15 most memorable women's March Madness moments

As the women’s sports movement grows, the March Madness tournament grows with it. Things like fan attendance and viewership are all growing because people want to watch these exciting athletes compete in some of the biggest moments of their careers. Each year of the tournament seemingly gets more exciting than the last, so here are some top 15 moments throughout the history of the Women’s March Madness tournament.

To kick us off, let’s talk about when the tournament actually became branded as the March Madness tournament.

The term “March Madness” came from a secretary of the Illinois High School Association back in 1939. He even wrote a poem about it. The men’s tournament has since taken the term, and branded everything with it, from decals on the courts, to shirts, to towels, everything is plastered with “March Madness.”

Then Oregon player Sedona Prince posted a video on TikTok about her team’s experience at the NCAA DI Women’s Basketball Tournament. Compared to the men’s side, the things they were given weren’t even close to equal. Title IX guaranteed them something equal, whether it was the practice courts, weight rooms, or apparel, the NCAA was falling flat. So, Prince called them out, and the following year, the NCAA did the right thing and made it more equal. Better facilities, more teams in the field, and of course, the title of “March Madness.”

The 1993 tournament had four newcomers in the Final Four– Texas Tech, Ohio State, Iowa and Vanderbilt. Before she became a hall of famer, Sheryl Swoopes led the Red Raiders to their first national championship, scoring 47 points, the most in a Final Four matchup.

Miles is currently out for the entire season for the Fighting Irish, but her freshman campaign was one of the best performances by a newcomer in the tournament. She became the first freshman, men’s or women’s, to have a triple-double. Miles scored 12 points, had 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in the first-round win over UMass.

Before UMBC did it on the men’s side, No. 16 Harvard upset No. 1 Stanford in the opening round of the tournament. Stanford had won two national titles prior, including the year before. Unfortunate injury statuses resulted in a depleted Cardinal team getting bounced in the first round, but it was the true first time a 16-seed beat a 1-seed.

Head Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said at the time, “I’m really happy because no one thought we could do this but us. We prided ourselves on breaking records [this year], and this certainly tops that list.”

WNBAer Brittney Griner just recently had her jersey number retired by Baylor, with whom she won the 2012 national championship.

One remarkable record that Griner set was two years prior to winning the title, when she recorded 14 blocks against Gonzaga in the second round.

The record still stands to this day.

Ionescu will be remembered for both her time in the WNBA and her college days at Oregon.

She scored 21 points as the Ducks routed Maryland for their first-ever Elite Eight trip.

You can’t have a women’s tournament look back without including the UConn Huskies. One of the most legendary schools in women’s basketball history with 11 national titles. The teams from 2002-04 were some of the best that college basketball has ever seen. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are two names on the rosters from those years. Head Coach Geno Auriemma won titles three, four and five in those years. The only other team and coach to three-peat is Pat Summitt and Tennessee (we will get to them later).

Speaking of UConn, you can’t mention the highs without the lows, and Arike Ogunbowale delivered a blow to the Huskies in 2018, dropping a 3 with one second left on the overtime clock to bring the Fighting Irish to the national championship. Then, she did it again in the final against Mississippi State as time expired for their first title in 17 years.

Candace Parker was the first woman to dunk in the NCAA tournament.

And in 2006, she did it twice in No. 2 Tennessee’s first-round win over 15th-seeded Army.

The first dunk came 10 minutes into the contest.

“You’re thinking about a dunk… THERE IT IS,” Sean McDonough exclaimed during the broadcast.

Twenty minutes later, Parker dunked again, eliciting an “OOOH” from Doris Burke, who was also on the call.

The 1987 Vols were not the favorites going into the tournament final. They had to face off against Louisiana Tech, who were 32-2. Still, Summit and her team showcased their greatness, winning their first title convincingly, 67-44. Summit would go on to win eight natties and retired as the winningest coach in NCAA basketball.

Before a statue immortalized her outside of Colonial Life Arena, A’ja Wilson was an extremely talented hometown kid for South Carolina.

Her 23 points secured the Gamecocks, and head coach Dawn Staley’s first NCAA Championship. Since then, the Gamecocks have been one of the top programs in women’s basketball.

Miller’s basketball greatness was on full display when she helped USC win back-to-back titles, the first in women’s tournament history. Miller was named the MVP of the tournament and on top of it all, they beat their rivals; UCLA. That was one moment that the basketball world took notice of Miller, and we now know how the rest of the story goes…

We are talking about Caitlin Clark so much now, and we will still talk about her once her time at Iowa ends this year. In last year’s tournament, she had a triple-double in the Elite Eight. While she might produce triple-doubles pretty regularly, the difference in this one is that it was the first 40-point triple-double in the history of the tournament. Her final stat line in that victory against Louisville: 41 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds.

What’s better than a 3-peat? A 4-peat, obviously.

UConn outdid themselves (literally). The roster was headlined by Breanna Stewart, Stefanie Dolson, Maya Moore (for one year), and Moriah Jefferson headlined that era of UConn basketball.

One of the best finishes in tournament history was the 1994 final, where UNC was down by two in the final second of the game.

Charlotte Smith hit the buzzer-beater with .7 left, winning 60-59 over Louisiana Tech and securing the Tar Heels’ first national championship.