| Current Season: | 2024 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament |
| Pixels: | 140px |
| Sport: | College basketball |
| Founded: | 1982 |
| Teams: | 64 |
| Country: | NCAA Division III (U.S.) |
| Champion: | NYU (2024, 2nd title) |
| Most Champs: | Washington St. Louis (5 titles) |
| Website: | NCAA.com |
The NCAA Division III women's basketball championship is the annual tournament to determine the national champions of women's NCAA Division III collegiate basketball in the United States. It was held annually from 1982, when the NCAA began to sponsor women's sports at all three levels, through 2019. No championship was held in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19 issues.
Washington St. Louis has been the most successful program, with five national titles. The most recent champions are NYU, who won their second national title in 2024.
Held in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, the 1982 Women's Final Four Basketball Tournament was the first sponsored by the NCAA. Featuring host Elizabethtown College, Clark University (Massachusetts), Pomona College and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the tournament was played in a classic field house over a three-day period. In the first game of the National Semi-Final Elizabethtown took control right from the tip-off against Clark and easily cruised to a 71–51 victory. In the second game of the Final Four Pomona took the lead early in the game, but UNC Greensboro battled back to tie the game at 56 with six minutes to play. UNC Greensboro then went on a run and pulled away for a 77–66 win. Elizabethtown and UNC Greensboro turned the championship game into an epic battle of lead changes and shifts in momentum. Last second heroics by UNC Greensboro sent the game into overtime, but Elizabethtown came up with the final stop in overtime to win 67–66 in overtime. Television coverage was provided by a fledgling ESPN while exclusive radio coverage was provided by KSPC Radio - Pomona College's tiny KSPC sports broadcasting group with Geoff Willis (Pomona '83) and James Timmerman (Pomona '82) providing the play by play and color. ESPN was so embryonic that the game was broadcast multiple times during the following two weeks and ESPN hired the KSPC Radio staff to help with background and color research about the players and the teams.
| style= colspan=11 | NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Finals Site | Arena | Championship Game | Semifinalists | ||||
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | ||||||
| 1982 Details | Elizabethtown, PA | Thompson Gymnasium | Elizabethtown | 67–66 (OT) | UNC Greensboro | Pomona-Pitzer, Clark | ||
| 1983 Details | Worcester, MA | Kneller Athletics Center | North Central (IL) | 83–71 | Elizabethtown | Knoxville, Clark | ||
| 1984 Details | Scranton, PA | John Long Center | Rust | 51–49 | Elizabethtown | Salem St, North Central | ||
| 1985 Details | De Pere, WI | Schuldes Sports Center | Scranton | 68–59 | New Rochelle | Millikin, St. Norbert | ||
| 1986 Details | Salem, MA | Twohig Gymnasium | Salem State | 89–85 | Bishop (TX) | Capital, Rust | ||
| 1987 Details | Scranton, PA | John Long Center | UW–Stevens Point | 81–74 | Concordia–Moorhead | Scranton, Kean | ||
| 1988 Details | Moorhead, MN | Memorial Auditorium | Concordia–Moorhead | 65–57 | St. John Fisher | UNC-Greensboro, Southern Maine | ||
| 1989 Details | Danville, KY | Alumni Gymnasium | Elizabethtown | 66–65 | Cal State Stanislaus | Centre, Clarkson | ||
| 1990 Details | Holland, MI | Holland Civic Center | Hope | 65–63 | St. John Fisher | Heidelberg, Centre | ||
| 1991 Details | St. Paul, MN | Schoenecker Arena | St. Thomas (MN) | 73–55 | Muskingum | Eastern Connecticut, Washington University in St. Louis | ||
| 1992 Details | Bethlehem, PA | Johnston Hall | Alma | 79–75 | Moravian | Luther, Eastern Connecticut St | ||
| 1993 Details | Pella, IA | Kuyper Gymnasium | Central (IA) | 71–63 | Capital | Scranton, St. Benedict | ||
| 1994 Details | Eau Claire, WI | W.L. Zorn Arena | Capital | 82–63 | Washington University in St. Louis | UW-Eau Claire, Wheaton (MA) | ||
| 1995 Details | Columbus, OH | Alumni Gymnasium | Capital | 59–55 | UW–Oshkosh | St. Thomas, Salem State | ||
| 1996 Details | Oshkosh, WI | Kolf Sports Center | UW–Oshkosh | 66–50 | Mount Union | St. Thomas, New York University | ||
| 1997 Details | New York City, NY | Coles Sports Center | NYU | 72–70 | UW–Eau Claire | Capital, Scranton | ||
| 1998 Details | Gorham, ME | Warren Hill Gymnasium | Washington University in St. Louis | 77–69 | Southern Maine | Mount Union, Rowan | ||
| 1999 Details | Danbury, CT | O'Neill Center | Washington University in St. Louis | 74–65 | St. Benedict | Salem State, Scranton | ||
| 2000 Details | Washington University in St. Louis | 79–33 | Southern Maine | St. Thomas, Scranton | ||||
