mississippi	62
6	Marquette	87

11	LA-Lafeyette	58
			6	Marquette	47

			3	Oklahoma	78
3	Oklahoma	74

14	SE Missouri State	60
						3	Oklahoma	82

						7	Mississippi	90
7	Mississippi	88

10	TCU	74
			7	Mississippi	89

			2	Maryland	78
2	Maryland	89

15	Harvard	65

[edit] Fresno Regional

First round March 17-18			Second round March 19-20			Regional semifinals March 24			Regional finals March 26

1	Connecticut	82
16	UMBC	33
			1	Connecticut	94

			9	Wisconsin-Green Bay	70
8	New Mexico	52

9	Wisconsin-Green Bay	59
						1	Connecticut	78

						4	N.C. State	71
5	Baylor	68

12	Chattanooga	55
			5	Baylor	72

			4	N.C. State	78*
4	N.C. State	84

13	Robert Morris	52
									1	Connecticut	50

									3	LSU	73
6	Xavier	52

11	West Virginia	65
			11	West Virginia	43

			3	LSU	49
3	LSU	77

14	UNC-Asheville	39
						3	LSU	55

						10	Florida State	43
7	Old Dominion	75

10	Florida State	85
			10	Florida State	68

			2	Stanford	61
2	Stanford	96

15	Idaho State	58

[edit] Greensboro Regional

First round March 17-18			Second round March 19-20			Regional semifinals March 24			Regional finals March 26

1	Duke	81
16	Holy Cross	44
			1	Duke	62

			8	Temple	52
8	Temple	64

9	Nebraska	61
						1	Duke	52

						4	Rutgers	53
5	Michigan State	69

12	Delaware	58
			5	Michigan State	57

			4	Rutgers	70
4	Rutgers	77

13	East Carolina	34
									4	Rutgers	64

									3	Arizona State	45
6	Louisville	80

11	BYU	54
			6	Louisville	58

			3	Arizona State	67
3	Arizona State	57

14	UC Riverside	50
						3	Arizona State	67

						7	Bowling Green	49
7	Bowling Green	70

10	Oklahoma State	66
			7	Bowling Green	60

			2	Vanderbilt	59
2	Vanderbilt	62

15	Delaware State	47

[edit] Final Four

National Semifinals April 1			National Championship April 3

DAL 1	North Carolina	50
DAY 1	Tennessee	56
			DAY 1	Tennessee	59
			GRE 4	Rutgers	46
FRE 3	LSU	35
GRE 4	Rutgers	59

Regional Initials: DAL-Dallas; DAY-Dayton; FRE-Fresno; GRE-Greensboro.

[edit] Television and radio

As it had every year since 2003, ESPN and ESPN2 televised all 63 games. The first two rounds were presented on a regional basis. In some cases, a complete game of interest to a particular region were shown. However, most of the telecasts were in a "whip-around" format, with the specific game being shown changed on occasion and the endings to all close games or potential major upsets included.[1] [2][3][4] All games not shown on either ESPN or ESPN2 in a local market area were available to subscribers of ESPN Full Court, a pay-per-view package available on most major cable and satellite providers. Select games were also simulcast on ESPNU and ESPN360.

All games from the regional semifinals forward were televised nationally on either ESPN or ESPN2, in both standard-definition and high-definition formats. The Final Four was on ESPN. In addition, the championship game was presented in the ESPN Full Circle format.

ESPN had three announcers at each site: a play-by-play announcer, a color commentator, and a sideline reporter. (In contrast, CBS Sports, which covers nearly every game of the men's tournament, did not use sideline reporters until the Final Four.) Mike Patrick, Doris Burke, Holly Rowe and Mark Jones had those respective roles at the Final Four site in Cleveland. Patrick, Burke and Rowe also covered the Greensboro regional.

Burke, who had been a sideline reporter at previous Final Fours, replaced Ann Meyers, who had that role for at least the last four years. Meyers is now the general manager of the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA.

Other regional broadcast teams were:

Dallas regional - Jones, Nancy Lieberman, and Rebecca Lobo
Dayton regional - Dave Pasch, Brenda VanLengen, and Heather Cox
Fresno regional - Pam Ward, Jimmy Dykes, and Beth Mowins

Some of the other ESPN commentators during earlier rounds included Linda Cohn, Dave Revsine, Dave Barnett, Fran Fraschilla, Jimmy Dykes and Van Chancellor.

Trey Wingo was the studio host, with analysts Kara Lawson and Stacey Dales.

Mowins and Debbie Antonelli called the Final Four action on Westwood One radio.

[edit] Notes

Judy Southard, an athletics administrator at Louisiana State University, is the head of the Division I Women's Basketball Committee, which selected and seeded the teams for this event. Southard carried on her duties despite an ongoing scandal in which the head women's basketball coach, Pokey Chatman, resigned after it was alleged that she had an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of her former players. When asked about the scandal on the ESPN program announcing the tournament field and matchups, Southard declined to comment, saying that she wanted the focus to be on the players and teams in the tourney.
This was the first tournament since the NCAA began sanctioning women's basketball in which Louisiana Tech is not a participant. This leaves Tennessee as the only program to appear in all 26 events.
Texas was not in the tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time in its history. (At about the same moment that the selections were announced, Jody Conradt, who won 900 games and a championship during her tenure, resigned as the team's head coach.)
Marist College was the first current MAAC conference participant to win in the NCAA tournament. The MAAC was previously 0-21 in the tournament under its current membership. Marist also matched the record for the lowest seed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen as a 13 seed. Texas A&M did so in 1994 and Liberty also accomplished this in 2005.
The Final Four logo features a guitar that resembles the Fender Stratocaster, marking the fact that Cleveland serves as the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Also, the opening teases on the ESPN telecasts featured an actress playing a disc jockey and mock-up vinyl album covers with players and coaches pictured, to further advance the theme. At the Final Four, a picture of a guitar was applied onto the playing surface with a wood finish, and ESPN used classic rock and roll and R&B songs to lead out into some of the commercial breaks.
Rutgers' cinderella performance in the NCAA tournament was the indirect catalyst of a chain of events that led to CBS Radio firing nationally syndicated radio host Don Imus and to a car accident that left New Jersey governor Jon Corzine in critical condition. After their underdog performance, Don Imus mentioned the Rutgers women's basketball team in his radio program, where he referred to the team as "nappy-headed hos." This led to CBS radio firing Don Imus. In an attempt to apologize to the Rutgers' basketball team, Don Imus apologized to the Rutgers team in person at the New Jersey governor's mansion in Princeton, New Jersey. The meeting was also to be attended by New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, but on his way to the meeting, he was involved in an auto accident that left him in critical condition.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
1980s:	1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
1990s:	1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
2000s:	2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
2010s:	2010, 2011