Big East Women's Basketball Tournament

Big East Women's Basketball Tournament
Conference Basketball Championship

Big East Conference logo
Sport College basketball
Conference Big East Conference (original) (1983–2013)
Big East Conference (current) (2014–)
Number of teams 10
Format Single-elimination tournament
Current stadium Allstate Arena
Current location Rosemont, Illinois
Played 1983-present
Last contest 2015
Current champion DePaul Blue Demons
Most championships Connecticut Huskies (17)
Official website BigEast.com Women's Basketball
2009 Tournament logo.

The Big East Women's Basketball Tournament is a conference championship tournament in women's basketball. It was first held in 1983, at the end of the 1982–83 college basketball season that was the first in which the original Big East Conference sponsored women's basketball. The tournament was conducted by the original Big East through 2013. Since the 2013 split of the conference along football lines, the tournament is conducted by a new, non-football league also known as the Big East Conference.[1] The tournament determines the conference's champion, which receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. From 2004 through 2013, the tournament was held in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum[2] at the XL Center (formerly known as the Hartford Civic Center). The 2014 edition was hosted by DePaul University, with opening-round games played at McGrath–Phillips Arena on the school's Chicago campus and all other games played at Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont. The 2015 tournament was also hosted by DePaul, with all games at Allstate Arena.

Starting in 2009, the tournament expanded to include all 16 of the conference's teams at that time. The teams finishing 9 through 16 in the regular season standings played first round games, while teams 5 through 8 receive a bye to the second round. The top 4 teams during the regular season receive a double-bye to the quarterfinals.[3] The 2013 tournament, the final one under the original Big East structure, saw 15 teams participate, following West Virginia's 2012 move to the Big 12 Conference. The tournament now features all 10 members of the current conference.

History of the Tournament Finals

Year Seed [2] Winner Score Seed Opponent Venue
1983 #2 St. John's 74-63 #1 Providence Alumni Hall (Providence, RI)
1984 #3 St. John's 66-46 #4 Seton Hall Alumni Hall (now Carnesecca Arena) (Queens, NY)
1985 #5 Syracuse 57-56 #2 Villanova Manley Field House (Syracuse NY)
1986 #2 Villanova 71-60 #1 Providence Roberts Center (Chestnut Hill, MA)
1987 #1 Villanova 60-45 #6 Boston College The Pavilion (Villanova, PA)
1988 #3 St. John's 74-72 OT #1 Syracuse Fitzgerald Field House (Pittsburgh, PA)
1989 #1 Connecticut 84-65 #3 Providence Walsh Gymnasium (Providence RI)
1990 #2 Providence 82-61 #1 Connecticut Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, CT)
1991 #1 Connecticut 79-74 #2 Providence McDonough Gymnasium (Washington, DC)
1992 #1 Miami (FL) 56-47 #2 Connecticut Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, CT)
1993 #1 Miami (FL) 77-56 #7 Providence Alumni Hall (Providence, RI)
1994 #1 Connecticut 77-51 #2 Seton Hall Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, CT)
1995 #1 Connecticut 85-49 #3 Seton Hall Walsh Gymnasium (South Orange, NJ)
1996 #1 Connecticut 71-54 #3 Notre Dame Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, CT)
1997 #1 Connecticut 86-77 #3 Notre Dame Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, CT)
1998 #1 Connecticut 67-58 #2 Rutgers Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, NJ)
1999 #1 Connecticut 96-75 #3 Notre Dame Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, NJ)
2000 #1 Connecticut 79-59 #3 Rutgers Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, CT)
2001 #2 Connecticut 78-76 #1 Notre Dame Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, CT)
2002 #1 Connecticut 96-54 #3 Boston College Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, NJ)
2003 #3 Villanova 52-48 #1 Connecticut Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, NJ)
2004 #5 Boston College 75-57 #7 Rutgers Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, CT)
2005 #3 Connecticut 67-51 #1 Rutgers Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, CT)
2006 #2 Connecticut 50-44 #12 West Virginia Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, CT)
2007 #2 Rutgers 55-47 #1 Connecticut Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, CT)
2008 #1 Connecticut 65-59 #7 Louisville XL Center (Hartford, CT)
2009 #1 Connecticut 75-36 #2 Louisville XL Center (Hartford, CT)
2010 #1 Connecticut 60–32 #2 West Virginia XL Center (Hartford, CT)[4]
2011 # Connecticut 73-64 # Notre Dame XL Center (Hartford, CT)[5]
2012 # Connecticut 63–54 # Notre Dame XL Center (Hartford, CT)[6]
2013 #2 Notre Dame 61-59 #3 Connecticut XL Center (Hartford, CT)[7]
2014 #1 DePaul 65-57 #2 St. John's Allstate Arena (Rosemont, IL)
(Opening round: McGrath–Phillips Arena, Chicago)
2015 #2 DePaul 78-68 #1 Seton Hall Allstate Arena (Rosemont, IL)