| 2001 Details | Washington University in St. Louis | 67–45 | Messiah | Ohio Wesleyan, Emmanuel | ||||
| 2002 Details | Terre Haute, IN | Hulbert Arena | UW–Stevens Point | 67–65 | St. Lawrence | DePauw, Marymount | ||
| 2003 Details | Trinity (TX) | 60–58[1] | Eastern Connecticut State | UW-Eau Claire, Rochester | ||||
| 2004 Details | Virginia Beach, VA | Jane P. Batten Student Center | Wilmington (OH) | 59–53[2] | Bowdoin | Rochester, UW–Stevens Point | ||
| 2005 Details | Millikin | 70–50[3] | Randolph–Macon | Southern Maine, Scranton | ||||
| 2006 Details | Springfield, MA | Springfield Civic Center | Hope | 69–56 | Southern Maine | Scranton, Hardin–Simmons | ||
| 2007 Details | DePauw | 55–52 | Washington University in St. Louis | Mary Washington, NYU | ||||
| 2008 Details | Holland, MI | DeVos Fieldhouse | Howard Payne | 68–54 | Messiah | UW–Whitewater, Oglethorpe | ||
| 2009 Details | George Fox | 60–53[4] | Washington University in St. Louis | TCNJ, Amherst | ||||
| 2010 Details | Bloomington, IL | Shirk Center | Washington University in St. Louis | 65–59[5] | Hope | Amherst, Rochester | ||
| 2011 Details | 64–55 | Washington University in St. Louis | Christopher Newport, Illinois Wesleyan | |||||
| 2012 Details | Holland, MI | DeVos Fieldhouse | 57–48[6] | George Fox | St. Thomas, Amherst | |||
| 2013 Details | DePauw | 69–51 | UW–Whitewater | Williams, Amherst | ||||
| 2014 Details | Stevens Point, WI | Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse | 80–72 | Whitman | UW-Whitewater, Tufts | |||
| 2015 Details | Grand Rapids, MI | Van Noord Arena | Thomas More (vacated)[7] | 83–63[8] | George Fox | Montclair State, Tufts | ||
| 2016 Details | Indianapolis, IN | Bankers Life Fieldhouse | Thomas More | 63–51[9] | Tufts | Amherst, Wartburg | ||
| 2017 Details | Grand Rapids, MI | Van Noord Arena | 52–29 | Tufts | Christopher Newport, St Thomas | |||
| 2018 Details | Rochester, MN | Mayo Civic Center | Amherst[10] [11] | 65–45 | Bowdoin | Thomas More, Wartburg | ||
| 2019[12] Details | Salem, VA | Cregger Center | Thomas More | 81–67 | Bowdoin | Scranton, St. Thomas (MN) | ||
| 2020 Details | Columbus, OH | Capital University Performance Arena | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021 Details | Salem, VA | Cregger Center | ||||||
| 2022 Details | Pittsburgh, PA | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse | Hope | 71–58 | UW-Whitewater | Amherst, Trine | ||
| 2023 Details | Dallas, TX | American Airlines Center | Transylvania | 57–52 | Christopher Newport | Smith, Rhode Island College | ||
| 2024 Details | Columbus, OH | Capital University Performance Arena | NYU | 51-41 | Smith | Transylvania, Wartburg | ||
| 2025 | Salem, VA | Cregger Center | ||||||
| 2026 | ||||||||
| Team | Titles | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style= | 5 | 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010 | ||
| style= | 3 | 2011, 2017, 2018 | ||
| style= | 3 | 1990, 2006, 2022 | ||
| style= | 2 | 2007, 2013 | ||
| style= | 2 | 1987, 2002 | ||
| style= | 2 | 1994, 1995 | ||
| style= | 2 | 1982, 1989 | ||
| style= | 2 | 1997, 2024 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2023 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2014 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2012 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2009 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2008 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2005 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2004 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2003 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1996 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1993 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1992 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1988 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1986 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1985 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1983 |
| Team | Titles | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style= | 2 | , 2016, 2019 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1991 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1984 |
Schools in italics no longer compete in NCAA Division III.
| Appearances | School | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Washington University in St. Louis | |
| 8 | Amherst, Scranton | |
| 6 | St. Thomas (MN) | |
| 5 | Capital, Southern Maine | |
| 4 | Elizabethtown, Salem State, Thomas More, Tufts, UW-Whitewater | |
| 3 | Christopher Newport, DePauw, Eastern Connecticut, George Fox, Hope, NYU, Rochester, UW–Eau Claire, UW–Stevens Point | |
| 2 | Centre, Clark, Concordia–Moorhead, Illinois Wesleyan, Messiah, Millikin, Mount Union, North Central (IL), Rust, Saint Benedict, St. John Fisher, UNC Greensboro, UW–Oshkosh, Bowdoin, Wartburg |