1982 AIAW National Division I Basketball Championship

1982 AIAW National Division I Basketball Championship

Tournament information
Dates	March 21, 1982–March 28, 1982
Administrator	Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
Venue(s)	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Participants	16
Final positions
Champions	Rutgers
Runner-up	Texas
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15

The 1982 AIAW National Division I Basketball Championship was held on March 21–28, 1982. Sixteen teams participated, and Rutgers University was crowned champion of the tournament. The host site for the Final Four was The Palestra on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia.

This was the first season the NCAA sponsored a women's basketball tournament, and the two tournaments were held at the same time. Many schools, including defending champion Louisiana Tech, chose to participate in the NCAA tournament rather than in the AIAW tournament. Only three top 20 teams appeared in the AIAW tournament: Texas, Rutgers and Villanova. Sports Illustrated wrote at the time: "With the NCAA staging women's championships this year for the first time, the AIAW, the 11-year-old organization that put women's college sports on the map, finds itself barely clinging to life. So many of its members have fled to the NCAA that the AIAW's only realistic hope for survival is its pending antitrust suit against the NCAA in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C." This proved to be the final AIAW basketball tournament.

Opening rounds

East Regional

	First Round March 21, 1982					Quarterfinals March 23, 1982
	1	Rutgers	89
	4	Georgia Southern	79
						Rutgers		83
						Minnesota		75
	3	Minnesota	68
	2	St. John's (NY)	56

Mideast Regional

	First Round March 21, 1982					Quarterfinals March 23, 1982
	1	Villanova	69
	4	Miami (OH)	61
						Villanova		87
						Delta State		72
	3	Delta State	90
	2	Vanderbilt	79

Midwest Regional

	First Round March 21, 1982					Quarterfinals March 23, 1982
	1	Texas	67
	4	Central Missouri State	54
						Texas		73
						Wisconsin		61
	3	Wisconsin	60
	2	Colorado	59

West Regional

	First Round March 21, 1982					Quarterfinals March 23, 1982
	1	California	66
	4	Arkansas	62
						California		70
						Wayland Baptist		85
	3	Wayland Baptist	57
	2	Montana	52

Final Four – Philadelphia, PA

	Semifinals March 26, 1982					Championship March 28, 1982
	1	Rutgers	83
	4	Villanova	75
						Rutgers		83
						Texas		77
	3	Texas	82
	2	Wayland Baptist	63

See also

• 1982 AIAW National Division II Basketball Championship
• 1982 AIAW National Division III Basketball Championship
• 1982 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1982 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 1982 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 1982 NAIA women's basketball tournament