2006 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

2006 NCAA Women's Division I
Basketball Tournament

2006 Women's Final Four logo
Teams 64
Finals site TD Garden
Boston, Massachusetts
Champions Maryland (1st title)
Runner-up Duke (2nd title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Brenda Frese (1st title)
MOP Laura Harper Maryland
NCAA Women's Division I Tournaments
«2005 2007»

The 2006 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament, marked the 25th NCAA Women's Basketball National Championship. The events were held March 18 – April 4, 2006 at several sites, with the Championship game held in Boston. The Maryland Terrapins, coached by Brenda Frese, won their first National Championship, beating the Duke Blue Devils, coached by Gail Goestenkors, 78–75 in overtime. Laura Harper of the Terrapins was named Most Outstanding Player.

The field is set at 64 teams, with 31 automatic bids and 33 at-large bids. Unlike the men's game, there is no play-in game. In addition, the first two rounds and regionals are usually played on "neutral" sites.

This was the first Women's final four since 1999 not to have either Connecticut or Tennessee.

Notable events

In the Albuquerque Regional, Boston College upset the number one seed, Ohio State, in the second round. BC went on to play fifth seeded Utah in the regional semifinal, but Utah won by three points. Utah then played Maryland in the Regional final. With under eight seconds to go in regulation, Utah was trailing by a single point, with Shona Thorburn at the free throw line for two shots. She only made one, and the game went into overtime. This was familiar territory for the Terrapins, who were now playing in the fifth overtime game of their season. They had won the previous four, and would outscore Utah 12–2 to advance to the Final Four.[1][2]

In the Bridgeport Regional, Connecticut won their first two games easily, then faced Georgia in their home state. The Huskies started out poorly, going without a single point for a stretch of over six minutes and were down 25–10 with under seven minutes to go in the first half. Then UConn scored 22 of the next 23 points to take a six-point lead. Georgia did not quit, and with seconds left, had a one-point lead. UConn had the ball and set up a last-ditch play. The play broke down, but Barbara Turner, not known as a three-point shooter, hit a three pointer to put Connecticut up by two points with under two seconds to play. Georgia took a desperation, length of the court shot which bounced off the rim, and Connecticut held on to advance to the regional final. UConn head coach Geno Auriemma was quoted as saying, "I told the guys in the locker room, there are times that if you are lucky, fate taps you on the shoulder and you are ready. And today, we were ready".[3][4]

In the regional final, top seeded Duke faced second seed UConn. With Connecticut down by two points late in the game, the Huskies Mel Thomas hit a two pint jumper to tie the game at 55 points apiece. Duke had 20 seconds left to hit a shot to take the lead. They called a timeout to set up a play but it broke down, and they called a timeout with three seconds left. The inbound pass ended up near half court, where an attempted buzzer beater bounced off the backboard, and the game went into overtime. The Blue Devils pulled out to a five-point lead with under three minutes to go, but did not score another point. UConn had the ball for a final play, down by two points, but Charde Houston missed an open jumper, and Duke won the right to go to the Final Four in Boston.[5]

The Cleveland Regional had the top four seeds in the regional semifinal, and the top two in the final, with top seed North Carolina beating Tennessee to advance to the final Four. It was their first trip to the Final Four for the Tarheels since 1994, when they had won the National Championship. The San Antonio Regional largely followed the seeding, although third-seeded Stanford upset Oklahoma to reach the regional final. Although top seeded LSU was down by five points at halftime, they came back to beat Stanford by three points to earn a trip to the Final Four. LSU had only a one-point lead, when Candice Wiggins drove to the basket but Seimone Augustus stood in the way and took a charge. Wiggins had passed the ball to Krista Rappahahn who hit a three-pointer, but it was waved off because of the charge.[6]

LSU was one of just seven schools to place both their men's and women's basketball teams in the Final Four in the same year. But one night after the men lost by double-digits to UCLA, the women suffered the same fate. Duke had a double-digit lead at halftime, which LSU cut to six points, but Duke then went on an 11–1 run to build the lead back up. Duke won the game 64–55 to head to the championship game.[7]

