1984 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

1984 NCAA Women's Division I
Basketball Tournament
Teams 32
Finals site Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, California
Champions USC (2nd, 3rd title)
Runner-up Tennessee (1st title game)
Semifinalists
  • Cheyney (2nd Final Four)
  • Louisiana Tech (3rd Final Four)
MOP Cheryl Miller USC
NCAA Women's Division I Tournaments
«1983 1985»

The 1984 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament began on March 16 and ended on April 1. It featured 32 teams, four fewer than the previous year. Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, Cheyney, and Southern California were the Final Four, with Southern California defeating Tennessee, 72-61, for its second straight title.[1] USC's Cheryl Miller was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.[2] The semi-finals and finals were held in Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California.

Notable events

Three of the four team earning a bid to the Final Four did so winning the Regional game on their own floor. The exception, the East Regional was held at a neutral site, the Norfolk Scope, but that was the home town of Old Dominion, who had won 45 consecutive home games, before meeting Cheyney State in the East Regional Final. Cheyney State won by a score of 80–71. The win matched them up against the three seed Tennessee, who upset Georgia to win the Mideast Regional. The score of the semi-final was also 80–71, but this time the Lady Vols were the victor.[3]

In 1983, USC and Louisiana Tech met in the National Championship game, with USC prevailing. The two teams next played in the regular season in January 1984, with Louisiana Tech beating USC 75–66 in at the home court of La Tech.. In the 1984 Tournament, USC advanced to the Final Four by beating Long Beach State 90–74, in the West Region, while Louisiana Tech beat Texas 85–60, to win the Midwest Regional. This set up a rematch, in the national semifinal.[3] The game was close, and tied at 57 points apiece with under three minutes to go, when Cheryl Miller scored the last five poitns of the game to help USC advance to the championship game 62—57.[4]

The score of the championship game was reasonably close, 72–61, but according to Sports Illustrated, "USC outscored, out-passed, outdanced and just plain outflashed Tennessee". Lead by Cheryl Miller and the McGee twins, Pamela and Paula, USC won its second consecutive National Championship. Helped by the school's proximity to the media outlets, Women's basketball received considerable media coverage, with the three stars of the team participating in many print interviews and almost 75 television appearances.[5]

Records

Mary Ostrowski hit nine of nine attempted free throws, the second most for an individual player in a Final Four game, the National Semi-final.

Over the two games of the Final four, she hit 15 of 15, the only player to hit every free throw (minimum 12 attempts) in Final Four games.

Tennessee, as a team, hit nine of nine attempted free throws, the second most for team in a Final Four game, in the National Championship game.

Long Beach State scored 22 points in an overtime period, in the West Regional semi-final, the most ever scored in an NCAA Tournament overtime period. [6]

Qualifying teams - automatic

Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in the 1984 NCAA Tournament. Seventeen conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1984 NCAA tournament. (Not all conference records are available for 1984) [7]

Automatic Bids
    Record  
Qualifying School Conference Regular
Season		 Conference Seed
BYU High Country 18–7 9–1 8
Central Michigan MAC 27–2 18–0 7
Drake Gateway[n 1] 22–6 16–2 7
Georgia SEC 28–2 7–1 1
Kansas State Big Eight 25–5 12–2 3
Louisville Metro 16–15 7–3 5
Middle Tennessee State Ohio Valley 19–9 12–2 6
Montana Mountain West Athletic 25–3 14–0 4
North Carolina ACC 23–7 9–5 2
Northeast Louisiana Southland 22–3 12–0 6
Ohio State Big Ten 22–6 17–1 5
Old Dominion Sun Belt 22–4 -–- 1
Oregon Northern Pacific 23–6 10–2 3
Penn State Atlantic 10 19–11 6–2 8
St. John's Big East 24–5 5–3 7
Texas Southwest 30–2 16–0 2
USC Western Collegiate 24–4 13–1 1
  1. ↑ Drake is recognized in the NCAA record books as having been a member of both the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (Gateway) and Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) in 1984, although the latter did not sponsor women's sports until the 1992–93 school year. The Gateway was founded in 1982 as a women's-only conference parallel to the MVC. In 1985, the Gateway added football as its only men's sport. When the women's side of the Gateway merged into the MVC in 1992, the football side remained in operation, and is now known as the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Qualifying teams - at-large

