NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament upsets

This is a list of upsets by teams seeded 11 or higher that have occurred in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994.

First round[]

16 vs. 1[]

The first 16 seed ever to win a game in an NCAA Division I basketball tournament was Harvard in 1998 against Stanford. According to an Associated Press retrospective on the 10th anniversary of the game in 2008, "The difference between the teams was much smaller than usual for a No. 1 and a 16 seed."^[1]

Harvard had two years of tournament experience and the nation's leading scorer that season in Allison Feaster. Stanford suffered two devastating injuries during the run-up to the tournament. First, Vanessa Nygaard tore an ACL in the Cardinal's final regular-season game against Oregon State. Because the extent of her injury was not known at the time the tournament field was selected, the Cardinal still received a 1 seed. Then, in the team's first practice after the tournament selection, leading scorer and rebounder Kristin Folkl also tore an ACL.^[1]

The men's tournament has also seen only one 16 seed upset, which occurred in 2018, when UMBC knocked off overall top-seed Virginia, 74–54. Prior to UMBC's victory over Virginia, 16-seeds were winless in 135 attempts (since 1985) to defeat a 1-seed.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
1998	Harvard	Stanford	71-67

15 vs. 2 and 14 vs. 3[]

Unlike the men's tournament, in which twenty-two (22) 14 seeds have won their opening games since that tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, no 14 seed has ever won a game in the women's tournament.

Nine (9) 15 seeds have won their opening games in the men's tournament since that tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, but no 15 seed has ever won a game in the women's tournament. The closest any 15 seed came to winning was in 2017, when Long Beach State lost 56–55 to Oregon State.

13 vs. 4[]

Seven 13 seeds have defeated 4 seeds in the first round.

By contrast, the men's tournament has seen 23 such upsets since 1994. Eight more occurred between 1985 and 1993, when the men's tournament featured 64 teams but the women's tournament had fewer entrants (32 in 1985, 40 from 1986 to 1988, and 48 from 1989 to 1993).

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2021	Wright State	Arkansas	66–62
2012	Marist	Georgia	76–70
2007	Marist	Ohio State	67–63
2005	Liberty	Penn State	78–70
2004	Middle Tennessee	North Carolina	67–62
2000	Rice	UC Santa Barbara	67–64
1994	Texas A&M	Florida	78–76

12 vs. 5[]

There have been twenty-three (23) 12-seeds to defeat 5-seeds in the first round. The men's tournament has seen 42 such wins since 1994, with nine more taking place between 1985 and 1993.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2021	Belmont	Gonzaga	64-59
2018	Florida Gulf Coast	Missouri	80–70
2017	Quinnipiac	Marquette	68–65
2016	South Dakota State	Miami (FL)	74–71
	Albany	Florida	61–59
2014	BYU	NC State	72–57
2013	Kansas	Colorado	67–52
2010	Green Bay	Virginia	69–67
2009	Ball State	Tennessee	71–55
	Gonzaga	Xavier	75–59
2006	Tulsa	NC State	71–61
2005	Middle Tennessee	NC State	60–58
2004	Maryland	Miami (FL)	86–85
2002	Mississippi State	Boston College	65–59
	UC Santa Barbara	Louisiana Tech	57–56
2000	SMU	NC State	64–63
1998	Colorado State	Drake	81–75
	Youngstown State	Memphis	91–80
1997	Marquette	Clemson	70–66
1996	Notre Dame	Purdue	73–60
	San Francisco	Florida	68–61
1995	Montana	San Diego State	57–46
1994	Western Kentucky	Rutgers	84–73

11 vs. 6[]

Thirty-three 11 seeds have won their first-round games against 6 seeds. By contrast, 41 such upsets have occurred in the men's tournament since 1994, with 13 more occurring between 1985 and 1993.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2021	BYU	Rutgers	69-66
2019	Missouri State	DePaul	89–78
2018	Central Michigan	LSU	78–69
	Buffalo	South Florida	102–79
	Creighton	Iowa	76–70
2015	Gonzaga	George Washington	82–69
	Miami (FL)	Washington	86–80
	Arkansas-Little Rock	Texas A&M	69–60
2014	Florida	Dayton	83–69
	James Madison	Gonzaga	72–63
2012	Gonzaga	Rutgers	86–73
	Kansas	Nebraska	57–49
2011	Gonzaga	Iowa	92–86
2010	Arkansas–Little Rock	Georgia Tech	63–53
	San Diego State	Texas	74–63
2009	Mississippi State	Texas	71–63
2008	Florida State	Ohio State	60–49
2007	West Virginia	Xavier	65–52
2006	Hartford	Temple	64–58
	New Mexico	Florida	83–59
	TCU	Texas A&M	69–65
2004	UC Santa Barbara	Colorado	76–49
2003	Notre Dame	Arizona	59–47
2002	BYU	Florida	90–52
2001	TCU	Penn State	77–75
2000	Stephen F. Austin	Xavier	73–72
	UAB	Oregon	80–79 (OT)
1999	Saint Joseph's	Duke	83–72
	SMU	Toledo	91–76
1998	UC Santa Barbara	Vanderbilt	76–71 (OT)
	Virginia Tech	Wisconsin	75–64
1996	Stephen F. Austin	Oregon State	67–65
1995	Louisville	Oregon	67–65

