Big East Women's Basketball Tournament

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 Big East Conference sponsored women's basketball. Following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines, the women's basketball history of the original conference has been maintained by the non-football league that assumed the Big East name.[1] The tournament determines the conference's champion, which receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Big East Women's Basketball Tournament
Conference Basketball Championship
Big East Conference logo
SportCollege basketball
ConferenceBig East Conference
Number of teams11 (from 2021)
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumWintrust Arena
Current locationChicago, Illinois
Played1983–present
Last contest2020
Current championDePaul Blue Demons
Most championshipsUConn Huskies (18)
Official websiteBigEast.com Women's Basketball
2009 Tournament logo.

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 first three tournaments after the relaunch of the Big East in 2013 were hosted by DePaul University. In 2014, opening-round games were played at McGrath–Phillips Arena on the school's Chicago campus and all other games played at Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont. All games in the 2015 tournament were held at Allstate Arena, and all 2016 tournament games were held at McGrath–Phillips Arena. The 2017 tournament was the first since the relaunch to be held outside the Chicago area, with all games being played at Al McGuire Center on the Marquette University campus in Milwaukee. From 2018–2020, the tournament was held at Wintrust Arena at the McCormick Place convention center on Chicago’s Near South Side.

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 11 members of the reconfigured conference.

In June 2020, it was reported that the tournament will return to Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Arena moving forward with the return of UConn. [4]

History of the Tournament Finals

Year Seed Winner Score Seed Opponent Venue
1983 #2 St. John's 74-63 #1 Providence Alumni Hall (Providence, Rhode Island)
1984 #3 St. John's 66-46 #4 Seton Hall Alumni Hall (now Carnesecca Arena) (Queens, New York)
1985 #5 Syracuse 57-56 #2 Villanova Manley Field House (Syracuse NY)
1986 #2 Villanova 71-60 #1 Providence Roberts Center (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts)
1987 #1 Villanova 60-45 #6 Boston College The Pavilion (Villanova, Pennsylvania)
1988 #3 St. John's 74-72 OT #1 Syracuse Fitzgerald Field House (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
1989 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 84-65 #3 Providence Walsh Gymnasium (South Orange, New Jersey)
1990 #2 Providence 82-61 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)
1991 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 79-74 #2 Providence McDonough Gymnasium (Washington, D.C.)
1992 #1 Miami (FL) 56-47 #2 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)
1993 #1 Miami (FL) 77-56 #7 Providence Alumni Hall (Providence, Rhode Island)
1994 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 77-51 #2 Seton Hall Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)
1995 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 85-49 #3 Seton Hall Walsh Gymnasium (South Orange, New Jersey)
1996 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 71-54 #3 Notre Dame Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)
1997 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 86-77 #3 Notre Dame Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)
1998 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 67-58 #2 Rutgers Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey)
1999 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 96-75 #3 Notre Dame Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey)
2000 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 79-59 #3 Rutgers Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)
2001 #2 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 78–76[lower-alpha 2] #1 Notre Dame Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut)
2002 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 96-54 #3 Boston College Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey)
2003 #3 Villanova 52-48 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey)
2004 #5 Boston College 75-57 #7 Rutgers Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut)
2005 #3 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 67-51 #1 Rutgers Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut)
2006 #2 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 50-44 #12 West Virginia Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut)
2007 #2 Rutgers 55-47 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut)
2008 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 65-59 #7 Louisville XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut)
2009 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 75-36 #2 Louisville XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut)
2010 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 60–32 #2 West Virginia XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut)[5]
2011 #1 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 73-64 #3 Notre Dame XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut)[6]
2012 #3 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] 63–54 #1 Notre Dame XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut)[7]
2013 #2 Notre Dame 61-59 #3 Connecticut[lower-alpha 1] XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut)[8]
2014 #1 DePaul 65-57 #2 St. John's Allstate Arena (Rosemont, Illinois)
(Opening round: McGrath–Phillips Arena, Chicago)
2015 #2 DePaul 78–68 #1 Seton Hall Allstate Arena (Rosemont, Illinois)
2016 #4 St. John's 50-37 #7 Creighton McGrath–Phillips Arena (Chicago)
2017 #3 Marquette 86–78 #1 DePaul Al McGuire Center (Milwaukee)
2018 #2 DePaul 98-63 #1 Marquette Wintrust Arena (Chicago)
2019 #2 DePaul 74-73 #1 Marquette Wintrust Arena (Chicago)
2020 #1 DePaul 88–74 #2 Marquette Wintrust Arena (Chicago)
2021 Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut)
2022 Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut)
2023 Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut)
Notes
  1. Athletically branded as "UConn" since 2013–14.
  2. See also Bird at the Buzzer, a book focusing on this specific game.