North Carolina entered the other semifinal against Maryland with only a single loss on the season, but that loss was to Maryland. The first half was close, with Maryland holding just a two-point lead at the half. The Terrapins extended the lead in the second half to double-digits, but North Carolina came back to cut the lead to three points with just over a minute left in the game. They would get no closer, and Maryland held on to win 81–70 to advance to the final game.[8]

The semifinal wins set up an all-ACC championship game, between the two highest scoring teams in Division I. Duke had won 14 of the last 15 meetings between the two teams, but the sole win by Maryland in the streak was the most recent—the ACC semifinal match up. This game started as if it were a return to the usual results, with Duke reaching a double-digit lead at halftime, and extending to a 13-point lead in the second half. Maryland fought back, and with seconds to go in the game Kristi Toliver hit a three pointer to tie the game. The game went into overtime, the sixth time this season Maryland had been in an overtime game. The Terrapins had won all five prior overtimes games, and this would be no different. Although down in overtime, Toliver hit two free throws to put her team back in front, and Maryland held on to win their first National Championship.[9]

Locations

West Lafayette
Nashville
University Park
Norfolk
Chicago
Denver
Tucson
Trenton
2006 NCAA NCAA first and second round venues
Albuquerque
Bridgeport
San Antonio
Cleveland
Boston
2006 NCAA Regionals and Final Four

The tournament once again used the pod system, meaning that teams were more likely to play closer to home earlier in the tournament. The sites for the first two rounds were as follows:

Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois (Host: DePaul University)
Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado (Host: University of Colorado at Boulder and Big 12 Conference)
McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona)
Memorial Gymasium, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Vanderbilt University)
Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Virginia (Host: Old Dominion University)
Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New Jersey (Host: Rider University and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pennsylvania (Host: Pennsylvania State University)
Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University)

The Regional sites for this year (named after the city, a practice that is in use for the second consecutive year) were:

Albuquerque Regional: The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
San Antonio Regional: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)
Bridgeport Regional: Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut (Host: Fairfield University)
Cleveland Regional: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio (Host: Cleveland State University and the Mid-American Conference)

The winners of the regionals advanced to the Final Four, held at TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts on April 2–4, 2006, hosted by Harvard University and Northeastern University.

Tournament records

Qualifying teams - automatic

Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA tournament.[10]

Automatic Bids
    Record  
Qualifying School Conference Regular
Season
Conference Seed
United States Military Academy Patriot League 20–10 11–3 15
Bowling Green State University MAC 28–2 16–0 12
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Southern Conference 27–3 18–0 12
Coppin State University MEAC 22–8 18–0 15
Dartmouth College Ivy League 23–6 12–2 14
Florida International University Atlantic Sun Conference 20–10 16–4 16
University of Hartford America East 27–3 15–1 11
Liberty University Big South Conference 24–5 13–1 13
Louisiana Tech University WAC 26–4 15–1 11
Louisiana State University SEC 27–3 13–1 1
Marist College MAAC 23–6 16–2 14
Middle Tennessee State University Sun Belt Conference 20–10 10–4 12
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Horizon League 21–8 14–2 13
Missouri State University Missouri Valley Conference 17–14 7–11 13
University of North Carolina ACC 29–1 13–1 1
Northern Arizona University Big Sky Conference 22–10 9–5 14
Oakland University Mid-Continent 15–15 8–8 16
Ohio State University Big Ten 28–2 15–1 1
University of Oklahoma Big 12 29–4 16–0 2
Old Dominion University Colonial 22–8 17–1 10
Pepperdine University West Coast Conference 14–16 8–6 15
Rutgers University Big East 25–4 16–0 3
Sacred Heart University Northeast Conference 26–4 16–2 15
Southeast Missouri State University Ohio Valley Conference 20–8 16–4 14
Southern University SWAC 20–10 14–4 16
Stanford University Pac-10 23–7 15–3 3
Stephen F. Austin State University Southland 23–7 14–2 13
Temple University Atlantic 10 24–7 12–4 6
University of Tulsa Conference USA 25–5 14–3 12
University of California, Riverside Big West Conference 16–14 7–7 16
University of Utah Mountain West 24–6 12–4 5

