| Gender: | Women's |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Teams: | 68 |
| Finalfourarena: | Target Center |
| Finalfourcity: | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Champions: | South Carolina Gamecocks |
| Titlecount: | 2nd |
| Champgamecount: | 2nd |
| Champffcount: | 4th |
| Runnerup: | UConn Huskies |
| Gamecount: | 12th |
| Runnerffcount: | 22nd |
| Semifinal1: | Louisville Cardinals |
| Finalfourcount: | 4th |
| Semifinal2: | Stanford Cardinal |
| Finalfourcount2: | 15th |
| Coach: | Dawn Staley |
| Coachcount: | 2nd |
| Mop: | Aliyah Boston |
| Mopteam: | South Carolina |
The 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 40th edition of the tournament began on March 16, 2022, and concluded with the championship game on April 3 at Target Center in Minneapolis, where the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the UConn Huskies 64–49 to win their second NCAA title, and handing UConn its first loss in the championship game. This tournament marked the introduction of the "First Four" round and an expansion of the field of participants from 64 teams to 68, mirroring the men's tournament since 2011.
Big South champion Longwood, Horizon champion IUPUI and Southland champion Incarnate Word made their tournament debuts. Tennessee continued its record streak of making every edition of the tournament, while UConn extended its record streak of 14 consecutive Final Four appearances.
For the first time, the women's tournament was expanded from 64 to 68 teams, adopting the format that has been used by the men's tournament]] since 2011; these teams consisted of the 32 conference champions, and 36 "at-large" bids that were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The last four at-large teams and the teams seeded 65 through 68 overall competed in First Four games, whose winners advanced to the 64-team first round.[1]
The top four teams outside of the ranking (commonly known as the "first four out") were designated as standbys in the event a school was forced to withdraw before the start of the tournament due to COVID-19 protocols. Once the tournament began, teams that withdrew would not be replaced, and the affected team's opponent would automatically advance to the next round by walkover.
| NET | School | Conference | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | Boston College | ACC | 19–11 | |
| 50 | Missouri | SEC | 18–12 | |
| 36 | South Dakota State | Summit | 22–9 | |
| 41 | UCLA | Pac-12 | 14–12 |
After the 2020 tournament was cancelled and the 2021 tournament was held in a single location due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was reverted to the standard format for the first time since 2019.
The first two rounds, also referred to as the subregionals, were played at the sites of the top 16 seeds, as was done from 2016 to 2019.
First Four
Subregionals (first and second rounds)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
National semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)
In the wake of criticism raised in 2021 over inequities between the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments, the NCAA announced that the 2022 women's tournament will be promoted with the "March Madness" branding for the first time.[9]
The following teams automatically qualified for the 2022 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament.
| Conference | Team | Record | Appearance | Last bid | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| America East | Albany | 23–9 | 7th | 2017 | |
| American | UCF | 25–3 | 7th | 2021 | |
| ASUN | Florida Gulf Coast | 29–2 | 8th | 2021 | |
| Atlantic 10 | UMass | 26–6 | 3rd | 1998 | |
| ACC | NC State | 29–3 | 27th | 2021 | |
| Big 12 | Texas | 26–6 | 34th | 2021 | |
| Big East | Connecticut | 25–5 | 33rd | 2021 | |
| Big Sky | Montana State | 22–12 | 3rd | 2017 | |
| Big South | Longwood | 21–11 | 1st | Never | |
| Big Ten | Iowa | 23–7 | 28th | 2021 | |
| Big West | Hawaiʻi | 20–9 | 7th | 2016 | |
| Colonial | Delaware | 24–7 | 5th | 2013 | |
| C-USA | Charlotte | 22–9 | 3rd | 2009 | |
| Horizon | IUPUI | 24–4 | 1st | Never | |
| Ivy League | Princeton | 24–4 | 9th | 2019 | |
| MAAC | Fairfield | 25–6 | 5th | 2001 | |
| MAC | Buffalo | 25–8 | 4th | 2019 | |
| MEAC | Howard | 20–9 | 6th | 2001 | |
| Missouri Valley | Illinois State | 19–13 | 6th | 2008 | |
| Mountain West | UNLV | 26–6 | 9th | 2002 | |
| Northeast | Mount St. Mary's | 16–12 | 4th | 2021 | |
| Ohio Valley | Belmont | 22–7 | 7th | 2021 | |
| Pac-12 | Stanford | 28–3 | 35th | 2021 | |
| Patriot | American | 23–8 | 3rd | 2018 | |
| SEC | Kentucky | 19–11 | 17th | 2021 | |
| Southern | Mercer | 23–6 | 4th | 2021 | |
| Southland | Incarnate Word | 13–16 | 1st | Never | |
| SWAC | Jackson State | 23–6 | 6th | 2021 | |
| Summit | South Dakota | 27–5 | 4th | 2021 | |
| Sun Belt | UT Arlington | 20–7 | 3rd | 2007 | |
| West Coast | Gonzaga | 26–6 | 13th | 2021 | |
| WAC | Stephen F. Austin | 28–4 | 20th | 2021 |
| Bids | State(s) | Schools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona | Arizona | |
| 1 | Arkansas | Arkansas | |
| 1 | California | Stanford | |
| 1 | Colorado | Colorado | |