Performance by school

Club Winners Winning years
UConn[a 1][a 2] 18 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
St. John's 4 1983, 1984, 1988, 2016
DePaul 4 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019
Villanova 3 1986, 1987, 2003
Miami (FL)[a 3] 2 1992, 1993
Syracuse[a 4] 1 1985
Providence 1 1990
Boston College[a 5] 1 2004
Rutgers[a 1] 1 2007
Notre Dame[a 4] 1 2013
Marquette 1 2017
TOTAL 37  
  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. Connecticut, which changed its official athletic brand to "UConn" in 2013–14, joined the current Big East in 2020.
  3. Miami left for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2004.
  4. Notre Dame and Syracuse left for the ACC in 2013.
  5. Boston College left for the ACC in 2005.

Most Outstanding Player

Year Most Outstanding Player School
1983 Debbie Beckford St. John's
1984 Anne Marie McNamee St. John's
1985 Janice Long Syracuse
1986 Shelly Pennefather Villanova
1987 Shelly Pennefather (2) Villanova
1988 Sabrina Johnson St. John's
1989 Kerry Bascom Connecticut
1990 Andrea Mangum Providence
1991 Meghan Pattyson Connecticut
1992 Frances Savage Miami
1993 Vicki Plowden Miami
1994 Rebecca Lobo Connecticut
1995 Kara Wolters Connecticut
1996 Kara Wolters (2) Connecticut
1997 Nykesha Sales Connecticut
1998 Rita Williams Connecticut
1999 Shea Ralph Connecticut
2000 Tamika Williams Connecticut
2001 Diana Taurasi Connecticut
2002 Asjha Jones Connecticut
2003 Trish Juhline Villanova
2004 Jessalyn Deveny Boston College
2005 Barbara Turner Connecticut
2006 Ann Strother Connecticut
2007 Matee Ajavon Rutgers
2008 Charde Houston Connecticut
2009 Maya Moore Connecticut
2010 Kalana Greene Connecticut
2011 Maya Moore (2) Connecticut
2012 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis Connecticut
2013 Kayla McBride Notre Dame
2014 Jasmine Penny DePaul
2015 Megan Podkowa DePaul
2016 Aliyyah Handford St. John's
2017 Amani Wilborn Marquette
2018 Amarah Coleman DePaul
2019 Chante Stonewall DePaul
2020 Lexi Held 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. "Big East Record Book" (PDF). p. 188. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 30 Aug 2011.
  3. "The Big East Conference Media guide" (PDF). Big East. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  4. https://www.theuconnblog.com/2020/6/4/21279333/uconn-huskies-womens-basketball-report-big-east-womens-basketball-tournament-moving-to-mohegan-sun
  5. "2009 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Tournament". Archived from the original on 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
  6. "2011 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Tournament". Archived from the original on 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  7. "Connecticut Captures Women's Basketball Championship with 63-54 Win Over Notre Dame". Big East. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  8. "BIG EAST CHAMPS! Achonwa's Layup Lifts #2 Irish Past #3 UConn, 61-59". University of Notre Dame Sports Information. Associated Press. March 12, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
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