Qualifying teams - at-large

Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.[10]

At-large Bids
    Record  
Qualifying School Conference Regular
Season
Conference Seed
Arizona State University Pacific-10 24–6 14–4 4
Baylor University Big 12 24–6 12–4 3
Boston College Atlantic Coast 19–11 6–8 8
Brigham Young University Mountain West 25–5 13–3 7
University of California, Berkeley Pacific-10 18–11 10–8 10
University of Connecticut Big East 29–4 14–2 2
DePaul University Big East 25–6 11–5 4
Duke University Atlantic Coast 26–3 12–2 1
University of Florida Southeastern 21–8 8–6 6
Florida State University Atlantic Coast 19–9 10–4 6
The George Washington University Atlantic 10 22–8 13–3 7
University of Georgia Southeastern 21–8 10–4 3
University of Iowa Big Ten 17–11 10–6 10
University of Kentucky Southeastern 21–8 9–5 5
University of Louisville Big East 19–9 10–6 9
University of Maryland, College Park Atlantic Coast 28–4 12–2 2
Michigan State University Big Ten 22–9 11–5 4
University of Minnesota Big Ten 19–9 11–5 8
University of Missouri Big 12 21–9 10–6 10
University of New Mexico Mountain West 21–9 11–5 11
North Carolina State University Atlantic Coast 19–11 7–7 5
University of Notre Dame Big East 18–11 8–8 9
Purdue University Big Ten 24–6 13–3 4
University of South Florida Big East 18–11 9–7 9
University of Southern California Pacific-10 18–11 11–7 8
St. John's University Big East 21–7 11–5 7
Texas Christian University Mountain West 18–11 11–5 11
University of Tennessee Southeastern 28–4 11–3 2
Texas A&M University Big 12 23–8 11–5 6
University of California, Los Angeles Pacific-10 20–10 12–6 5
Vanderbilt University Southeastern 20–10 8–6 8
Virginia Tech Atlantic Coast 20–9 6–8 7
University of Washington Pacific-10 18–10 11–7 9

Bids by conference

Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In twenty-three cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from eight of the conferences.[10]

Bids Conference Teams
7 Atlantic Coast North Carolina, Boston College, Duke, Florida St., Maryland, North Carolina St., Virginia Tech
7 Big East Rutgers, Connecticut, DePaul, Louisville, Notre Dame, South Fla., St. John’s NY
6 Pacific-10 Stanford, Arizona St., California, Southern California, UCLA, Washington
6 Southeastern LSU, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
5 Big Ten Ohio St., Iowa, Michigan St., Minnesota, Purdue
4 Big 12 Oklahoma, Baylor, Missouri, Texas A&M
4 Mountain West Utah, BYU, New Mexico, TCU
2 Atlantic 10 Temple, George Washington
1 America East Hartford
1 Atlantic Sun Fla. Atlantic
1 Big Sky Northern Ariz.
1 Big South Liberty
1 Big West UC Riverside
1 Colonial Old Dominion
1 Conference USA Tulsa
1 Horizon Milwaukee
1 Ivy Dartmouth
1 Metro Atlantic Marist
1 Mid-American Bowling Green
1 Mid-Continent Oakland
1 Mid-Eastern Coppin St.
1 Missouri Valley Missouri St.
1 Northeast Sacred Heart
1 Ohio Valley Southeast Mo. St.
1 Patriot Army
1 Southern Chattanooga
1 Southland Stephen F. Austin
1 Southwestern Southern U.
1 Sun Belt Middle Tenn.
1 West Coast Pepperdine
1 Western Athletic Louisiana Tech

