2023 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament

2023 NCAA Division III
women's basketball tournament

Teams	64
Finals site	Oosting Gymnasium (semifinals) American Airlines Center (final) Hartford, Connecticut (semifinals) Dallas, Texas (final)
Champions	Transylvania (1st title)
Runner-up	Christopher Newport (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Smith (1st Final Four) Rhode Island College (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Juli Fulks (1st title)
NCAA Division III women's tournaments «2022 2024»

The 2023 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament was the tournament hosted by the NCAA to determine the national champion of Division III women's college basketball in the United States for the 2022–23 season. It featured 64 teams.

During the 2022–23 academic year, the NCAA organized many events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, federal legislation outlawing sex discrimination in higher education. As part of this celebration, the NCAA scheduled the women's basketball championship games of all three of its divisions at the site of the 2023 Division I Final Four. Accordingly, the championship game was held on April 1, 2023 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The national semifinals were played at Oosting Gymnasium at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut on March 18.

This scheduling also created an unusually long break in the tournament. Normally, the national championship game is played one or two days after the semifinals, but this year's final took place 14 days after the semifinals.

Tournament schedule and venues

Northampton

Medford

Wellesley

Lexington

Hartford

Dallas

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2023 NCAA Division III Women's Tournament sites

Regionals

The first and second rounds took place at campus sites from March 3–4, 2023. Teams were sent to one of 16 locations, each hosted by one team from the group of four.

The third and fourth rounds (sectional semifinals and finals) also took place at campus sites from March 10–11, 2023. Teams were sent to the home arena of one of the four teams remaining in their sectional bracket.

Final Four

The national semifinals and finals were held at predetermined sites: the former at the Oosting Gymnasium at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, on March 18, and the latter at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The national championship was played on April 1, 2023, in Dallas, which was also the host of the 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four.

Qualifying

A total of sixty-four bids were available for the tournament: Forty-four automatic bids—awarded to the champions of the 44 NCAA-recognized Division III conference tournaments—and 20 at-large bids.

While this is the first season for the newly established Collegiate Conference of the South, its conference tournament champion will not be eligible for an automatic bid until 2024.

This was also the final year that the Colonial States Athletic Conference and United East Conference receive separate bids; the two conferences will merge ahead of the 2023–24 season, consolidating their bids into one, although the name and legacy of the combined conference have not yet been announced. It was also the final year for the New England Collegiate Conference as an all-sports league. After steady losses of membership in recent years, it had only four members in the 2022–23 season. All four would join other conferences for 2023–24 and beyond.

Automatic bids (44)

Automatic bids
Conference	Qualifying school	Record
AMCC	La Roche	20–7
American Rivers	Loras	23–4
American Southwest	UT Dallas	19–9
Atlantic East	Marymount (VA)	23–4
Centennial	Gettysburg	20–6
CUNYAC	Brooklyn	19–7
Coast to Coast	Christopher Newport	26–0
CCIW	Millikin	23–4
CSAC	Notre Dame (MD)	23–4
Commonwealth Coast	Roger Williams	25–3
Empire 8	St. John Fisher	25–2
Great Northeast	Saint Joseph's (ME)	23–5
HCAC	Transylvania	27–0
Landmark	Scranton	27–0
Liberty	Skidmore	22–5
Little East	Rhode Island College	24–3
MASCAC	Bridgewater State	21–6
Michigan	Hope	25–2
MAC Commonwealth	Messiah	25–2
MAC Freedom	DeSales	26–1
Midwest	Knox	22–5
Minnesota	Gustavus Adolphus	25–2
NECC	Mitchell	18–9
NESCAC	Tufts	21–6
NEWMAC	Smith	26–1
New Jersey	Rowan	20–8
North Atlantic	Maine Maritime	22–6
North Coast	Ohio Wesleyan	18–10
NACC	St. Norbert	24–3
Northwest	Whitman	21–5
Ohio	Ohio Northern	23–4
Old Dominion	Washington and Lee	22–6
Presidents'	Saint Vincent	22–4
St. Louis	Webster	24–3
Skyline	Merchant Marine	24–2
SAA	Rhodes	17–11
SCIAC	Redlands	19–7
SCAC	Trinity (TX)	26–1
SUNYAC	SUNY Cortland	23–4
United East	SUNY Morrisville	20–7
University Athletic	NYU	22–2
Upper Midwest	Northwestern St. Paul	19–8
USA South	Greensboro	26–2
Wisconsin	Wisconsin–Whitewater	21–6

At-large bids (20)

At-large Bids
Qualifying school	Record	Conference
Babson	23–5	NEWMAC
Baldwin Wallace	22–5	OAC
Berea	26–2	CCS
Chicago	21–4	UAA
Eastern Connecticut State	22–5	Little East
Elizabethtown	22–4	Landmark
Emory	17–7	UAA
Hardin-Simmons	23–3	ASC
Ithaca	23–4	Liberty
Johns Hopkins	21–6	Centennial
Marietta	20–7	OAC
Mary Washington	22–6	Coast to Coast
Stevens Tech	22–5	MAC Freedom
SUNY New Paltz	23–4	SUNYAC
Trine	21–6	MIAA
Trinity (CT)	21–6	NESCAC
Wartburg	21–6	American Rivers
Washington St. Louis	17–8	UAA
Wisconsin–Eau Claire	20–8	WIAC
Wisconsin–Oshkosh	19–8	WIAC

