| Current Season: | 2024 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament |
| Pixels: | 140px |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Founded: | 1982 |
| Teams: | 64 |
| Country: | NCAA Division II (U.S.) |
| Champion: | Minnesota State (2nd) |
| Tv: | CBS Sports Network |
| Website: | NCAA.com |
The NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is an annual tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II women's college basketball national champion. Basketball was one of 12 women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA and Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) sought for sole governance of women's collegiate athletics. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championships; however, after a year of dual women's championships at the national level, the AIAW disbanded.
The 2020 Elite Eight was due to be held at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, AL before the NCAA called off the tournament due to the COVID-19 outbreak.[1]
The field was reduced to 48 in 2021 and returned to the normal 64 in 2022.
Minnesota State are the defending national champions.
A total of 64 bids are normally available for each tournament: 23 automatic bids (awarded to the champion of each Division II all-sports conference) and 41 at-large bids. Due to COVID-19 issues, the 2020 tournament was canceled, and the 2021 tournament was reduced to 48 teams when nine all-sports conferences chose not to compete in women's basketball in 2020–21.
The bids are allocated evenly among the eight NCAA-designated regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West), each of which contains either two or three of the 23 Division II conferences that sponsor women's basketball. Each region normally consists of two or three automatic qualifiers (the teams who won their respective conference tournaments) and five or six at-large bids (awarded regardless of conference affiliation).
| style= colspan=11 | NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Site (Host Team) | Championship | Third Place Match / Semifinalists | |||||||
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | |||||
| 1982 Details | Springfield, MA (Springfield Civic Center) | Cal Poly Pomona | 93–74 | Tuskegee | Mount St. Mary's | 73–62 | Oakland | |||
| 1983 Details | Virginia Union | 73–60 | Cal Poly Pomona | Southern Connecticut State Central Missouri State | ||||||
| 1984 Details | Central Missouri State | 80–73 | Virginia Union | Dayton Valdosta State | ||||||
| 1985 Details | Cal Poly Pomona (2) | 80–69 | Central Missouri State | Hampton Mercer | ||||||
| 1986 Details | Cal Poly Pomona (3) | 70–63 | North Dakota State | Delta State Philadelphia Textile | ||||||
| 1987 Details | New Haven | 77–75 | Cal Poly Pomona | Northern Kentucky Pitt Johnstown | ||||||
| 1988 Details | Fargo, ND (Bison Sports Arena) | Hampton | 65–48 | West Texas State | Delta State North Dakota State | |||||
| 1989 Details | Cleveland, MS (Walter Sillers Coliseum) | Delta State | 88–58 | Cal Poly Pomona | Bentley | 83–81 | Central Missouri State | |||
| 1990 Details | Pomona, CA (Kellogg Gymnasium) | Delta State (2) | 77–43 | Bentley | Cal Poly Pomona | 87–68 | Oakland | |||
| 1991 Details | Cape Girardeau, MO (Show Me Center) | North Dakota State | 81–74 | Southeast Missouri State | Bentley | 60–58 | Norfolk State | |||
| 1992 Details | Fargo, ND (Bison Sports Arena) | Delta State (3) | 65–63 | North Dakota State | Portland State | 72–69 | Bentley | |||
| 1993 Details | Waltham, MA (Dana Athletic Center) | North Dakota State (2) | 95–63 | Delta State | Michigan Tech | 74–60 | Bentley | |||
| 1994 Details | Fargo, ND (Bison Sports Arena) | North Dakota State (3) | 89–56 | Cal State San Bernardino | North Alabama | 79–75 | Bellarmine | |||
| 1995 Details | North Dakota State (4) | 98–85 | Portland State | Missouri Western State | 76–66 | Stonehill | ||||
| 1996 Details | North Dakota State (5) | 104–78 | Shippensburg | Abilene Christian | 83–65 | Delta State | ||||
| 1997 Details | Grand Forks, ND (Hyslop Sports Center) | North Dakota | 94–78 | Southern Indiana | UC Davis | 76–61 | Bentley | |||
| 1998 Details | Pine Bluff, AR (H.O. Clemmons Arena) | North Dakota (2) | 92–76 | Emporia State | Francis Marion Northern Michigan | |||||
| 1999 Details | North Dakota (3) | 80–63 | Arkansas Tech | Emporia State Northern Kentucky | ||||||
