# Big East women's basketball tournament

The Big East women's basketball tournament is a conference championship tournament in women's basketball. It was first held in 1983, at the end of the 1982–83 college basketball season that was the first in which the Big East Conference sponsored women's basketball. Following the 2013 split of the original Big East along football lines, the women's basketball history of the original conference has been maintained by the non-football league that assumed the Big East name. The tournament determines the conference's champion, which receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
From 2004 through 2013, the tournament was held in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the XL Center (formerly known as the Hartford Civic Center). The first three tournaments after the relaunch of the Big East in 2013 were hosted by DePaul University. In 2014, opening-round games were played at McGrath–Phillips Arena on the school's Chicago campus and all other games played at Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont. All games in the 2015 tournament were held at Allstate Arena, and all 2016 tournament games were held at McGrath–Phillips Arena. The 2017 tournament was the first since the relaunch to be held outside the Chicago area, with all games being played at Al McGuire Center on the Marquette University campus in Milwaukee. From 2018 until 2020, the tournament was held at Wintrust Arena at the McCormick Place convention center on Chicago’s Near South Side.
Starting in 2009, the tournament expanded to include all 16 of the conference's teams at that time. The teams finishing 9 through 16 in the regular season standings played first round games, while teams 5 through 8 receive a bye to the second round. The top 4 teams during the regular season receive a double-bye to the quarterfinals. The 2013 tournament, the final one under the original Big East structure, saw 15 teams participate, following West Virginia's 2012 move to the Big 12 Conference. The tournament now features all 11 members of the reconfigured conference.
In June 2020, it was reported that the tournament will return to Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Arena moving forward with the return of UConn.

## History of the tournament finals

| Year | (Seed) Champion | Score | (Seed) Runner-up | Location |
| 1983 | (2) St. John's | 74–63 | (1) Providence | Alumni Hall (Providence, Rhode Island) |
| 1984 | (3) St. John's | 66–46 | (4) Seton Hall | Alumni Hall (now Carnesecca Arena) (Queens, New York) |
| 1985 | (5) Syracuse | 57–56 | (2) Villanova | Manley Field House (Syracuse NY) |
| 1986 | (2) Villanova | 71–60 | (1) Providence | Roberts Center (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts) |
| 1987 | (1) Villanova | 60–45 | (6) Boston College | The Pavilion (Villanova, Pennsylvania) |
| 1988 | (3) St. John's | 74–72 OT | (1) Syracuse | Fitzgerald Field House (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) |
| 1989 | (1) UConn | 84–65 | (3) Providence | Walsh Gymnasium (South Orange, New Jersey) |
| 1990 | (2) Providence | 82–61 | (1) Connecticut | Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut) |
| 1991 | (1) Connecticut | 79–74 | (2) Providence | McDonough Gymnasium (Washington, D.C.) |
| 1992 | (1) Miami (FL) | 56–47 | (2) Connecticut | Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut) |
| 1993 | (1) Miami (FL) | 77–56 | (7) Providence | Alumni Hall (Providence, Rhode Island) |
| 1994 | (1) Connecticut | 77–51 | (2) Seton Hall | Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut) |
| 1995 | (1) Connecticut | 85–49 | (3) Seton Hall | Walsh Gymnasium (South Orange, New Jersey) |
| 1996 | (1) Connecticut | 71–54 | (3) Notre Dame | Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut) |
| 1997 | (1) Connecticut | 86–77 | (3) Notre Dame | Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut) |
| 1998 | (1) Connecticut | 67–58 | (2) Rutgers | Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey) |
| 1999 | (1) Connecticut | 96–75 | (3) Notre Dame | Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey) |
| 2000 | (1) Connecticut | 79–59 | (3) Rutgers | Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut) |
| 2001 | (2) Connecticut | 78–76 | (1) Notre Dame | Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Connecticut) |
| 2002 | (1) Connecticut | 96–54 | (3) Boston College | Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey) |
| 2003 | (3) Villanova | 52–48 | (1) Connecticut | Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) (Piscataway, New Jersey) |
| 2004 | (5) Boston College | 75–57 | (7) Rutgers | Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2005 | (3) Connecticut | 67–51 | (1) Rutgers | Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2006 | (2) Connecticut | 50–44 | (12) West Virginia | Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2007 | (2) Rutgers | 55–47 | (1) Connecticut | Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2008 | (1) Connecticut | 65–59 | (7) Louisville | XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2009 | (1) Connecticut | 75–36 | (2) Louisville | XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2010 | (1) Connecticut | 60–32 | (2) West Virginia | XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2011 | (1) Connecticut | 73–64 | (3) Notre Dame | XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2012 | (3) Connecticut | 63–54 | (1) Notre Dame | XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2013 | (2) Notre Dame | 61–59 | (3) Connecticut | XL Center (Hartford, Connecticut) |
| 2014 | (1) DePaul | 65–57 | (2) St. John's | Allstate Arena (Rosemont, Illinois) (Opening round: McGrath–Phillips Arena, Chicago) |
| 2015 | (2) DePaul | 78–68 | (1) Seton Hall | Allstate Arena (Rosemont, Illinois) |
| 2016 | (4) St. John's | 50–37 | (7) Creighton | McGrath–Phillips Arena (Chicago) |
| 2017 | (3) Marquette | 86–78 | (1) DePaul | Al McGuire Center (Milwaukee) |
| 2018 | (2) DePaul | 98–63 | (1) Marquette | Wintrust Arena (Chicago) |
| 2019 | (2) DePaul | 74–73 | (1) Marquette | Wintrust Arena (Chicago) |
| 2020 | (1) DePaul | 88–74 | (2) Marquette | Wintrust Arena (Chicago) |
| 2021 | (1) UConn | 73–39 | (2) Marquette | Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut) |
| 2022 | (1) UConn | 70–40 | (2) Villanova | Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut) |
| 2023 | (1) UConn | 67–56 | (2) Villanova | Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut) |
| 2024 | (1) UConn | 78–42 | (6) Georgetown | Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut) |
| 2025 | (1) UConn | 70–50 | (2) Creighton | Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, Connecticut) |

