| Year: | 2012 |
| Gender: | women's |
| Ncaadiv: | Division I |
| Division: | National Collegiate |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Frozenfourarena: | AMSOIL Arena |
| Frozenfourcity: | Duluth, Minnesota |
| Champions: | Minnesota Golden Gophers |
| Titlecount: | 3rd |
| Champgamecount: | 4th |
| Champffcount: | 8th |
| Runnerup: | Wisconsin Badgers |
| Gamecount: | 6th |
| Runnerffcount: | 6th |
| Semifinal1: | Cornell Big Red |
| Frozenfourcount: | 3rd |
| Semifinal2: | Boston College Eagles |
| Frozenfourcount2: | 3rd |
| Coach: | Brad Frost |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Noora Räty |
| Mopteam: | Minnesota |
The 2012 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament involved eight schools in single-elimination play that determined the national champion of women's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. The Frozen Four were hosted by the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota.
The winners of the ECAC, WCHA, and Hockey East tournaments all received automatic berths to the NCAA tournament. The other five teams were selected at-large. The top four teams were then seeded and received home ice for the quarterfinals.
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wisconsin | WCHA | 31–4–2 | At-large bid | 7th | 2011 | |
| 2 | Minnesota | WCHA | 31–5–2 | Tournament champion | 11th | 2011 | |
| 3 | Cornell | ECAC | 29–4–0 | At-large bid | 2nd | 2011 | |
| 4 | Boston College | Hockey East | 23–9–3 | At-large bid | 4th | 2011 | |
| St. Lawrence | ECAC | 24–9–4 | Tournament champion | 8th | 2009 | ||
| Boston University | Hockey East | 27–7–3 | Tournament champion | 3rd | 2011 | ||
| North Dakota | WCHA | 22–10–3 | At-large bid | 1st | |||
| Mercyhurst | CHA | 23–7–3 | At-large bid | 8th | 2011 |
Quarterfinals held at home sites of seeded teams