| Gender: | Women's |
| Year: | 1992 |
| Teams: | 48 |
| Finalfourarena: | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena |
| Finalfourcity: | Los Angeles, California |
| Champions: | Stanford Cardinal |
| Titlecount: | 2nd |
| Champgamecount: | 2nd |
| Champffcount: | 3rd |
| Runnerup: | Western Kentucky Lady Toppers |
| Gamecount: | 1st |
| Runnerffcount: | 3rd |
| Semifinal1: | Virginia Cavaliers |
| Finalfourcount: | 3rd |
| Semifinal2: | Southwest Missouri State Lady Bears |
| Finalfourcount2: | 1st |
| Coach: | Tara VanDerveer |
| Coachcount: | 2nd |
| Mop: | Molly Goodenbour |
| Mopteam: | Stanford Cardinal |
The 1992 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 18 and ended on April 5. The tournament featured 48 teams. The Final Four consisted of Virginia Cavaliers, Stanford Cardinal, Southwest Missouri State Lady Bears (now known as Missouri State), and Western Kentucky Lady Toppers, with Stanford defeating Western Kentucky 78–62 to win its second NCAA title.[1] Stanford's Molly Goodenbour was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.[2]
Missouri State (then Southwest Missouri State), was not a regular participant in the Tournament. They had not earned a bid until 1991, when they won their first game and lost their second game. In 1992, they were assigned an eight seed. Their first game was against Kansas, which they won 75–59. That win matched them up against the number one seed in the Midwest region, Iowa. The Hawkeyes were 25–3, winner of the Big Ten conference in their ninth year under Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer. Despite the odds, the Southwest Missouri State team took Iowa to overtime, and won 61–60 in the overtime period. That matched up the Lady Bears against fifth-seeded UCLA, but Southwest Missouri State won easily, 83–57. Their next game was against SEC regular season champion Ole Miss, one of a small number of teams who had played in every NCAA tournament since the first one in 1982. Ole Miss was the number two seed in the region, but Southwest Missouri State again achieved an upset, winning the game 94–71. That win placed the Lady Bears in the Final Four. Prior to this win, the lowest seed to make it to the Final Four was a four seed. Only one team, Arkansas in 1998, with a nine seed, has made it to the Final four with a weaker seed.
Southwest Missouri State's opponent in the semi-final game was Western Kentucky, who has also achieved some upsets. After beating Alabama, the Lady Toppers faced Tennessee, the number one seed in the Mideast region, and the defending national champions. Western Kentucky won the game 75–70, and went on to beat the number 2 seed in the region, Maryland, by the identical score.
The other semi-final included two of the powerhouses of the sport at the time. Both Virginia and Stanford were number one seeds. Stanford had won the National championship two years before, while Virginia was competing in their third consecutive final four, and were the runner-up in the prior year's tournament.
In the game between Western Kentucky and Southwest Missouri State, the Lady Toppers dashed the upset hopes of the Lady Bears, and won the game 84–72. The game between Stanford and Virginia was much closer, with Virginia leading late but Stanford pulled to a small lead. Virginia's Dawn Staley scored to cut the lead to one with eleven seconds left. Stanford now controlled the ball, and in bounded it, but with time running out, the ball was loose on the floor. Staley dived after the loose ball, recovered it and flung it to teammate Melanee Wagener while Staley called for a timeout. The referee did not hear her call for the timeout, then heard the horn announcing the end of the game, so the refs and the teams headed off the court. Staley chased after Doug Cloud, the referee, insisting she had called a time out. A different referee, Bob Trammell, had heard her call for the timeout, so the teams were called back, and a fraction of a second were placed back on the clock. Virginia in bounded the ball and got it to Staley, but she was unable to get a final shot off. Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer would call it, "the longest seven-tenths of a second in my life". The Cardinal won a one-point game 66–65. Van Derveer would later recount the story when preparing to train the USA National team, including Staley, for the 1996 Olympics.
After losing three starters from the prior year's team, including All-American Sonia Henning, some observers, including assistant coach Amy Tucker, were not expecting a stellar season. Their point guard, Molly Goodenbour, had not seen a lot of playing time in prior years playing behind Henning and Jennifer Azzi, but she would go on to hit 18 three-pointers in the tournament, at the time an NCAA record, and win the MVP award for the tournament. Teammates Rachel Hemmer and Val Whiting also earned spots on the All-Tournament team as the team won a 78–62 victory over Western Kentucky to claim their second national championship in three years.
Forty-eight teams were selected to participate in the 1992 NCAA Tournament. Twenty-two conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1992 NCAA tournament.
Twenty-six additional teams were selected to complete the forty-eight invitations.
| At-large Bids | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record | |||||
| Qualifying School | Conference | Regular Season | Conference | Seed | |
| University of Alabama | SEC | 5 | |||
| Arizona State University | Pacific-10 | 6 | |||
| University of California, Berkeley | Pacific-10 | 5 | |||
| Clemson University | ACC | 5 | |||
| University of Connecticut | Big East | 6 | |||
| DePaul University | Great Midwest | 11 | |||
| University of Houston | Southwest | 8 | |||
| University of Kansas | Big Eight | 9 | |||
| California State University, Long Beach | Big West | 10 | |||
| Louisiana Tech University | Sun Belt | 6 | |||
| University of Maryland, College Park | ACC | 2 | |||
| University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) | SEC | 2 | |||
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | ACC | 7 | |||
| Pennsylvania State University | Independent | 3 | |||
| Providence College | Big East | 7 | |||
| Purdue University | Big Ten | 3 | |||
| Rutgers University | Atlantic 10 | 8 | |||
| University of Southern California | Pacific-10 | 3 | |||
| Southern Illinois University Carbondale | Gateway | 10 | |||
| University of Texas at Austin | Southwest | 4 | |||
| University of California, Los Angeles | Pacific-10 | 5 | |||
| Vanderbilt University | SEC | 3 | |||
| University of Vermont | North Atlantic | 9 | |||
| West Virginia University | Atlantic 10 | 4 | |||
| University of Wisconsin–Madison | Big Ten | 6 | |||
Twenty-two conferences earned an automatic bid. In eleven cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Three conferences, the Great Midwest, the Midwestern Collegiate, and the North Atlantic conferences sent a single representative as an at-large team. One independent school was selected. Twenty-five additional at-large teams were selected from ten of the conferences.
