| Current Season: | 2024 NAIA women's basketball tournament |
| Country: | United States |
| Last Season: | 2018 |
| Upcoming Season: | 2022 |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Founded: | 1981 |
| Motto: | Passion. Tradition. History. |
| Divisions: | 1 2 (1992–2020) |
| Teams: | 64 32 (1992–2020) |
| Venue: | Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark
|
| Champion: | Dordt (1st) |
| Most Champs: | D-I: Oklahoma City (9) D-II: Northwestern (IA) (5) Single division: Southwestern Oklahoma State (6) |
| Tv: | ESPN 3 (national) |
| Related Comps: | NAIA Men's Basketball Championships |
The NAIA women's basketball tournament has been held annually by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics since 1981 to determine the national champion of women's college basketball among its members in the United States and Canada.
The tournament was created to crown a women's national title for smaller colleges and universities, debuting one year before the first NCAA women's basketball tournament in 1982.
From 1992 to 2020, the NAIA sponsored two championships, one for its Division I members and another for those in its Division II. Both tournaments moved venues several times during the existences, with the final locations ultimately being Billings, Montana for Division I and Sioux City, Iowa for Division II. During this time, the NAIA tournaments featured 32 teams with the entire events contested at a single arena over the course of one week. Following renewals, the 2018 and 2019 tournaments were held in those same cities, but the 2020 tournaments were called off due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
From 2021, the two tournaments were merged back into a single event, which initially featured 48 teams in 2021 before expanding to 64 teams in 2022. Since the expansion of the tournament to its current size, the format of the event has featured teams beginning play at one of sixteen regional sites with the winners of those regionals advancing to play in a final, four-round national tournament in Sioux City, Iowa.
Dordt are the defending champions, winnining their first national title in 2024.
For the first eleven years that the NAIA sponsored women's basketball, it held a single national championship for all programs across its entire membership. The tournament field was initially set at eight before later expansions to 16 and 32 teams.
| style= colspan=11 | NAIA Women's Basketball Championship | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Arena | Location | Championship | Third-place game | ||||||
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | |||||
| 1981 Details | Venue Unknown | Kentucky State | 73–67 | Texas Southern | 74–65 | Azusa Pacific | ||||
| 1982 Details | SW Oklahoma State | 80–45 | Missouri Southern State | 71–61 | Berry | |||||
| 1983 Details | SW Oklahoma State (2) | 80–68 | Alabama–Huntsville | 85–65 | Portland | |||||
| 1984 Details | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | UNC Asheville | 72–70 (OT) | Portland | 70–66 | Berry | ||||
| 1985 Details | SW Oklahoma State (3) | 55–54 | Saginaw Valley State | 70–64 | Midland Lutheran | |||||
| 1986 Details | Kansas City, Missouri | Francis Marion | 75–65 | Wayland Baptist | 85–78 | Georgia Southwestern | ||||
| 1987 Details | SW Oklahoma State (4) | 60–58 | North Georgia | 82–56 | Arkansas Tech | |||||
| 1988 Details | Oklahoma City | 113–95 | Claflin | Arkansas Tech | 86–81 (OT) | Wingate | ||||
| 1989 Details | Southern Nazarene | 98–96 | Claflin | Arkansas Tech & St. Ambrose | ||||||
| 1990 Details | SW Oklahoma State (5) | 82–75 | Claflin & St. Ambrose | |||||||
| 1991 Details | Fort Hays State | 57–53 | SW Oklahoma State | Claflin & IUPUI | ||||||
See also: NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Championship.
The NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Tournament was most recently held at the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings, Montana, which hosted from 2017 until the return to a single division after the 2019–20 season.[1] The NAIA was the only international intercollegiate athletic association in North America; the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship was the first championship to feature a college from outside the United States in the championship game. Former member Simon Fraser University was the national DI runner-up in 1996 and 1997. Oklahoma City University has the most tournament championships with 9, and most championship game appearances with 11.
