ASUN women's basketball tournament explained

ASUN women's basketball tournament
Optional Subheader:Conference basketball championship
Sport:Basketball
Conference:ASUN Conference
Format:Single-elimination tournament
Current Stadium:Campus sites
Years:1986–1991 (as NSWAC Tournament)
1992–2001 (as TAAC Tournament)
2002–present (as ASUN Tournament)
Most Recent:2024
Current Champion:Florida Gulf Coast
Most Championships:FGCU (11)
Website:asunsports.org

The ASUN women's basketball tournament is a postseason tournament that determines which team receives the ASUN Conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.

The tournament was first held in 1986 by the New South Women's Athletic Conference, a women-only Division I conference. Following the 1990–91 basketball season, the NSWAC was absorbed by the Trans America Athletic Conference, with the TAAC incorporating all NSWAC statistics and records as its own. The conference changed its name to Atlantic Sun Conference in 2002, and rebranded itself as the ASUN Conference in 2016.[1]

History

For most of its history, the tournament was held at predetermined campus sites, a tradition which started with the inception of the women's tournament. From 2004-07, the tournament was played regularly at the Dothan Civic Center in Dothan, Alabama, though then-conference member Troy was the official host in 2004-05, and the city of Dothan was the host in 2006-07, after Troy had departed for the Sun Belt Conference. Starting in 2008, the tournament moved yet again, this time to Nashville, Tennessee, hosted by Lipscomb. In 2010, the tourney was moved to Macon, Georgia and was hosted by Mercer University through 2013. It then moved to Alico Arena on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University near Fort Myers, Florida for two seasons. The 2016 tournament began a new era for the event, with all games being held at campus sites. Since then, all games have been hosted by the higher seed of the teams involved, except for the 2021 edition. With the 2020–21 season dramatically affected by COVID-19, the ASUN chose to move its entire tournament to the campus of Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Results

YearChampionsScoreRunner-UpVenue
style= colspan=5New South Women's Athletic Conference
1986 Florida A&M (1) 68–54 Gaither Gym, Tallahassee, Florida
1987 Georgia Southern (1) 74–69 Florida A&M Hanner Fieldhouse, Statesboro, Georgia
1988 Georgia Southern (2) 73–66 Florida A&M Edmunds Center, DeLand, Florida
1989 Stetson (1) 72–65 Georgia Southern
1990 Georgia Southern (3) 71–70 Golden Panther Arena, Miami, Florida
1991 Miami (FL) (1) 73–44 Florida A&M Gaither Gym, Tallahassee, Florida
style= colspan=5Trans America Athletic Conference
1992 FIU (1) 88–78 Georgia Southern Hanner Fieldhouse, Statesboro, Georgia
1993 FIU (2) 77–52 Golden Panther Arena, Miami, Florida
1994 FIU (3) 89–67
1995 FIU (4) 76–74 Southeastern Louisiana John Kresse Arena, Charleston, South Carolina
1996 Central Florida (1) 81–57 University Center, Hammond, Louisiana
1997 FIU (5) 91–71 Edmunds Center, DeLand, Florida
1998 FIU (6) 86–50 Golden Panther Arena, Miami, Florida
1999 Central Florida (2) 80–59 Jacksonville State GSU Sports Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
2000 Campbell (1) 66–49 Georgia State Pelham Civic Center, Pelham, Alabama
2001 Georgia State (1) 64–62 Campbell UCF Arena, Orlando, Florida
style= colspan=5Atlantic Sun Conference
2002 Georgia State (2) 64–63 Florida Atlantic Trojan Arena, Troy, AL
2003 Georgia State (3) 80–63 Central Florida UCF Arena, Orlando, Florida
2004 Lipscomb (1) 64–62 Central Florida
2005 Stetson (2) 88–62 Georgia State
2006 Florida Atlantic (1) 88–62 Gardner–Webb
2007 Belmont (1) 69–57 East Tennessee State
2008 East Tennessee State (1) 72–72 Allen Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
2009 East Tennessee State (2) 58–52 Jacksonville
2010 East Tennessee State (3) 63–62 University Center, Macon, Georgia
2011 Stetson (3) 69–50 Jacksonville
2012 Florida Gulf Coast (1) 67–39 Stetson
2013 Stetson (4) 70–64 Stetson
Florida Gulf Coast (2) 72–70 Stetson Alico Arena, Fort Myers, Florida
Florida Gulf Coast (3) 60–43 Northern Kentucky
Jacksonville (1) 56–54 Florida Gulf Coast
style= colspan=5ASUN Conference
Florida Gulf Coast (4) 77–70 Stetson Edmunds Center, DeLand, Florida
Florida Gulf Coast (5) 68–58 Jacksonville Alico Arena, Fort Myers, Florida
Florida Gulf Coast (6) 72–49
2020Tournament canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic[2] [3]
Florida Gulf Coast (7)[4] 84–62Liberty KSU Convocation Center, Kennesaw, Georgia
Florida Gulf Coast (8) 69–54 Campus sites
Florida Gulf Coast (9) 84–60 Liberty
2024Florida Gulf Coast (10)76–47Central Arkansas

Champions

SchoolTitlesYears
Florida Gulf Coast2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020Co, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
FIU1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998
Stetson1989, 2005, 2011, 2013
East Tennessee State2008, 2009, 2010
Georgia State2001, 2002, 2003
Georgia Southern1987, 1988, 1990
UCF1996, 1999
Jacksonville2016
Belmont2007
Lipscomb2004
Campbell2000
Florida Atlantic2006
Miami (FL)1991
Florida A&M1986
Liberty2020Co

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ASUN Conference Women’s Basketball Record Book . asunsports.org . ASUN Conference . 23 February 2023.
  2. FGCU, Liberty, semi-finalists, named as co-champions of tournament
  3. Web site: Carmany. Paul. 2020-09-25. Lady Flames Announce Revamped 2020-21 ASUN WBB Schedule. 2021-04-30. WSLS. en.
  4. Web site: 2021-03-14. No. 21 FGCU Defeats Liberty to Capture the 2021 #ASUNMadness Championship. 2021-04-30. ASUN Conference. en.