TAMPA, Fla. – The Bay area is no stranger to the bright lights of college basketball women’s championship.
The Final Four has been held three previous times in the Bay area.
In 2019, 2015 and 2008, champions were crowned at Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa.
Here’s a look back at those events:
2019
Drama ruled in 2019 as the Baylor Bears outlasted Notre Dame 82-81 on a Chloe Jackson last-second layup in front of a sold-out Amalie Arena crowd of 20,127.
The Irish defeated UConn 81-76 in the national semifinal to reach the title game. Baylor beat Oregon 72-67 in the first semifinal.
In the national championship game, Baylor led by as many as 17 before Notre Dame rallied, tying the game in the fourth quarter. With 3.9 seconds left and the game tied at 80, Baylor’s Jackson, the tournament Most Outstanding Player, hit the crucial layup to put Baylor ahead, ultimately winning the game 82-81 for the Lady Bears and giving Baylor its third national championship.
2015
In 2015, no. 1 seeds UConn and Notre Dame squared off in Tampa, with Geno Auriemma’s Huskies, getting past the Irish 63-53 for a third straight title. That was part of UConn’s four straight championship run from 2013-2016.
For only the third time in history, all four of the number one seeds made it to the Final Four.
In the semis, Connecticut topped Maryland 81-58 while Notre Dame squeaked past South Carolina 66-65.
The title game was the second championship meeting in two years between the teams.
With the 10-point title game win, UConn capped off its season at 38-1.
2008
In 2008, legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summit won her last championship as the Lady Vols won 64-48 against Stanford.
The Lady Vols first had to scrape by rival LSU for a 47-46 win in the national semifinal. On the other side Stanford defeated UConn 82-73.
In the title matchup, Tennessee pulled out to a 30–19 lead and Stanford could never catch up.
The win gave Tennessee their second consecutive national championship and a career total eight national championships for coach Summitt.