Fifteen additional teams were selected to complete the thirty-two invitations.[7]

At-large Bids
    Record  
Qualifying School Conference Regular
Season		 Conference Seed
Alabama SEC 22–8 5–3 2
Cheyney State Independent 22–4 -–- 3
Long Beach State Western Collegiate 23–5 13–1 2
Louisiana Tech Independent 27–2 -–- 1
LSU SEC 22–6 5–3 5
Maryland ACC 19–9 10–4 6
Mississippi SEC 23–5 6–2 4
Missouri Big Eight 25–5 12–2 4
North Carolina State ACC 22–8 9–5 4
Oregon State Northern Pacific 21–7 9–3 5
San Diego State Western Collegiate 23–5 9–5 6
Tennessee SEC 19–9 7–1 3
Texas Tech Southwest 23–6 13–3 8
UNLV Independent 24–6 -–- 7
Virginia ACC 22–6 11–3 5

Bids by conference

Seventeen conferences earned an automatic bid. In eleven cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Twelve at-large teams were selected from six of the conferences. In addition, three independent (not associated with an athletic conference) teams earned at-large bids.[7]

Bids Conference Teams
5 SEC Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi, Tennessee
4 ACC Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia
3 Western Collegiate Long Beach State, San Diego State, USC
3 Independent Cheyney, Louisiana Tech, UNLV
2 Big 8 Kansas State, Missouri
2 Northern Pacific Oregon, Oregon State
2 Southwest Texas, Texas Tech
1 Atlantic 10 Penn State
1 Big East St. John’s
1 Big Ten Ohio State
1 Gateway Drake
1 High Country BYU
1 MAC Central Michigan
1 Metro Louisville
1 Mountain West Athletic Montana
1 Ohio Valley Middle Tennessee State
1 Southland Northeast Louisiana
1 Sun Belt Old Dominion

First round

In 1984, the field returned to 32 teams, in the same format as in 1982. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-8 in each region. In Round 1, the higher seed was given the opportunity to host the first round game. In most cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity. The exceptions:[6]

The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the fifteen first round locations.[6]

Cheyney
Norfolk
Raleigh
Chapel Hill
Knoxville
Athens
Columbus
Mount Pleasant
Ruston
Baton Rouge
Monroe
Austin
Los Angeles
San Diego
Missoula
1984 NCAA first round
Region Host Venue City State
East Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Cope Hall Cheyney Pennsylvania
East Old Dominion University Old Dominion University Fieldhouse Norfolk Virginia
East North Carolina State University Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh North Carolina
East University of North Carolina Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill North Carolina
Mideast University of Tennessee Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville Tennessee
Mideast University of Georgia Georgia Coliseum (Stegeman Coliseum) Athens Georgia
Mideast Ohio State University St. John Arena Columbus Ohio
Mideast Central Michigan University Daniel P. Rose Arena (McGuirk Arena) Mount Pleasant Michigan
Midwest Louisiana Tech University Thomas Assembly Center Ruston Louisiana
Midwest Louisiana State University LSU Assembly Center (Pete Maravich Assembly Center) Baton Rouge Louisiana
Midwest Northeast Louisiana University Ewing Coliseum Monroe Louisiana
Midwest University of Texas at Austin Frank Erwin Center Austin Texas
West University of Southern California Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles California
West San Diego State University Peterson Gym San Diego California
West University of Montana–Missoula Dahlberg Arena Missoula Montana

Regionals and Final Four

Norfolk
Knoxville
Ruston
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
1984 NCAA Regionals and Final Four

The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 22 to March 25 at these sites:

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held March 30 and April 1 in Los Angeles, California at Pauley Pavilion.