Brackets

Source

Upper Left

	First Round March 3–4, 2023 Campus sites				Second Round March 3–4, 2023 Campus sites				Sectional Semifinals March 10, 2023 Northampton, MA				Sectional Finals March 11, 2023 Northampton, MA
	Smith	100
	SUNY Morrisville	50
					Smith	65
	Northampton, MA
					St. John Fisher	64
	Marymount	72
	St. John Fisher	80
									Smith	68
									Mary Washington	65
	Mary Washington	69
	Roger Williams	60
					Mary Washington	75
	Center Valley, PA
					DeSales	69
	DeSales	78
	Mitchell	60
													Smith	63
													Trinity (CT)	46
	Trinity (CT)	58
	Notre Dame (MD)	43
					Trinity (CT)	64
	Hartford, CT
					SUNY Cortland	59
	SUNY Cortland	62
	Saint Vincent	51
									Trinity (CT)	63
									Wisconsin–Whitewater	56
	Ohio Wesleyan	68
	Gustavus Adolphus	84
					Gustavus Adolphus	63
	Whitewater, WI
					Wisconsin–Whitewater	68
	Wisconsin–Whitewater	69
	Webster	50

Bottom Left

	First Round March 3–4, 2023 Campus sites				Second Round March 3–4, 2023 Campus sites				Sectional Semifinals March 10, 2023 Lexington, KY				Sectional Finals March 11, 2023 Lexington, KY
	Transylvania	58
	Rhodes	45
					Transylvania	71
	Lexington, KY
					Millikin	59
	Emory	70
	Millikin	76
									Transylvania	67
									Ohio Northern	43
	Wisconsin–Oshkosh	58
	Washington and Lee	55
					Wisconsin–Oshkosh	60
	Ada, OH
					Ohio Northern	71
	Ohio Northern	54
	Berea	43
													Transylvania	79
													NYU	63
	Loras	68
	Knox	56
					Loras	54
	Dubuque, IA
					Trine	60
	Washington St. Louis	69
	Trine	79
									Trine	49
									NYU	66
	Messiah	47
	Bridgewater State	43
					Messiah	39
	Mechanicsburg, PA
					NYU	62
	NYU	71
	Greensboro	54

Upper Right

	First Round March 3–4, 2023 Campus sites				Second Round March 3–4, 2023 Campus sites				Sectional Semifinals March 10, 2023 Medford, MA				Sectional Finals March 11, 2023 Medford, MA
	Christopher Newport	89
	Brooklyn	52
					Christopher Newport	65
	Newport News, VA
					Elizabethtown	55
	Elizabethtown	79
	Stevens Tech	68
									Christopher Newport	60
									Wartburg	51
	Baldwin Wallace	43
	Wartburg	57
					Wartburg	81
	Holland, MI
					Hope	67
	Hope	82
	St. Norbert	61
													Christopher Newport	72
													Tufts	56
	Trinity (TX)	79
	UT Dallas	62
					Trinity (TX)	88
	San Antonio, TX
					Hardin–Simmons	69
	Hardin-Simmons	77
	Redlands	60
									Trinity (TX)	52
									Tufts	65
	Skidmore	62
	Johns Hopkins	59
					Skidmore	50
	Medford, MA
					Tufts	59
	Tufts	72
	Merchant Marine	57

Bottom Right

	First Round March 3–4, 2023 Campus sites				Second Round March 3–4, 2023 Campus sites				Sectional Semifinals March 10, 2023 Wellesley, MA				Sectional Finals March 11, 2023 Wellesley, MA
	Babson	69
	Maine Maritime	44
					Babson	76
	Wellesley, MA
					SUNY New Paltz	66
	Gettysburg	47
	SUNY New Paltz	63
									Babson	73
									Marietta	59
	Marietta	61
	Eastern Connecticut State	57
					Marietta	44
	Ithaca, NY
					Ithaca	42
	Ithaca	58
	La Roche	42
													Babson	47
													Rhode Island College	60
	Chicago	63
	Northwestern St. Paul	48
					Chicago	56
	Chicago, IL
					Whitman	54
	Wisconsin–Eau Claire	81
	Whitman	85
									Chicago	56
									Rhode Island College	64
	Rhode Island College	67
	Rowan	59
					Rhode Island College	62
	Scranton, PA
					Scranton	55
	Scranton	64
	Saint Joseph's (ME)	45

Final Four

	National semifinal March 18 Hartford, CT					National championship April 1 Dallas, TX
	Smith College		65
	Transylvania		76
						Transylvania		57
						Christopher Newport		52
	Christopher Newport		56
	Rhode Island College		51

Sectional hosting controversy

When sectional hosts were announced on March 5, there was some controversy as three of the four hosts were placed in the state of Massachusetts and all four in the Eastern Time Zone. Most of the controversy came when Tufts, with its 21–6 regular season record, was granted hosting rights over 26–1 Trinity (TX), with top seed Christopher Newport unable to host due to the men's sectional being held at CNU the same weekend. Three teams would have to travel via air regardless of where the pod was placed, an unusual occurrence for a Division III sectional. D3sports.com's Pat Coleman observed "[Division III] Texas teams get screwed so often [by the NCAA], in every sport. This was a chance for a makeup call that was sorely missed, and it's an example Texas teams can point to and say, even when the number of flights is equal, we still get screwed." Further analysis by Coleman showed a long-standing NCAA policy to deny sectional hosts in Texas or the larger Region 10 (which also includes the states of Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington). Since the sectional concept was introduced to the men's and women's tournaments in 2000, there had been 84 sectionals in each tournament through the 2023 editions. On the women's side, no Region 10 school had hosted a sectional since 2014, and the previous Region 10 host had done so in 2008, meaning that only one of the past 56 sectionals had been held in Region 10. The perceived snubbing of Region 10 was even greater in the men's tournament; only one sectional had been held in Region 10, with none since 2004.

See also

• 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 2023 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2023 NAIA women's basketball tournament
• 2023 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament