1991 NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game

NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game

National championship game
Virginia Cavaliers Tennessee Lady Volunteers (31–2) (29–5) 67 70 Head coach: Debbie Ryan Head coach: Pat Summitt
AP: 2 Coaches: 2 AP: 4 Coaches: 3
1st half 2nd half OT Total Virginia Cavaliers 26 34 7 67 Tennessee Lady Volunteers 27 33 10 70
Date	March 31, 1991
Venue	Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Dawn Staley, Virginia
Referees	Patty Broderick and Lou Pitt
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Brad Nessler (play-by-play) and Mimi Griffin (analyst)

The 1991 NCAA Division I women's basketball championship game was the final game of the 1991 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. It determined the champion of the 1990–91 NCAA Division I women's basketball season and was contested by the Virginia Cavaliers and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. The game was played on March 31, 1991, at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. After leading 27–26 at halftime, No. 4 Tennessee needed an overtime period to defeat No. 2 Tennessee 70–67 to capture the NCAA national championship, and bring home the third NCAA championship in program history. Despite the runner-up finish, Virginia's Dawn Staley was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player (MOP). Staley is the only women's player to be named MOP while not playing for the championship team.

Participants

Virginia Cavaliers

Main article: 1990–91 Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team

The Cavaliers, representing the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, were led by head coach Debbie Ryan in her 14th season at the school. Virginia began the season ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll. The team lost just one regular season game, and swept through the ACC regular season (14–0) before losing to Clemson in the ACC tournament semifinals. The Cavaliers finished No. 2 in the final AP poll, a spot they never fell below throughout the duration of the season.

Entering the NCAA tournament at 27–2, Virginia held the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. They defeated No. 8 seed Stephen F. Austin, No. 5 seed Oklahoma State, and No. 10 seed Lamar to reach the Final Four for the second straight season. In the National semifinals, the Lady Cavs defeated the No. 3 seed from the East region, UConn, 61–55.

Tennessee Lady Volunteers

Main article: 1990–91 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team

The Lady Vols, who represented the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, were led by head coach Pat Summitt in her 17th season at the school. Tennessee opened the season ranked No. 6 in the AP poll, and peaked at No. 2 midway through the season before finishing with the No. 4 ranking ahead of the championship game. The Lady Volunteers finished third in the SEC with a 6–3 conference record.

In the NCAA tournament, Tennessee played as the No.1 seed in the Mideast region. They defeated No. 8 seed SW Missouri State, No. 4 seed Western Kentucky, and No. 3 seed Auburn to reach the NCAA Final Four for the 7th time in program history. They won 68–60 over the West region's No. 2 seed Stanford in the national semifinal to reach the national championship game with a 29–5 record.

Starting lineups

Virginia	Position	Tennessee
Dawn Staley	G	Dena Head
Tammi Reiss	G	Jody Adams
Heather Burge	C	Daedra Charles
Tonya Cardoza	F	Lisa Harrison
Melanee Wagener	F	Kelli Casteel
Source

Game summary

CBS

March 31, 1991

No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers 67, No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers 70 (OT)
Scoring by half: 26–27, 34–33 Overtime: 7–10
Pts: Staley 28 Rebs: Staley, Burge 11 Asts: Staley 6		Pts: Head 28 Rebs: Harrison 13 Asts: Head, Caldwell 3

Lakefront Arena – New Orleans, Louisiana Referees: Patty Broderick and Lou Pitt

Media coverage

The game was broadcast on CBS with Brad Nessler on play-by-play duties and Mimi Griffin as the color analyst.