1997 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
The 1997 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament began on March 14, 1997, and concluded on March 30, 1997, when Tennessee won the national title. The Final Four was held at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati on March 28–30, 1997. Tennessee, Old Dominion, Stanford, and Notre Dame qualified to the Final Four. Tennessee and Old Dominion won their semi-final Final Four matchups and continued on to the championship. Tennessee defeated Old Dominion 68-59 for their fifth national title.
Tournament records
- Field goal percentage—Kristin Folkl, Stamford, hit all eight field goal attempts in the semi-final game against Old Dominion, setting the record for field goal percentage in a Final Four game.
- Assists—Kellie Jolly, Tennessee, recorded eleven assists in the championship game against Old Dominion, setting the record for most assists in a Final Four game.
- Field goal percentage—Tennessee hit 29 of 49 field goals attempts in the championship game against Old Dominion, setting the record for the field goal percentage in a Final Four game.
Qualifying teams – automatic
Qualifying teams – at-large
Thirty-four additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.Bids by conference
Thirty conferences earned an automatic bid. In eighteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-four additional at-large teams were selected from twelve of the conferences.| Bids | Conference | Teams |
| 7 | Southeastern | Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Vanderbilt |
| 6 | Atlantic Coast | North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina St., Virginia |
| 6 | Big 12 | Colorado, Iowa St., Kansas, Kansas St., Texas, Texas Tech |
| 5 | Big Ten | Iowa, Illinois, Michigan St., Northwestern, Purdue |
| 5 | Conference USA | Tulane, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis |
| 5 | Pacific-10 | Stanford, Arizona, Oregon, Southern California, Washington |
| 2 | Atlantic 10 | St. Joseph's, George Washington |
| 2 | Big East | Connecticut, Notre Dame |
| 2 | Southland | Texas St., Stephen F. Austin |
| 2 | Sun Belt | Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky |
| 2 | West Coast | San Francisco, Portland |
| 2 | Western Athletic | San Diego St., Utah |
| 1 | America East | Maine |
| 1 | Big Sky | Montana |
| 1 | Big South | Liberty |
| 1 | Big West | UC Santa Barb. |
| 1 | Colonial | Old Dominion |
| 1 | Ivy | Harvard |
| 1 | Metro Atlantic | St. Peter's |
| 1 | Mid-American | Toledo |
| 1 | Mid-Continent | Troy |
| 1 | Mid-Eastern | Howard |
| 1 | Midwestern | Detroit |
| 1 | Missouri Valley | Drake |
| 1 | Northeast | St. Francis |
| 1 | Ohio Valley | Eastern Kentucky |
| 1 | Patriot | Lehigh |
| 1 | Southern | Marshall |
| 1 | Southwestern | Grambling State |
| 1 | Trans America | FIU |
First and second rounds
In 1997, the field remained at 64 teams. The teams were seeded, and assigned to four geographic regions, with seeds 1-16 in each region. In Round 1, seeds 1 and 16 faced each other, as well as seeds 2 and 15, seeds 3 and 14, seeds 4 and 13, seeds 5 and 12, seeds 6 and 11, seeds 7 and 10, and seeds 8 and 9. In the first two rounds, the top four seeds were given the opportunity to host the first-round game. In most cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity. The exception:- Fourth seeded Tulane was unable to host due to a "facility/hotel availability conflict", so fifth seeded George Washington hosted three first and second-round games
| Region | Rnd | Host | Venue | City | State |
| East | 1&2 | University of North Carolina | Carmichael Auditorium | Chapel Hill | North Carolina |
| East | 1&2 | University of Texas | Frank Erwin Center | Austin | Texas |
| East | 1&2 | University of Alabama | Coleman Coliseum | Tuscaloosa | Alabama |
| East | 1&2 | George Washington University | Charles E. Smith Athletic Center | Washington | District of Columbia |
| Mideast | 1&2 | Louisiana State University | LSU Assembly Center | Baton Rouge | Louisiana |
| Mideast | 1&2 | Old Dominion University | Old Dominion University Fieldhouse | Norfolk | Virginia |
| Mideast | 1&2 | Louisiana Tech University | Thomas Assembly Center | Ruston | Louisiana |
| Mideast | 1&2 | University of Florida | O'Connell Center | Gainesville | Florida |
| Midwest | 1&2 | University of Tennessee | Thompson–Boling Arena | Knoxville | Tennessee |
| Midwest | 1&2 | University of Colorado | CU Events Center | Boulder | Colorado |
