| Gender: | Women's |
| Year: | 1983 |
| Teams: | 36 |
| Finalfourarena: | Norfolk Scope |
| Finalfourcity: | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Champions: | USC |
| Titlecount: | 1st |
| Champgamecount: | 1st |
| Champffcount: | 1st |
| Runnerup: | Louisiana Tech |
| Gamecount: | 2nd |
| Runnerffcount: | 2nd |
| Semifinal1: | Old Dominion |
| Finalfourcount: | 1st |
| Semifinal2: | Georgia |
| Finalfourcount2: | 1st |
| Coach: | Linda Sharp |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Cheryl Miller |
| Mopteam: | USC |
The 1983 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 18 and concluded on April 3 with USC winning the title. The tournament consisted of 36 teams. The Final Four was held in Norfolk, Virginia and consisted of USC, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, and Georgia.[1] USC's Cheryl Miller was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.[2]
Neither semifinal game in the final four turned out to be close. Defending national champion Louisiana Tech beat long time powerhouse Old Dominion by sixteen points, handing them their 30th consecutive victory. In the other semifinal, Southern California had an easier time, beating Georgia by 24 points. This set up the championship game between the only two top seeds to advance to the Final Four.
The two teams had met twice before in regular season, both coming away with a win, but in both cases, on the opponents home court. USC beat the Lady Techsters in Louisiana, 64–58, giving the La Tech team their only loss for the year. La Tech turned around and beat USC in Los Angeles by two points in January, one of only two losses suffered by the USC team all season.
The game came down to the final seconds. USC had a two-point lead with six seconds left in the game, and freshman star Cheryl Miller at the line for a one-and-one attempt. In the era before the three point shot, simply making the foul shot would virtually guarantee the win. But Miller missed the free throw, and the Techsters grabbed the rebound. The Lady Techsters ran up the court, where Kim Mulkey took the final shot, but it failed to go in, and USC won their first national championship.[3]
In the National championship game, Jennifer White hit eight of nine free throw attempts to set a championship game record for free throw percentage.
In the same game, Cheryl Miller attempted 14 free throws, a national championship record.
The NCAA did not officially start keeping track of blocked shots in women's basketball until 1998 (it had begun doing so in the men's game in 1986). However, Anne Donovan of Old Dominion had twelve blocked shot in a regional game, two more than the official record of ten.
Thirty-six teams were selected to participate in the 1983 NCAA Tournament. Fourteen conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1983 NCAA tournament. (Not all conference records are available for 1983)
| Automatic bids | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record | |||||
| Qualifying school | Conference | Regular Season | Conference | Seed | |
| Central Michigan | MAC | 6 | |||
| Georgia | SEC | 2 | |||
| Illinois State | Gateway[4] | 6 | |||
| Indiana | Big Ten | 6 | |||
| Louisville | Metro[5] | 7 | |||
| Maryland | ACC | 3 | |||
| Missouri | Big Eight | 4 | |||
| Old Dominion | Sun Belt | 2 | |||
| Oregon State | Northern Pacific | 3 | |||
| Penn State | Atlantic 10 | 5 | |||
| USC | Western Collegiate | 1 | |||
| St. John's | Big East | 7 | |||
| Texas | Southwest | 2 | |||
| Utah | High Country | 5 | |||
Twenty-two additional teams were selected to complete the thirty-six invitations. (Not all conference records are available for 1983)OR - Opening Round
| At-large bids | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record | |||||
| Qualifying school | Conference | Regular Season | Conference | Seed | |
| Arizona State | Western Collegiate | ||||
| Auburn | SEC | ||||
| Cheyney State | Independent | ||||
| Dartmouth | Ivy League | ||||
| Florida State | Metro | ||||
| Jackson State | SWAC | ||||
| Kansas State | Big Eight | ||||
| Kentucky | SEC | ||||
| La Salle | East Coast | ||||
| Long Beach State | Independent | ||||
| Louisiana Tech | Independent | ||||
| Middle Tennessee State< | --Didn't drop "State" from its athletic identity until roughly 2005.--> | Ohio Valley | |||
| Mississippi | SEC | ||||
| Monmouth | Cosmopolitan | ||||
| Montana | Mountain West Athletic | ||||
| North Carolina | ACC | ||||
| North Carolina State | ACC | ||||
| Northeast Louisiana< | --Didn't adopt current name until 1999.--> | Southland | |||
| South Carolina State | MEAC | ||||
| Stephen F. Austin | Southland | ||||
| Tennessee | SEC | ||||
| UCLA | Western Collegiate | ||||
Twenty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In sixteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirteen 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.
