1998 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
The 1998 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament began on March 13, 1998, and concluded on March 29, 1998, when Tennessee won the national title. The Final Four was held at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 27–29, 1998. Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, NC State, and Arkansas qualified to the Final Four. Tennessee and Louisiana Tech won their semi-final Final Four matchups and continued on to the championship. Tennessee defeated Louisiana Tech 93–75 to take their sixth title, and complete an undefeated season.
For the first time in the men's or women's tournament, two teams, Tennessee and Liberty, entered the tournament unbeaten. In the Mideast Regional, the Lady Vols blew out Liberty 102–58. However, in the West Regional, the expected 1–16 blowout did not happen. In that matchup, Harvard defeated an injury-plagued #1 seed Stanford on its home court 71–67. This was the first time in the men's or women's tournament that a #16 seed had beaten a #1 seed, a feat that would not be repeated until 2018 in the men's tournament. In addition, 9th-seeded Arkansas made the final four, the highest seed ever to do so in the women's tournament. The ninth-seeded Razorbacks remain the lowest seeded team to ever reach the Final Four in the women's tournament. Only 10th-seeded Oregon in 2017 and 11th-seeded Gonzaga in 2011 have even reached an Elite Eight to be in position to break this record.
Tournament records
- Free throws—Chastity Melvin, North Carolina State, attempted 15 free throws in the semi-final game against Louisiana Tech, setting the record for most free throw attempts in a Final Four game.
- Winning margin—Tennessee defeated Arkansas 86–58 in the semi-final game. The winning margin of 28 points set the record for winning margin in a Final Four game.
- Three-point field goals—Julie Krommenhoek completed eight three-point field goals in a first round game in the West region, setting the record for most three-point field goals scored in an NCAA tournament game.
- Three-point field goal percentage—Kellie Jolly, Tennessee, hit four of five three-point field goal attempts in the championship game against Louisiana Tech, tying a record for three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game, held by four other players.
- Steals—Ticha Penicheiro, Old Dominion, recorded fourteen steals, setting the record for most steals in an NCAA tournament game, since the statistic was first recorded in 1988.
- Free throws—Purdue made 39 free throws in a Midwest region first round game against Washington, setting the record for most free throws scored in an NCAA tournament game.
- Field goals made—Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee, scored 64 field goals in the tournament, setting the record for most field goals made in a tournament.
- Field goals attempted—Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee, attempted 131 field goals in the tournament, setting the record for most field goals attempted in a tournament.
- Steals—Ticha Penicheiro, Old Dominion, recorded 23 steals, setting the record for most steals in an NCAA tournament, since the statistic was first recorded in 1988.
- Furthest advance—Harvard, as a 16 seed, advanced to the second round, representing the only time a 16 seed has advanced.
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 nineteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-four additional at-large teams were selected from eleven of the conferences.| Bids | Conference | Teams |
| 6 | Southeastern | Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Vanderbilt |
| 5 | Atlantic Coast | North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, North Carolina St., Virginia |
| 5 | Big Ten | Purdue, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin |
| 5 | Pacific-10 | Stanford, Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, Washington |
| 5 | Western Athletic | New Mexico, Colorado St., Hawaii, SMU, Utah |
| 4 | Big 12 | Texas Tech, Iowa St., Kansas, Nebraska |
| 4 | Big East | Connecticut, Miami, Notre Dame, Rutgers |
| 4 | Conference USA | Memphis, Louisville, Marquette, Tulane |
| 3 | Atlantic 10 | Virginia Tech, George Washington, Massachusetts |
| 2 | Missouri Valley | Drake, Missouri St. |
| 2 | Sun Belt | Louisiana Tech, Western Ky. |
| 1 | America East | Maine |
| 1 | Big Sky | Montana |
| 1 | Big South | Liberty |
| 1 | Big West | UC Santa Barb. |
| 1 | Colonial | Old Dominion |
| 1 | Horizon | Green Bay |
| 1 | Ivy | Harvard |
| 1 | Metro Atlantic | Fairfield |
| 1 | Mid-American | Kent St. |
| 1 | Mid-Continent | Youngstown St. |
| 1 | Mid-Eastern | Howard |
| 1 | Northeast | St. Francis |
| 1 | Ohio Valley | Middle Tenn. |
| 1 | Patriot | Holy Cross |
| 1 | Southern | UNC Greensboro |
| 1 | Southland | Stephen F. Austin |
| 1 | Southwestern | Grambling |
| 1 | Trans America | FIU |
| 1 | West Coast | Santa Clara |
First and second rounds
In 1998, 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 all cases, the higher seed accepted the opportunity.The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the sixteen first and second round locations:
| Region | Rnd | Host | Venue | City | State |
| East | 1&2 | Old Dominion University | Old Dominion University Fieldhouse | Norfolk | Virginia |
| East | 1&2 | North Carolina State University | Reynolds Coliseum | Raleigh | North Carolina |