| style= colspan=9 | NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Arena | Location | Championship | Semifinalists | ||||
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | ||||||
| 1992 Details | Jackson, Tennessee | Arkansas Tech | 84–68 | Wayland Baptist | St. Edward's (TX) & SW Oklahoma State | |||
| 1993 Details | Arkansas Tech (2) | 76–75 | Union (TN) | Southern Nazarene & SW Oklahoma State | ||||
| 1994 Details | Southern Nazarene (2) | 97–74 | David Lipscomb | Auburn Montgomery & Montevallo | ||||
| 1995 Details | Southern Nazarene (3) | 78–77 | SE Oklahoma State | Lipscomb & SW Oklahoma State | ||||
| 1996 Details | Southern Nazarene (4) | 80–79 | SE Oklahoma State | Lipscomb & Union (TN) | ||||
| 1997 Details | Southern Nazarene (5) | 78–73 | Union (TN) | Arkansas Tech & SW Oklahoma State | ||||
| 1998 Details | Union (TN) | 73–70 | Southern Nazarene | |||||
| 1999 Details | Oklahoma City (2) | 72–55 | Simon Fraser | Freed-Hardeman & Southern Nazarene | ||||
| 2000 Details | Oklahoma City (3) | 64–55 | Simon Fraser (B.C.) | Findlay & Southern Nazarene | ||||
| 2001 Details | Oklahoma City (4) | 69–52 | Auburn Montgomery | Lewis–Clark State & Southern Nazarene | ||||
| 2002 Details | Oklahoma City (5) | 82–73 | Southern Nazarene | Central State (OH) & Union (TN) | ||||
| 2003 Details | Southern Nazarene (6) | 71–70 | Oklahoma City | USAO & Vanguard | ||||
| 2004 Details | Southern Nazarene (7) | 77–61 | Oklahoma City | |||||
| 2005 Details | Union (TN) (2) | 67–63 | Oklahoma City | Houston Baptist & Point Loma Nazarene | ||||
| 2006 Details | Union (TN) (3) | 79–62 | Lubbock Christian | The Master's & Vanguard | ||||
| 2007 Details | Lambuth | 63–50 | Cumberland | Union (TN) & Vanguard | ||||
| 2008 Details | Vanguard | 72–59 | Trevecca Nazarene | Freed-Hardeman & Union (TN) | ||||
| 2009 Details | Union (TN) (4) | 73–63 | Lambuth | Oklahoma Baptist & Oklahoma City | ||||
| 2010 Details | Union (TN) (5) | 73–65 | Azusa Pacific | Lee (TN) & Oklahoma City | ||||
| 2011 Details | Azusa Pacific | 65–59 | Union (TN) | Freed-Hardeman & Shawnee State | ||||
| 2012 Details | Frankfort, Kentucky | Oklahoma City (6) | 69–48 | Union (TN) | Georgetown (KY) & Lubbock Christian | |||
| 2013 Details | Westmont | 71–65 | Lee (TN) | Cumberland & Freed-Hardeman | ||||
| 2014 Details | Oklahoma City (7) | 80–76 | Freed-Hardeman[2] | John Brown & Wiley | ||||
| 2015 Details | Independence, Missouri[3] | Oklahoma City (8) | 80–63 | Campbellsville | Freed-Hardeman & Westmont | |||
| 2016 Details | MidAmerica Nazarene | 49–35 | Baker[4] | Benedictine (KS) & Pikeville | ||||
| 2017 Details | Billings, Montana | Oklahoma City (9) | 73–66 | Lewis-Clark State | Campbellsville & Vanguard | |||
| 2018 Details | Freed-Hardeman | 76–64 | Westmont[5] | Montana Western & Wayland Baptist | ||||
| 2019 Details | Montana Western | 75–59 | Oklahoma City | Our Lady of the Lake & Freed-Hardeman | ||||
| 2020 Details | No tournament due to COVID-19. | |||||||
In 2018, the NAIA announced a new format for the 2021 tournament after the merger of Divisions I and II.
| style= colspan=9 | NAIA Women's Basketball Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Arena | Location | Championship | Semifinalists | ||||
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | ||||||
| 2021 Details | Sioux City, Iowa[6] | Westmont (2) | 72–61 | Thomas More | Indiana Wesleyan & Morningside | |||
| 2022 Details | Thomas More | 77–65 | Dordt | Central Methodist & Southeastern (FL) | ||||
| 2023 Details | Clarke | 63–52 | Thomas More | Central Methodist & Dakota State | ||||
| 2024 Details | Dordt | 57–53 | Providence (MT) | Carroll & Cumberlands | ||||
| Team | Titles | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style= | 9 | 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2008 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2016 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2018 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2019 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2023 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2024 |
| Team | Titles | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style= | 7 | 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2004 | ||
| style= | 5 | 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1990 | ||
| style= | 5 | 1998, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 | ||
| style= | 2 | 2013, 2021 | ||
| style= | 2 | 1992, 1993 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1981 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1984 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1986 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1991 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2007 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2011 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2022 |