| Bids | Conference | Teams | |
| 5 | SEC | Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee | |
| 3 | ACC | Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State | |
| 3 | Independent | Cheyney, Long Beach State, Louisiana Tech | |
| 3 | Western Collegiate | Arizona State, UCLA, USC | |
| 2 | Big 8 | Kansas State, Missouri | |
| 2 | Metro | Florida State, Louisville | |
| 2 | Southland | Northeast Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin | |
| 1 | Atlantic 10 | Penn State | |
| 1 | Big East | St. John's | |
| 1 | Big Ten | Indiana | |
| 1 | Cosmopolitan | Monmouth | |
| 1 | East Coast | La Salle | |
| 1 | Gateway | Illinois State | |
| 1 | High Country | Utah | |
| 1 | Ivy League | Dartmouth | |
| 1 | MAC | Central Michigan | |
| 1 | MEAC | South Carolina State | |
| 1 | Mountain West Athletic | Montana | |
| 1 | Northern Pacific | Oregon State | |
| 1 | OVC | Middle Tennessee State | |
| 1 | Southwest | Texas | |
| 1 | Sun Belt | Old Dominion | |
| 1 | SWAC | Jackson State |
The thirty-six teams represented twenty-four states, plus Washington, D.C.California and Pennsylvania had the most teams with three each. Twenty-six states did not have any teams receiving bids.
| Bids | State | Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | California | Southern California, Long Beach St., UCLA | |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | Penn St., Cheyney, La Salle | |
| 2 | Kentucky | Louisville, Kentucky | |
| 2 | Louisiana | Louisiana Tech, Northeast Louisiana | |
| 2 | Mississippi | Jackson St., Mississippi | |
| 2 | North Carolina | North Carolina, North Carolina St. | |
| 2 | Tennessee | Middle Tenn., Tennessee | |
| 2 | Texas | Texas, Stephen F. Austin | |
| 1 | Alabama | Auburn | |
| 1 | Arizona | Arizona St. | |
| 1 | Florida | Florida State | |
| 1 | Georgia | Georgia | |
| 1 | Illinois | Illinois St.. | |
| 1 | Indiana | Indiana | |
| 1 | Kansas | Kansas St. | |
| 1 | Maryland | Maryland | |
| 1 | Michigan | Central Michigan | |
| 1 | Missouri | Missouri | |
| 1 | Montana | Montana | |
| 1 | New Hampshire | Dartmouth | |
| 1 | New Jersey | Monmouth | |
| 1 | New York | St. John's NY | |
| 1 | Oregon | Oregon St. | |
| 1 | South Carolina | South Carolina St. | |
| 1 | Utah | Utah | |
| 1 | Virginia | Old Dominion |
In 1983, the field expanded from 32 to 36 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-9 in each region. The 8 and 9 seeds in each region played a play-in game, called the opening round (OR). In the opening round and Round 1, the higher seed was given the opportunity to host the first-round game, and all but one of the higher seeds hosted. Missouri was a 4 seed, but unable to host, so the game was played at 5 seed Auburn.
The following table lists the region, host school, venue and location. The opening round games are denoted with "OR".
The regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 24 to March 27 at these sites:
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held April 1 and 3 in Norfolk, Virginia, at the Norfolk Scope.
Fifteen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play:
| Conference |
| Record | Win % | Round of 32 | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship Game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeastern | 5 | .583 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | ||
| Independent | 3 | .700 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Western Collegiate | 3 | .750 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Atlantic Coast | 3 | .250 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Big Eight | 2 | .333 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Southland | 2 | .333 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Metro | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Sun Belt | 1 | .750 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | ||
| Atlantic 10 | 1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | ||
| Southwest | 1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | ||
| Big Ten | 1 | .500 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Cosmopolitan | 1 | .500 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Mid-Eastern | 1 | .500 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Northern Pacific | 1 | .500 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Ohio Valley | 1 | .500 | – | – | – | – | – |
Eight conferences went 0-1: Big East, East Coast, Gateway, High Country, Ivy League, MAC, Mountain West Athletic, and SWAC