| Bids | Conference | Teams | |
| 5 | Pacific-10 | Stanford, Arizona State, California, USC, UCLA | |
| 4 | ACC | Virginia, Clemson, Maryland, North Carolina | |
| 4 | SEC | Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt | |
| 3 | Atlantic 10 | George Washington, Rutgers, West Virginia | |
| 3 | Big East | Miami (FL), Connecticut, Providence | |
| 3 | Big Ten | Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin | |
| 3 | Southwest | Texas Tech, Houston, Texas | |
| 2 | Big Eight | Colorado, Kansas | |
| 2 | Big West | UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State | |
| 2 | Gateway | SW Missouri State, Southern Illinois | |
| 2 | Sun Belt | Western Kentucky, Louisiana Tech | |
| 1 | Big Sky | Montana | |
| 1 | CAA | Old Dominion | |
| 1 | Great Midwest | DePaul | |
| 1 | Independent | Penn State | |
| 1 | Metro | Southern Miss | |
| 1 | Metro Atlantic | St. Peter's | |
| 1 | Mid-American | Toledo | |
| 1 | Midwestern Collegiate | Notre Dame | |
| 1 | North Atlantic | Vermont | |
| 1 | North Star | Northern Illinois | |
| 1 | OVC | Tennessee Tech | |
| 1 | Southern | Chattanooga | |
| 1 | Southland | Stephen F. Austin | |
| 1 | West Coast | Santa Clara | |
| 1 | WAC | Creighton |
In 1992, the field remained at 48 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1–12 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 8 and 9 faced each other for the opportunity to face the 1 seed in the second round, seeds 7 and 10 played for the opportunity to face the 2 seed, seeds 5 and 12 played for the opportunity to face the 4 seed, and seeds 6 and 11 played for the opportunity to face the 3 seed. In the first two rounds, the higher seed was given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In most cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity. The exceptions:
The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the thirty-two first and second round locations:
The regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 26 to March 28 at these sites:
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held April 4 and April 5 in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (co-hosts: University of Southern California, University of California, Los Angeles)
The forty-eight teams came from twenty-nine states, plus Washington, D.C. California had the most teams with seven bids, the first time in tournament history a state had more than four bids. Twenty-one states did not have any teams receiving bids.
| Bids | State | Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | California | Santa Clara, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, California, Long Beach State, USC, UCLA | |
| 4 | Tennessee | Chattanooga, Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, Vanderbilt | |
| 4 | Texas | Stephen F. Austin, Texas Tech, Houston, Texas | |
| 3 | Illinois | Northern Illinois, DePaul, Southern Illinois | |
| 2 | Indiana | Notre Dame, Purdue | |
| 2 | Mississippi | Ole Miss, Southern Miss | |
| 2 | New Jersey | St. Peter's, Rutgers | |
| 2 | Virginia | Old Dominion, Virginia | |
| 1 | Alabama | Alabama | |
| 1 | Arizona | Arizona State | |
| 1 | Colorado | Colorado | |
| 1 | Connecticut | Connecticut | |
| 1 | District of Columbia | George Washington | |
| 1 | Florida | Miami | |
| 1 | Iowa | Iowa | |
| 1 | Kansas | Kansas | |
| 1 | Kentucky | Western Kentucky | |
| 1 | Louisiana | Louisiana Tech | |
| 1 | Maryland | Maryland | |
| 1 | Missouri | SW Missouri State | |
| 1 | Montana | Montana | |
| 1 | Nebraska | Creighton | |
| 1 | North Carolina | North Carolina | |
| 1 | Ohio | Toledo | |
| 1 | Pennsylvania | Penn State | |
| 1 | Rhode Island | Providence | |
| 1 | South Carolina | Clemson | |
| 1 | Vermont | Vermont | |
| 1 | West Virginia | West Virginia | |
| 1 | Wisconsin | Wisconsin |
First and second-round games played at higher seed except where noted.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific-10 | 5 | 9–4 | .692 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Atlantic Coast | 4 | 7–4 | .636 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | |
| Southeastern | 4 | 6–4 | .600 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – | – | |
| Atlantic 10 | 3 | 3–3 | .500 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Big East | 3 | 2–3 | .400 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Big Ten | 3 | 1–3 | .250 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Southwest | 3 | 1–3 | .250 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Gateway | 2 | 5–2 | .714 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | |
| Sun Belt | 2 | 4–2 | .667 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Big West | 2 | 1–2 | .333 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Big Eight | 2 | 0–2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Big Sky | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Great Midwest | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Independent | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Mid-American | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| North Star | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Southland | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| West Coast | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Western Athletic | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
Seven conferences went 0-1: Colonial, Metro, MAAC, Midwestern Collegiate, North Atlantic Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, and Southern Conference.