| 2 | Connecticut | Connecticut, Fairfield | |
| 1 | Delaware | Delaware | |
| 6 | Florida | Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Miami, UCF, USF | |
| 3 | Georgia | Georgia, Georgia Tech, Mercer | |
| 1 | Hawaii | Hawaiʻi | |
| 2 | Illinois | DePaul, Illinois State | |
| 3 | Indiana | Indiana, IUPUI, Notre Dame | |
| 2 | Iowa | Iowa, Iowa State | |
| 2 | Kansas | Kansas, Kansas State | |
| 2 | Kentucky | Kentucky, Louisville | |
| 1 | Louisiana | LSU | |
| 1 | Massachusetts | UMass | |
| 2 | Maryland | Maryland, Mount St. Mary's | |
| 1 | Michigan | Michigan | |
| 2 | Mississippi | Jackson State, Ole Miss | |
| 1 | Missouri | Missouri State | |
| 1 | Montana | Montana State | |
| 2 | Nebraska | Creighton, Nebraska | |
| 1 | Nevada | UNLV | |
| 1 | New Jersey | Princeton | |
| 2 | New York | Albany, Buffalo | |
| 3 | North Carolina | Charlotte, North Carolina, NC State | |
| 2 | Ohio | Dayton, Ohio State | |
| 1 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | |
| 1 | Oregon | Oregon | |
| 1 | Pennsylvania | Villanova | |
| 1 | South Carolina | South Carolina | |
| 1 | South Dakota | South Dakota | |
| 2 | Tennessee | Belmont, Tennessee | |
| 5 | Texas | Baylor, Incarnate Word, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, UT Arlington | |
| 2 | Utah | BYU, Utah | |
| 2 | Virginia | Longwood, Virginia Tech | |
| 2 | Washington | Gonzaga, Washington State | |
| 2 | Washington, D.C. | American, Howard |
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All times are listed as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)
* – Denotes overtime period
See also: Greensboro Coliseum Complex.
See also: Intrust Bank Arena.
See also: Spokane Arena.
See also: Total Mortgage Arena.
See also: Target Center.
See main article: article and 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game.
| Conference | Bids | Record | Win % | FF | R64 | R32 | S16 | E8 | F4 | CG | NC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC | 8 | 10–7 | – | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Big East | 4 | 9–4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | ||
| ACC | 8 | 12–8 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | ||
| Pac-12 | 6 | 6–6 | – | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | ||
| Big Ten | 6 | 10–6 | – | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Big 12 | 6 | 9–6 | – | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | ||
| Summit | 1 | 2–1 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||
| American | 2 | 1–2 | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| WCC | 2 | 1–2 | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Atlantic Sun | 1 | 1–1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ivy League | 1 | 1–1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Ohio Valley | 1 | 1–1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Atlantic 10 | 2 | 1–2 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Missouri Valley | 2 | 1–2 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big South | 1 | 1–1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| MEAC | 1 | 1–1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| America East | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big Sky | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Big West | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| C-USA | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Colonial | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Horizon | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| MAAC | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| MAC | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Mountain West | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Patriot | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| SWAC | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Southern | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Sun Belt | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| WAC | 1 | 0–1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Northeast | 1 | 0–1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Southland | 1 | 0–1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
ESPN served as the exclusive broadcaster of the tournament, with all games airing on either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, or ABC.[11] ESPN offered Megacast coverage for the Women's Final Four and championship game, including The Bird & Taurasi Show on ESPN2 (hosted by Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, with similarities to ESPN's Monday Night Football with Payton and Eli), along with a feed featuring enhanced statistics and augmented reality graphics using player and ball tracking, and "Beyond the Rim" and "On the Rail" camera options on ESPN+.[12] [13]
First Four
First & second rounds Friday/Sunday (Subregionals)
First & second rounds Saturday/Monday (Subregionals)
Regionals (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)
Final Four and National Championship
Westwood One had exclusive radio rights to the entire tournament.
Regionals
Final Four and Championship
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