| 2000 Details | Northern Kentucky | 71–62 (OT) | North Dakota State | Columbus State Western Washington | ||||||
| 2001 Details | Rochester, MN (Mayo Civic Center) | Cal Poly Pomona (4) | 87–80 (OT) | North Dakota | Shippensburg Columbus State | |||||
| 2002 Details | Cal Poly Pomona (5) | 74–62 | Southeastern Oklahoma | Glenville State South Dakota State | ||||||
| 2003 Details | St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena) | South Dakota State | 65–50 | Northern Kentucky | Bentley California (PA) | |||||
| 2004 Details | California (PA) | 75–72 | Drury | Henderson State Merrimack | ||||||
| 2005 Details | Hot Springs, AR (Summit Arena) | Washburn | 70–53 | Seattle Pacific | Central Arkansas Merrimack | |||||
| 2006 Details | Grand Valley State | 58–52 | American International | Chico State St. Cloud State | ||||||
| 2007 Details | Kearney, NE (Health and Sports Center) | Southern Connecticut State | 61–45 | Florida Gulf Coast | Clayton State UC San Diego | |||||
| 2008 Details | Northern Kentucky (2) | 63–58 | South Dakota | Alaska Anchorage Delta State | ||||||
| 2009 Details | San Antonio, TX (Bill Greehey Arena) | Minnesota State | 103–94 | Franklin Pierce | Alaska Anchorage Delta State | |||||
| 2010 Details | St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena) | Emporia State | 65–53 | Fort Lewis | Franklin Pierce Gannon | |||||
| 2011 Details | Clayton State | 69–50 | Michigan Tech | Shaw Northwest Missouri State | ||||||
| 2012 Details | San Antonio, TX (Bill Greehey Arena) | Shaw | 88–82 (OT) | Ashland | Bentley Rollins | |||||
| 2013 Details | Ashland | 71–56 | Dowling | Augustana (SD) Western Washington | ||||||
| 2014 Details | Erie, PA (Erie Insurance Arena) | Bentley | 73–65 | West Texas A&M | Cal Poly Pomona Nova Southeastern | |||||
| 2015 Details | Sioux Falls, SD (Sanford Pentagon) | California (PA) (2) | 86–69 | California Baptist | Emporia State Limestone | |||||
| 2016 Details | Indianapolis, IN (Bankers Life Fieldhouse) | Lubbock Christian | 78–73 | Alaska Anchorage | Bentley Grand Valley State | |||||
| 2017 Details | Columbus, OH (Alumni Hall) | Ashland (2) | 93–77 | Virginia Union | California Baptist Harding | |||||
| 2018 Details | Sioux Falls, SD (Sanford Pentagon) | Central Missouri (2) | 66–52[2] | Ashland | Indiana (PA) Union (TN) | |||||
| 2019 Details | Columbus, OH (Alumni Hall) | Lubbock Christian (2) | 95–85 (2OT) | Southwestern Oklahoma | Drury Indiana (PA) | |||||
| 2020 Details | Birmingham, AL (Birmingham CrossPlex) | Canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic | ||||||||
| 2021 Details | Columbus, OH (Alumni Hall) | Lubbock Christian (3) | 69–59 | Drury | Central Missouri Lander | |||||
| 2022 Details | Birmingham, AL (Birmingham CrossPlex) | Glenville State | 85–72 | Western Washington | Grand Valley State North Georgia | |||||
| 2023 Details | Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center) | Ashland (3) | 78–67 | Minnesota–Duluth | Catawba Glenville State | |||||
| 2024 Details | St. Joseph, MO (St. Joseph Civic Arena) | Minnesota State (2) | 89–73 | Texas Woman's | Cal State San Marcos Ferris State | |||||
| 2025 | Pittsburgh, PA (UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse) | |||||||||
| 2026 | ||||||||||
| Team | Titles | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style= | 5 | 1982, 1985, 1986, 2001, 2002 | ||
| style= | 3 | 2013, 2017, 2023 | ||
| style= | 3 | 2016, 2019, 2021 | ||
| style= | 3 | 1989, 1990, 1992 | ||
| style= | 2 | 2009, 2024 | ||
| style= | 2 | 1984, 2018 | ||
| style= | 2 | 2004, 2015 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2022 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2014 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2012 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2011 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2010 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2007 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2006 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2005 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1987 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1983 |
| Team | Titles | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style= | 5 | 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 | ||
| style= | 3 | 1997, 1998, 1999 | ||
| style= | 2 | 2000, 2008 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2003 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1988 |