| East | 1&2 | University of Connecticut | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion | Storrs | Connecticut |
| East | 1&2 | University of Arizona | McKale Center | Tucson | Arizona |
| Mideast | 1&2 | University of North Carolina | Carmichael Auditorium | Chapel Hill | North Carolina |
| Mideast | 1&2 | University of Tennessee | Thompson-Boling Arena | Knoxville | Tennessee |
| Mideast | 1&2 | University of Illinois | Assembly Hall | Champaign | Illinois |
| Mideast | 1&2 | Iowa State University | Hilton Coliseum | Ames | Iowa |
| Midwest | 1&2 | Louisiana Tech University | Thomas Assembly Center | Ruston | Louisiana |
| Midwest | 1&2 | Purdue University | Mackey Arena | West Lafayette | Indiana |
| Midwest | 1&2 | University of Alabama | Coleman Coliseum | Tuscaloosa | Alabama |
| Midwest | 1&2 | Texas Tech University | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum | Lubbock | Texas |
| West | 1&2 | University of Iowa | Carver–Hawkeye Arena | Iowa City | Indiana |
| West | 1&2 | Stanford University | Maples Pavilion | Stanford | California |
| West | 1&2 | University of Florida | O'Connell Center | Gainesville | Florida |
| West | 1&2 | Duke University | Cameron Indoor Stadium | Durham | North Carolina |
Regionals and Final Four
The Regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 20 to March 23 at these sites:- Mideast Regional Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tennessee
- Midwest Regional Lubbock Municipal Coliseum, Lubbock, Texas
- East Regional University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio
- West Regional Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
Bids by state
The sixty-four teams came from thirty-four states, plus Washington, D.C. Four states, California, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina each had the most teams with four bids. Sixteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.| Bids | State | Teams |
| 4 | California | Santa Clara, Stanford, UC Santa Barb., UCLA |
| 4 | North Carolina | North Carolina, UNC Greensboro, Duke, North Carolina St. |
| 4 | Tennessee | Memphis, Middle Tenn., Tennessee, Vanderbilt |
| 4 | Virginia | Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia Tech, Virginia |
| 3 | Florida | FIU, Florida, Miami |
| 3 | Iowa | Drake, Iowa, Iowa St. |
| 3 | Louisiana | Grambling, Louisiana Tech, Tulane |
| 3 | Massachusetts | Harvard, Holy Cross, Massachusetts |
| 3 | Texas | Stephen F. Austin, Texas Tech, SMU |
| 3 | Wisconsin | Green Bay, Marquette, Wisconsin |
| 2 | Connecticut | Connecticut, Fairfield |
| 2 | District of Columbia | Howard, George Washington |
| 2 | Indiana | Purdue, Notre Dame |
| 2 | Kentucky | Louisville, Western Ky. |
| 2 | Ohio | Kent St., Youngstown St. |
| 1 | Alabama | Alabama |
| 1 | Arizona | Arizona |
| 1 | Arkansas | Arkansas |
| 1 | Colorado | Colorado St. |
| 1 | Georgia | Georgia |
| 1 | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| 1 | Illinois | Illinois |
| 1 | Kansas | Kansas |
| 1 | Maine | Maine |
| 1 | Michigan | Michigan |
| 1 | Missouri | Missouri St. |
| 1 | Montana | Montana |
| 1 | Nebraska | Nebraska |
| 1 | New Jersey | Rutgers |
| 1 | New Mexico | New Mexico |
| 1 | Pennsylvania | St. Francis |
| 1 | Oregon | Oregon |
| 1 | South Carolina | Clemson |
| 1 | Utah | Utah |
| 1 | Washington | Washington |
Brackets
Data sourceEast Region – Dayton, Ohio
Mideast Region
Midwest Region
West Region
- --Despite the fact that Stanford did not advance to the second round, the Arkansas-Harvard second round game was still played on Stanford’s home court.
Final Four – Kansas City, Missouri
Record by conference
Sixteen 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 | 6 | .737 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Atlantic Coast | 5 | .706 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | |
| Big Ten | 5 | .545 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | |
| Pacific-10 | 5 | .375 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Western Athletic | 5 | .167 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Big East | 4 | .636 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | – | |
| Big 12 | 4 | .556 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Conference USA | 4 | .200 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Atlantic 10 | 3 | .400 | 2 | – | – | – | – | |
| Sun Belt | 2 | .750 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Missouri Valley | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Colonial | 1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| Big West | 1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Ivy | 1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Mid-Continent | 1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Trans America | 1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
Fourteen conferences went 0–1: America East, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Horizon League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Southland, SWAC, and West Coast Conference
All-Tournament Team
- Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
- Tamika Catchings, Tennessee
- Kellie Jolly, Tennessee
- Tamicha Jackson, Louisiana Tech
- Chasity Melvin, North Carolina St.
Game Officials
- Art Bomengen
- Melissa Barlow
- Karen Wilhite
- Dennis Mayer
- Scott Yarbrough
- Teresa Dahlem
- Sally Bell
- Bob Trammell
- Wesley Dean