1993 NCAA Basketball Tournament Results: A Season of Firsts and Memorable Moments
The 1993 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a historic event, marked by several first-time achievements and unforgettable moments. The tournament began on March 17 and concluded on April 4, featuring 48 teams vying for the national championship.
A Field of 48 Teams
Forty-eight teams were selected to participate in the tournament. The teams were seeded and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-12 in each region. Twenty-three conferences earned an automatic bid, and in fourteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Two conferences, Great Midwest and North Atlantic, sent a single representative as an at-large team. In Round 1, seeds 8 and 9 faced each other for the opportunity to face the 1 seed in the second round, seeds 7 and 10 played for the opportunity to face the 2 seed, seeds 5 and 12 played for the opportunity to face the 4 seed, and seeds 6 and 11 played for the opportunity to face the 3 seed. In the first two rounds, the higher seed was given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In most cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity. The forty-eight teams came from twenty-seven states, plus Washington, D.C. California had the most teams with six bids.
Ohio State's Rise and Near Miss
Ohio State, after failing to earn an invitation to the NCAA tournament in the prior two years, experienced a resurgence in 1993. The addition of Katie Smith, the Gatorade National player of the year, to the roster proved pivotal. Smith helped lead the team to a 24-3 regular season record and an NCAA invitation as a 1 seed. The Buckeyes won their first two games easily but faced a challenge in the East Regional final game against Virginia. The Cavaliers had been in the three previous Final Fours, including a national runner-up finish in 1991. Despite 30 points from Virginia's Heather Burge, the Ohio State team won a close match, 75-73, to move on to their first-ever NCAA Final Four. With time winding down and trailing by two points, Virginia raced down the court, and Dana Evans hit a three-point shot, but it was disallowed because the coach had called a timeout with 0.6 seconds left in the game. The inbounds pass was never touched and went out of bounds, turning the ball over to Ohio State. Although they only had to inbound the ball, the inbounder stepped on the line, giving the ball back to Virginia.
Upset City in the Men's Tournament
The 1993 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 55th annual edition of the tournament began on March 18, 1993, and ended with the championship game on April 5 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith, won the national title with a 77-71 victory in the final game over Michigan, coached by Steve Fisher. Donald Williams of North Carolina was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The most memorable play in the championship game came in the last seconds as Michigan's Chris Webber tried to call a timeout with his team down by 2 points when double-teamed by North Carolina. Michigan had already used all of its timeouts, so Webber's gaffe resulted in a technical foul. This year's Final Four was the closest the tournament came to having all four top seeds advance to the semifinals until all four did advance in the 2008 tournament. Indiana was the only top seed not to make it out of its regional; it was defeated by the 2-seed Kansas, in the Midwest regional finals. This tournament is also notable for the uneven distribution of first-round upsets. While there were no upsets in the East, one 'minor' upset in the Midwest (9th seed Xavier defeated 8th seed New Orleans; Xavier was the betting favorite at all sports books in Las Vegas), and one 'medium' upset in the Southeast (11th seed Tulane beat 6th seed Kansas State), the West featured three remarkable upsets amongst the top 5 seeds, with a 12, a 13, and a 15-seed advancing to the second round in that region. No. 15 seed Santa Clara's upset of No. 2 Arizona was only the second 15-over-2 result ever at the time.
- No. 8 Rhode Island 74, No.
- No. 5 St. John's 85, No.
- No. 4 Arkansas 94, No.
- No. 6 Virginia 78, No.
- No. 3 UMass 54, No.
- No. 7 New Mexico State 93, No.
- No. 2 Cincinnati 93, No.
- No. 1 Indiana 97, No.
- No. 9 Xavier 73, No.
- No. 5 Oklahoma State 74, No.
- No. 4 Louisville 76, No.
- No. 6 California 66, No.
- No. 3 Duke 105, No.
- No. 7 BYU 80, No.
- No. 2 Kansas 94, No.
- No. 1 Kentucky 96, No.
- No. 5 Wake Forest 81, No.
- No. 4 Iowa 82, No.