Bids by state

The thirty-two teams came from twenty-two states. California and Louisiana had the most teams with three each. Twenty-eight states did not have any teams receiving bids.[7]

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 1984
Bids State Teams
3 California USC, Long Beach State, San Diego State
3 Louisiana Northeast Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, LSU
2 North Carolina North Carolina, North Carolina State
2 Oregon Oregon, Oregon State
2 Pennsylvania Penn State, Cheyney
2 Tennessee Middle Tennessee State, Tennessee
2 Texas Texas, Texas Tech
2 Virginia Old Dominion, Virginia
1 Alabama Alabama
1 Georgia Georgia
1 Iowa Drake
1 Kansas Kansas State
1 Kentucky Louisville
1 Maryland Maryland
1 Michigan Central Michigan
1 Mississippi Mississippi
1 Missouri Missouri
1 Montana Montana
1 Nevada UNLV
1 New York St. John’s
1 Ohio Ohio State
1 Utah BYU

Brackets

Mideast Regional - University of Tennessee - Knoxville, TN (Stokely Athletic Center)

First round
March 16–18 		Regional semifinals
March 22–23 		Regional finals
March 25
         
1 Georgia 112
8 Louisville 69
1 Georgia 73
4 Mississippi 63
4 Mississippi 77
5 Ohio State 55
1 Georgia 61
3 Tennessee 73
3 Tennessee 70
6 MTSU 52
3 Tennessee 65
2 Alabama 58
2 Alabama 78
7 Central Michigan 70

Midwest Regional - Louisiana Tech - Ruston, LA (Thomas Assembly Center)

First round
March 16–18 		Regional semifinals
March 22–23 		Regional finals
March 25
         
1 Louisiana Tech 94
8 Texas Tech 68
1 Louisiana Tech 92
5 LSU 67
4 Missouri 82
5 LSU 92
1 Louisiana Tech 85
2 Texas 60
3 Kansas State 73
6 Northeast Louisiana 78
6 Northeast Louisiana 91
2 Texas 99
2 Texas 96
7 Drake 60

East Regional - Old Dominion - Norfolk, VA (Norfolk Scope)

First round
March 16–18 		Regional semifinals
March 22–23 		Regional finals
March 24
         
1 Old Dominion 87
8 Penn State 65
1 Old Dominion 73
4 N.C. State 71 (OT)
4 NC State 86
5 Virginia 73
1 Old Dominion 71
3 Cheyney State 80
3 Cheyney State 92
6 Maryland 64
3 Cheyney State 73
2 North Carolina 72
2 North Carolina 81
2 St. John's 79 (OT)

West Regional - Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena)

First round
March 12–14 		Regional semifinals
March 19 		Regional finals
March 21
         
1 USC 97
8 BYU 72
1 USC 76
4 Montana 51
4 Montana 56
5 Oregon State 47
1 USC 90
2 Long Beach State 74
3 Oregon (20-4) 63
6 San Diego State 70
6 San Diego State 73
2 Long Beach State 91
2 Long Beach State 78
7 UNLV 58

Final Four - University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA (Pauley Pavilion)

National Semifinals
March 30 		National Championship
April 1
      
3ME Tennessee 80
3E Cheyney State 71
3ME Tennessee 61
1W USC 72
1MW Louisiana Tech 57
1W USC 62

Record by conference

Ten conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play:[7]

Conference # of Bids Record Win % Round
of 32		 Sweet
Sixteen		 Elite
Eight		 Final
Four		 Championship
Game
Southeastern 5 9–5 .643 5 5 2 1 1
Atlantic Coast 4 2–4 .333 2 2 – – –
Western Collegiate 3 8–2 .800 3 3 2 1 1
Independent 3 6–3 .667 2 2 2 2 –
Southwest 2 2–2 .500 1 1 1 – –
Big Eight 2 0–2 – – – – – –
Northern Pacific 2 0–2 – – – – – –
Sun Belt 1 2–1 .667 1 1 1 – –
Mountain West Athletic 1 1–1 .500 1 1 – – –
Southland 1 1–1 .500 1 1 – – –

Eight conferences went 0-1: Atlantic 10, Big East, Big Ten, High Country, Metro, MAC, Missouri Valley Conference,and Ohio Valley Conference [7]

All-Tournament Team

Game Officials

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gregory Cooper. "1984 NCAA National Championship Tournament". Archived from the original on 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
  2. ↑ "CHN Basketball History: Most Outstanding Player". Retrieved 2007-03-30.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Women's semifinal features title rematch". Lakeland Ledger. Mar 30, 1984. Retrieved 22 Oct 2012.
  4. ↑ "U.S.C. WOMEN WIN BY 62-57". New York Times. Retrieved 23 Oct 2012.
  5. ↑ Lieber, Jill. "Stars Of Stage, Screen And Court". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 23 Oct 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Attendance and Sites" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Nixon, Rick. "Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 22 April 2012.