Second round[]

16 seeds[]

Harvard, the only 16 seed to advance to the second round, lost to Arkansas in the second round. A 16 seed has never advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in either the men's or women's tournaments.

15 and 14 seeds[]

Unlike the men's tournament, in which two 15 seeds and two 14 seeds have won their second-round games since that tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, no 14 or 15 seed has ever won a game in that round.

13 seeds[]

Three 13 seeds have won their second-round games, compared to six in the men's tournament (five of which occurred since 1998). All three of the winning 13 seeds in the women's tournament defeated 5 seeds.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2007	Marist	Middle Tennessee	73–59
2005	Liberty	DePaul	88–79
1994	Texas A&M	San Diego State	75–72 (OT)

12 seeds[]

Four 12 seeds have won their second-round games, as opposed to 15 in the men's tournament since 1994 and seven more from 1985 to 1993. All three 12 seeds to win at this stage of the women's tournament defeated 4 seeds.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2017	Quinnipiac	Miami (FL)	85–78
2014	BYU	Nebraska	80–76
2013	Kansas	South Carolina	75–69
1996	San Francisco	Duke	64–60

11 seeds[]

A total of twelve 11 seeds have won their second-round games and advanced to the Sweet 16. This compares to 17 in the men's tournament since 1994, with seven more occurring between 1985 and 1993.

Since no 14 seed has ever advanced to this point in the women's tournament, all defeated teams were 3 seeds.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2019	Missouri State	Iowa State	69–60
2018	Central Michigan	Ohio State	95–78
	Buffalo	Florida State	86–65
2015	Gonzaga	Oregon State	76–65
2012	Gonzaga	Miami (FL)	65–54
	Kansas	Delaware	70–64
2011	Gonzaga	UCLA	89–75
2010	San Diego State	West Virginia	64–55
2004	UC Santa Barbara	Houston	56–52
2003	Notre Dame	Kansas State	59–53
2002	BYU	Iowa State	75–69
2000	UAB	Mississippi State	78–72
1996	Stephen F. Austin	Clemson	93–88 (OT)

Sweet Sixteen[]

13 seeds[]

To date, no 13 seed, in either the men's or women's tournament, has advanced to the Elite Eight.

12 seeds[]

Unlike the men's tournament, in which two 12 seeds won its Sweet 16 game since 1985, no 12 seed has ever won a game in this round in the women's tournament.

11 seeds[]

Only one team seeded 11 or lower has won in the Sweet 16 and advanced to the Elite Eight—11 seed Gonzaga in 2011, who defeated 7 seed Louisville. By contrast, four such teams have won at this stage in the men's tournament since 1994, with two more doing so from 1985 to 1993.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2011	Gonzaga	Louisville	76–69

Elite Eight[]

No team seeded 10 or lower has ever advanced to the Final Four; Gonzaga lost its 2011 regional final 83–60 to Stanford. Oregon lost its regional final to UConn, 90–52, in 2017, as a 10 seed, and Lamar, also a 10 seed, lost their regional final in 1991. In the men's tournament, five 11 seeds and one 10 seed have advanced to the Final Four—10th seed Syracuse in 2016, and 11th seeds UCLA in 2021, Loyola-Chicago in 2018, VCU in 2011, George Mason in 2006, and LSU in 1986. The lowest seed to advance to the Final Four in the Women's Tournament is Arkansas, in 1998. The Razorbacks were a 9 seed that season.

References[]

General

• "The Tournament Field: Tournament Brackets" (PDF). 2013 Women's Final Four Records. NCAA. pp. 166–96. Retrieved March 27, 2013.

Specific