1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 17, 1978–March 25, 1978 |
| Administrator | Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women |
| Host | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Venue | Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 16 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | UCLA (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Maryland |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 20 |
The 1978 AIAW National Large College Basketball Championship was held on March 17–25, 1978. Sixteen teams were invited, and the UCLA Bruins led by Ann Meyers were crowned national champions.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] In the national championship game, the Bruins defeated the Maryland Terrapins 90–74, in front of a record crowd of 9,351 at Pauley Pavilion.[9][10][11]
This was the first AIAW Tournament to divide the first two rounds into four regional sites, and also the first to be held over the course of two weekends. Th previous tournament in 1977 was held as a sixteen-team single-site event over in one week in Minneapolis.[12] The host site for the Final Four was UCLA in Los Angeles. The championship game was televised nationally for the first time, by NBC.[13] The 1978 national championship represented a shift from the smaller schools to larger schools with larger athletic budgets such as UCLA and Maryland[14] It was pivotal in terms of hosting, organization, format, television rights, and attendance.[15][16] The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, which was first played at the end of the 1981-82 women's basketball season, would prevail as the season-completing tournament for women's college basketball.[17] Ann Meyers being the first woman to receive a four-year athletic scholarship is regarded as one of the defining moments in the history of women's sports.[18]
Opening rounds
East Regional – New Brunswick, NJ
| First Round March 18, 1978 | Quarterfinals March 19, 1978 | |||||
| Montclair State | 74 | |||||
| Utah | 50 | |||||
| Montclair State | 75 | |||||
| Queens College | 60 | |||||
| Queens College | 74 | |||||
| Mississippi | 71 | |||||
| Consolation | ||||||
| Utah | 45 | |||||
| Mississippi | 66 | |||||
West Regional – Long Beach, CA
| First Round March 17, 1978 | Quarterfinals March 18, 1978 | |||||
| UCLA | 102 | |||||
| Brigham Young | 57 | |||||
| UCLA | 86 | |||||
| Stephen F. Austin | 60 | |||||
| Stephen F. Austin | 96 | |||||
| Washington | 55 | |||||
| Consolation | ||||||
| Brigham Young | 68 | |||||
| Washington | 58 | |||||
South Regional – Cleveland, MS
| First Round March 17, 1978 | Quarterfinals March 18, 1978 | |||||
| Maryland | 75 | |||||
| Tennessee | 69 | |||||
| Maryland | 93 | |||||
| S. Connecticut St. | 53 | |||||
| Valdosta State | 75 | |||||
| S. Connecticut St. | 82 | |||||
| Consolation | ||||||
| Tennessee | 80 | |||||
| Valdosta State | 83 | |||||
Central Regional – Denton, TX
| First Round March 17, 1978 | Quarterfinals March 18, 1978 | |||||
| Wayland Baptist | 66 | |||||
| Ohio State | 56 | |||||
| Wayland Baptist | 72 | |||||
| North Carolina State | 55 | |||||
| North Carolina State | 70 | |||||
| Missouri | 64 | |||||
| Consolation | ||||||
| Ohio State | 69 | |||||
| Missouri | 79 | |||||
Final Four – Los Angeles, CA
| Semifinals March 23, 1978 | Final March 25, 1978 | |||||
| Montclair State | 77 | |||||
| UCLA | 85 | |||||
| UCLA | 90 | |||||
| Maryland | 74 | |||||
| Maryland | 90 | |||||
| Wayland Baptist | 85 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| Montclair State | 90† | |||||
| Wayland Baptist | 88 | |||||
| † Overtime |
See also
References
- ↑ Gregory Cooper. "Women's College Basketball Championship History Page". Archived from the original on October 26, 2009. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
- ↑ "Southern Conn. St. Media Guide" (pdf). Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- ↑ "Utah Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (pdf) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
- ↑ "Missouri Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (pdf) on November 12, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
- ↑ "Tennessee Lady Vol Scores". Archived from the original on May 27, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ↑ "UCLA Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (pdf) on November 12, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
- ↑ "Ole Miss Record Book". Archived from the original (pdf) on January 5, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2009.
- ↑ "Ohio State Record Book" (pdf). Retrieved July 8, 2009.
- ↑ Baccellieri, Emma - This Isn’t UCLA’s First Women’s Final Four. Sports Illustrated, April 5, 2025. 'It may not be in the NCAA record books, but the 1978 AIAW championship is a big part of the Bruins’ storied program history'
- ↑ Sports Illustrated, April 3, 1978
- ↑ Huff, Donald - Slow Start Sinks Terps In Title Loss to UCLA. Washington Post, March 27, 1978
- ↑ Douchant, Mike. Tourney Time. United States: Masters Press, 1993.
- ↑ "CNNSI Recap of 1978 Tournament". Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
- ↑ Herman, Robin - Women's Basketball Arrives. New York Times, March 20, 1978
- ↑ Nelson, Murry R.. American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas [4 Volumes]. United States: ABC-CLIO, 2013. pg 140
- ↑ Feinberg, Paul - Title I Members of UCLA’s champion 1978 women’s basketball team recall what basketball was like then, and how the game has changed.. UCLA Magazine, January 1, 2018
- ↑ Bechtel, Mark - AIAW vs. NCAA: When Women’s College Basketball Had to Choose. Sports Illustrated, June 14, 2022
- ↑ Kuwana, Claire - 50 Years of Title IX: The Defining Moments of Women’s Sports. Sports Illustrated, June 9, 2022