| Midwest | 1&2 | University of Connecticut | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion | Storrs | Connecticut |
| Midwest | 1&2 | University of Illinois | Assembly Hall | Champaign | Illinois |
| West | 1&2 | University of Georgia | Georgia Coliseum | Athens | Georgia |
| West | 1&2 | University of Virginia | University Hall | Charlottesville | Virginia |
| West | 1&2 | Stanford University | Maples Pavilion | Stanford | California |
| West | 1&2 | University of Kansas | Allen Field House | Lawrence | Kansas |
Regionals and Final Four
The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 22 to March 24 at these sites:- East Regional Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, South Carolina
- Mideast Regional Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana
- Midwest Regional Carver–Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa
- West Regional Dahlberg Arena, Missoula, Montana
Bids by state
The sixty-four teams came from thirty-two states, plus Washington, D.C. California had the most teams with five bids. Eighteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.| Bids | State | Teams |
| 5 | California | San Diego St., San Francisco, Stanford, UC Santa Barb., Southern California |
| 4 | Louisiana | Grambling, Louisiana Tech, Tulane, LSU |
| 4 | Texas | Texas St., Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas Tech |
| 3 | Alabama | Auburn, Troy, Alabama |
| 3 | Illinois | DePaul, Illinois, Northwestern |
| 3 | Iowa | Drake, Iowa, Iowa St. |
| 3 | Kentucky | Eastern Kentucky, Louisville, Western Kentuck. |
| 3 | North Carolina | North Carolina, Duke, North Carolina St. |
| 3 | Tennessee | Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt |
| 3 | Virginia | Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia |
| 2 | District of Columbia | Howard, George Washington |
| 2 | Florida | FIU, Florida |
| 2 | Indiana | Notre Dame, Purdue |
| 2 | Kansas | Kansas, Kansas St. |
| 2 | Michigan | Detroit, Michigan St. |
| 2 | Oregon | Oregon, Portland |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | Lehigh, St. Joseph's, St Francis |
| 1 | Arizona | Arizona |
| 1 | Colorado | Colorado |
| 1 | Connecticut | Connecticut |
| 1 | Georgia | Georgia |
| 1 | Maine | Maine |
| 1 | Maryland | Maryland |
| 1 | Massachusetts | Harvard |
| 1 | Montana | Montana |
| 1 | New Jersey | St. Peter's |
| 1 | Ohio | Toledo |
| 1 | South Carolina | Clemson |
| 1 | Utah | Utah |
| 1 | Washington | Washington |
| 1 | West Virginia | Marshall |
| 1 | Wisconsin | Marquette |
Brackets
Data sourceEast Region
NOTE: George Washington was a host as a #5 seed, as #4 seed Tulane's facility was considered inadequate by the NCAA.Mideast Region
Midwest Region
West Region
Final Four
E-East; ME-Mideast; MW-Midwest; W-West.Record by conference
Thirteen conferences had more than one bid, or at least one win in NCAA Tournament play:| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Round of 32 | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship Game |
| Southeastern | 7 | .760 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Atlantic Coast | 6 | .455 | 3 | 2 | – | – | – | |
| Big 12 | 6 | .455 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Pacific-10 | 5 | .583 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | |
| Big Ten | 5 | .500 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Conference USA | 5 | .286 | 2 | – | – | – | – | |
| Big East | 2 | .778 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | |
| Atlantic 10 | 2 | .667 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | |
| Sun Belt | 2 | .500 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Southland | 2 | .333 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Western Athletic | 2 | .333 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| West Coast | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Colonial | 1 | .833 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Seventeen conferences went 0-1: America East, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, Mid-Continent, MEAC, Midwestern Collegiate, Missouri Valley Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, SWAC, and Trans America
All-Tournament Team
- Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
- Kellie Jolly, Tennessee
- Ticha Penicheiro, Old Dominion
- Nyree Roberts, Old Dominion
- Clarisse Machanguana, Old Dominion
Game Officials
- Sally Bell
- Carla Fujimoto
- Ray Bomeli
- John Morningstar
- Scott Yarbrough
- Judy Schneider
- Yvette McKinney
- Dee Kantner
- Violet Palmer