Bids by state

The sixty-four teams came from twenty-nine states, plus Washington, D.C. California had the most teams with six bids. Twenty-one states did not have any teams receiving bids.[10]

NCAA Women's basketball Tournament invitations by state 2006
Bids State Teams
6 California Pepperdine, Stanford, UC Riverside, California, Southern California, UCLA
4 Florida Fla. Atlantic, Florida, Florida St., South Fla.
4 Tennessee Chattanooga, Middle Tenn., Tennessee, Vanderbilt
4 Texas Stephen F. Austin, Baylor, TCU, Texas A&M
3 Connecticut Hartford, Sacred Heart, Connecticut
3 Louisiana Louisiana Tech, LSU, Southern U.
3 Missouri Missouri St., Missouri, Southeast Mo. St.
3 New York Army, Marist, St. John’s NY
3 North Carolina North Carolina, Duke, North Carolina St.
3 Virginia Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia Tech
2 Arizona Northern Ariz., Arizona St.
2 Indiana Notre Dame, Purdue
2 Kentucky Kentucky, Louisville
2 Maryland Coppin St., Maryland
2 Michigan Oakland, Michigan St.
2 Ohio Bowling Green, Ohio St.
2 Oklahoma Oklahoma, Tulsa
2 Utah Utah, BYU
1 District of Columbia George Washington
1 Georgia Georgia
1 Illinois DePaul
1 Iowa Iowa
1 Massachusetts Boston College
1 Minnesota Minnesota
1 New Hampshire Dartmouth
1 New Jersey Rutgers
1 New Mexico New Mexico
1 Pennsylvania Temple
1 Washington Washington
1 Wisconsin Milwaukee

Brackets

Data source[10]
*-Overtime game.

Cleveland Regional

First round
March 18 and 19
Second round
March 20 and 21
Regional semifinals
March 26
Regional finals
March 28
            
1 North Carolina 75
16 UC Riverside 51
1 North Carolina 89
Nashville, TN
8 Vanderbilt 70
8 Vanderbilt 76
9 Louisville 64
1 North Carolina 70
4 Purdue 68
5 UCLA 74
12 Bowling Green 61
5 UCLA 54
West Lafayette, IN
4 Purdue 61
4 Purdue 73
13 Missouri State 54
1 North Carolina 75
2 Tennessee 63
6 Texas A&M 65
11 TCU 69
11 TCU 48
Trenton, NJ
3 Rutgers 82
3 Rutgers 63
14 Dartmouth 58
3 Rutgers 69
2 Tennessee 76
7 George Washington 87
10 Old Dominion 72
7 George Washington 53
Norfolk, VA
2 Tennessee 66
2 Tennessee 102
15 Army 54

Albuquerque Regional

First round
March 18 and 19
Second round
March 20 and 21
Regional semifinals
March 25
Regional finals
March 27
            
1 Ohio State 68
16 Oakland (MI) 45
1 Ohio State 69
West Lafayette, IN
8 Boston College 79
8 Boston College 78
9 Notre Dame 61
8 Boston College 54
5 Utah 57
5 Utah 76
12 Middle Tennessee 71
5 Utah 86
Tucson, AZ
4 Arizona State 65
4 Arizona State 80
13 Stephen F. Austin 61
5 Utah 65
2 Maryland 75*
6 Florida 59
11 New Mexico 83
11 New Mexico 67
Tucson, AZ
3 Baylor 87
3 Baylor 74
14 Northern Arizona 56
3 Baylor 63
2 Maryland 82
7 St. John's 78
10 California 68
7 St. John's 74
University Park, PA
2 Maryland 81
2 Maryland 95
15 Sacred Heart 54

Bridgeport Regional

First round
March 18 and 19
Second round
March 20 and 21
Regional semifinals
March 26
Regional finals
March 28
            