Performance by school

Club Winners Winning years
Connecticut[a 1] 18 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
St. John's 3 1983, 1984, 1988
Villanova 3 1986, 1987, 2003
DePaul 2 2014, 2015
Miami (FL)[a 2] 2 1992, 1993
Notre Dame[a 3] 1 2013
Syracuse[a 3] 1 1985
Providence 1 1990
Boston College[a 4] 1 2004
Rutgers[a 1] 1 2007
TOTAL 32  
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Following the 2013 split of the original Big East, Connecticut and Rutgers remained in the football-sponsoring portion now known as the American Athletic Conference.
  2. ↑ Miami left for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2004.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Notre Dame and Syracuse left for the ACC in 2013.
  4. ↑ Boston College left for the ACC in 2005.

Most Outstanding Player

Year Most Outstanding Player School
1983 Beckford, DebbieDebbie Beckford St. John's
1984 MacnameeAnne Marie McNamee St. John's
1985 Long, JaniceJanice Long Syracuse
1986 Pennefather, ShellyShelly Pennefather Villanova
1987 Pennefather, ShellyShelly Pennefather (2) Villanova
1988 Johnson, SabrinaSabrina Johnson St. John's
1989 Bascom, KerryKerry Bascom Connecticut
1990 Mangum, AndreaAndrea Mangum Providence
1991 Pattyson, MeghanMeghan Pattyson Connecticut
1992 Savage, FrancesFrances Savage Miami
1993 Plowden, VickiVicki Plowden Miami
1994 Lobo, RebeccaRebecca Lobo Connecticut
1995 Wolters, KaraKara Wolters Connecticut
1996 Wolters, KaraKara Wolters (2) Connecticut
1997 Sales, NykeshaNykesha Sales Connecticut
1998 Williams, RitaRita Williams Connecticut
1999 Ralph, SheaShea Ralph Connecticut
2000 Williams, TamikaTamika Williams Connecticut
2001 Taurasi, DianaDiana Taurasi Connecticut
2002 Jones, AsjhaAsjha Jones Connecticut
2003 Juhline, TrishTrish Juhline Villanova
2004 Deveny, JessalynJessalyn Deveny Boston College
2005 Turner, BarbaraBarbara Turner Connecticut
2006 Strother, AnnAnn Strother Connecticut
2007 Ajavon, MateeMatee Ajavon Rutgers
2008 Houston, ChardeCharde Houston Connecticut
2009 Moore, MayaMaya Moore Connecticut
2010 Greene, KalanaKalana Greene Connecticut
2011 Moore, MayaMaya Moore (2) Connecticut
2012 Mosqueda-Lewis, KaleenaKaleena Mosqueda-Lewis Connecticut
2013 MacbrideKayla McBride Notre Dame
2014 Penny, JasmineJasmine Penny DePaul
2014 Podkowa, MeganMegan Podkowa DePaul
Years Title of Award
1998-present Most Outstanding Player
1994-1997 Most Outstanding Performer
1983-1993 Most Valuable Player

References

  1. ↑ "Big East basketball schools get Big East name". ESPN. March 5, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Big East Record Book". p. 188. Retrieved 30 Aug 2011.
  3. ↑ "The Big East Conference Media guide". Big East. p. 27. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "2009 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Tournament". Retrieved 2009-06-18.
  5. ↑ "2011 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Tournament". Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  6. ↑ "Connecticut Captures Women's Basketball Championship with 63-54 Win Over Notre Dame". Big East. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  7. ↑ Associated Press (March 12, 2013). "BIG EAST CHAMPS! Achonwa's Layup Lifts #2 Irish Past #3 UConn, 61-59". University of Notre Dame Sports Information. Retrieved May 15, 2013.