- No. 11 Tulane 55, No.
- No. 3 Florida State 82, No.
- No. 7 Western Kentucky 55, No.
- No. 2 Seton Hall 81, No.
- No. 1 Michigan 84, No.
- No. 9 UCLA 81, No.
- No. 12 George Washington 82, No.
- No. 13 Southern 93, No.
- No. 6 Illinois 75, No.
- No. 3 Vanderbilt 92, No.
- No. 7 Temple 75, No.
- No. 15 Santa Clara 64, No.
- No. 1 North Carolina 112, No.
- No. 4 Arkansas 80, No. 5 St.
- No. 6 Virginia 71, No.
- No. 2 Cincinnati 92, No.
- No. 1 Indiana 73, No.
- No. 4 Louisville 78, No.
- No. 6 California 82, No.
- No. 2 Kansas 90, No.
- No. 1 Kentucky 83, No.
- No. 5 Wake Forest 84, No.
- No. 3 Florida State 94, No.
- No. 7 Western Kentucky 72, No.
- No. 1 Michigan 86, No.
- No. 12 George Washington 90, No.
- No. 3 Vanderbilt 85, No.
- No. 7 Temple 68, No.
- No. 1 North Carolina 80, No.
- No. 2 Cincinnati 71, No.
- No. 1 Indiana 82, No.
- No. 2 Kansas 93, No.
- No. 1 Kentucky 103, No.
- No. 3 Florida State 81, No.
- No. 1 Michigan 72, No.
- No. 7 Temple 67, No.
- No. 1 North Carolina 75, No.
- No. 2 Kansas 83, No.
- No. 1 Kentucky 106, No.
- No. 1 Michigan 77, No.
- No. 1 North Carolina 78, No.
- No. 1 Michigan 81, No.
- No. 1 North Carolina 77, No.
Tennessee's Pursuit of History
In the Mideast Regional, the Tennessee team was the top seed. Tennessee had won the National Championship three of the prior six years and advanced to the regional final with wins of 20 points or more in their first two games. Iowa, who had shared the championship of the Big Ten with Ohio State, was the second seed in the region and faced Tennessee in the regional Final. Iowa was coached by Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer, who had lost her husband to a heart attack during the season. The Tennessee team was trying to win the 500th victory for their coach, Pat Summitt.
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Texas Tech's Dominance in the West
Texas Tech was the second-seeded team in the West regional, where longtime power Stanford was the top seed. However, Colorado upset Stanford in the regional semi-finals, while Texas Tech beat Washington, then USC, to face Colorado in the regional finals. That game wasn't close, as Texas Tech, with Sheryl Swoopes, the "Michael Jordan of women's basketball," beat Colorado by 25 points to make it to their first-ever Final Four.
A Final Four of First-Timers
The Final Four included four teams who had never been in a Final Four before, the first time that had happened since the very first NCAA Final Four in 1982. In the other semifinal, two Big Ten teams faced each other. Ohio State and Iowa had squared off twice in the regular season, with each winning their game at home. This time, they faced each other for the chance to play in the national championship game. At the end of regulation, though, the game was tied, and they had to go to an overtime period. A timeout had been crucial in the Ohio State win over Virginia and would become crucial in this game as well. Near the end of the game, the Iowa coach tried to signal a timeout, but the refs did not see the signal, and Iowa player Laurie Aaron tripped over a player on the floor with six seconds to go, losing the ball and turning it over.
Swoopes's Stellar Performance Leads Texas Tech to Victory
In the championship game, Swoopes scored 23 points in the first half to help Texas Tech take a nine-point lead at half-time. The Buckeyes did not fold and fought back to take a 55-54 lead midway through the second half. However, Swoopes continued her record-breaking night and scored 24 points in the second half. She completed a three-point play on a layup and foul shot to give her team a seven-point lead with under a minute to go. Sheryl Swoopes hit eleven of eleven free-throw attempts in the championship game between Texas Tech and Ohio State, tying the record for the best free-throw percentage in a Final Four game.
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tags: #1993 #NCAA #tournament #bracket #results