1 Duke 96
16 Southern 27
1 Duke 85
Norfolk, VA
8 Southern California 51
8 Southern California 67
9 South Florida 65
1 Duke 86
4 Michigan State 61
5 Kentucky 69
12 Chattanooga 59
5 Kentucky 63
Rosemont, IL
4 Michigan State 67
4 Michigan State 65
13 Milwaukee 46
1 Duke 63*
2 Connecticut 61
6 Temple 58
11 Hartford 64
11 Hartford 54
Trenton, NJ
3 Georgia 73
3 Georgia 75
14 Marist 60
3 Georgia 75
2 Connecticut 77
7 Virginia Tech 82
10 Missouri 51
7 Virginia Tech 56
University Park, PA
2 Connecticut 79
2 Connecticut 77
15 Coppin State 54

San Antonio Regional

First round
March 18
Second round
March 20
Regional semifinals
March 25
Regional finals
March 27
            
1 LSU 72
16 Florida Atlantic 48
1 LSU 72
Nashville, TN
9 Washington 49
8 Minnesota 69
9 Washington 73
1 LSU 66
4 DePaul 56
5 NC State 61
12 Tulsa 71
12 Tulsa 67
Rosemont, IL
4 DePaul 71
4 DePaul 68
13 Liberty 43
1 LSU 62
3 Stanford 59
6 Florida State 80
11 Louisiana Tech 71
6 Florida State 70
Denver, CO
3 Stanford 88
3 Stanford 72
14 Southeast Missouri 45
3 Stanford 88
2 Oklahoma 74
7 BYU 67
10 Iowa 62
7 BYU 70
Denver, CO
2 Oklahoma 86
2 Oklahoma 78
15 Pepperdine 66

Final Four – TD Banknorth Garden (Boston, Massachusetts)

National Semifinals
April 2
National Championship
April 4
      
Alb2 Maryland 81
Cle1 North Carolina 70
Alb2 Maryland 78*
Bpt1 Duke 75
Bpt1 Duke 64
SA1 LSU 45

Alb-Albuquerque; Bpt-Bridgeport; Cle-Cleveland; SA-San Antonio.

Record by conference

Conference # of Bids Record Win % Round
of 32
Sweet
Sixteen
Elite
Eight
Final
Four
Championship
Game
Atlantic Coast 7 19–6 .760 6 4 3 3 2
Big East 7 8–7 .533 4 3 1 0 0
Southeastern 6 11–6 .647 5 3 2 1 0
Pacific-10 6 7–6 .538 5 1 1 0 0
Big Ten 5 5–5 .500 3 2 0 0 0
Mountain West 4 6–4 .600 4 1 1 0 0
Big 12 4 4–4 .500 2 2 0 0 0
Atlantic 10 2 1–2 .333 1 0 0 0 0
America East 1 1–1 .500 1 0 0 0 0
Conference USA 1 1–1 .500 1 0 0 0 0

Twenty-one conferences went 0-1: Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Colonial, Horizon League, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Missouri Valley Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt Conference, West Coast Conference, and WAC

All-Tournament Team

Game Officials

See also

Notes

  1. "Boxscore MD". ESPN. March 27, 2006. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.
  2. "Maryland Rises in Overtime, 75-65". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. March 28, 2006. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.
  3. "Connecticut holds off Georgia, 77-75". Honolulu Advertiser. March 27, 2006. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.
  4. GOLDBERG, JEFF (March 27, 2006). "Ncaa Women's Tournament: Uconn 77, Georgia 75". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.
  5. Byrnes, Patrick (March 28, 2006). "duke escapes uconn in overtime thriller". The Chronicle. Duke Student Publishing Company. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.
  6. "Augustus draws game-saving charge to send LSU to Final Four". ESPN. March 27, 2006. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.
  7. "Duke routs LSU to set up all-ACC final". ESPN. April 2, 2006. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.
  8. "Harper helps Terps trip up Tar Heels to advance to title game". ESPN. April 2, 2006. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.
  9. Orton, Kathy (April 5, 2006). "A 3-Point Landing". The Washington Post. Katharine Weymouth. Retrieved 1 Jun 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nixon, Rick. "Official 2012 NCAA Women's Final Four Records Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.