### Notes

* 1 2 3 4 Athletically branded as "UConn" since 2013–14.
* ↑ See also Bird at the Buzzer, a book focusing on this specific game.

## Performance by school

| Club | Winners | Winning years |
| UConn | 23 | 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| DePaul | 5 | 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020 |
| St. John's | 4 | 1983, 1984, 1988, 2016 |
| Villanova | 3 | 1986, 1987, 2003 |
| Miami (FL) | 2 | 1992, 1993 |
| Syracuse | 1 | 1985 |
| Providence | 1 | 1990 |
| Boston College | 1 | 2004 |
| Rutgers | 1 | 2007 |
| Notre Dame | 1 | 2013 |
| Marquette | 1 | 2017 |
| TOTAL | 42 | |
Among current schools, Butler, Creighton, Seton Hall, Georgetown, and Xavier have never won the tournament.
* 1 2 Following the 2013 split of the original Big East, Connecticut and Rutgers remained in the football-sponsoring portion now known as the American Athletic Conference.
* ↑ Connecticut, which changed its official athletic brand to "UConn" in 2013–14, joined the current Big East in 2020.
* ↑ Miami left for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2004.
* 1 2 Notre Dame and Syracuse left for the ACC in 2013.
* ↑ Boston College left for the ACC in 2005.

## Most Outstanding Player

| Year | Most Outstanding Player | School |
| 1983 | Debbie Beckford | St. John's |
| 1984 | Anne Marie McNamee | St. John's |
| 1985 | Janice Long | Syracuse |
| 1986 | Shelly Pennefather | Villanova |
| 1987 | Shelly Pennefather (2) | Villanova |
| 1988 | Sabrina Johnson | St. John's |
| 1989 | Kerry Bascom | Connecticut |
| 1990 | Andrea Mangum | Providence |
| 1991 | Meghan Pattyson | Connecticut |
| 1992 | Frances Savage | Miami |
| 1993 | Vicki Plowden | Miami |
| 1994 | Rebecca Lobo | Connecticut |
| 1995 | Kara Wolters | Connecticut |
| 1996 | Kara Wolters (2) | Connecticut |
| 1997 | Nykesha Sales | Connecticut |
| 1998 | Rita Williams | Connecticut |
| 1999 | Shea Ralph | Connecticut |
| 2000 | Tamika Williams | Connecticut |
| 2001 | Diana Taurasi | Connecticut |
| 2002 | Asjha Jones | Connecticut |
| 2003 | Trish Juhline | Villanova |
| 2004 | Jessalyn Deveny | Boston College |
| 2005 | Barbara Turner | Connecticut |
| 2006 | Ann Strother | Connecticut |
| 2007 | Matee Ajavon | Rutgers |
| 2008 | Charde Houston | Connecticut |
| 2009 | Maya Moore | Connecticut |
| 2010 | Kalana Greene | Connecticut |
| 2011 | Maya Moore (2) | Connecticut |
| 2012 | Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis | Connecticut |
| 2013 | Kayla McBride | Notre Dame |
| 2014 | Jasmine Penny | DePaul |
| 2015 | Megan Podkowa | DePaul |
| 2016 | Aliyyah Handford | St. John's |
| 2017 | Amani Wilborn | Marquette |
| 2018 | Amarah Coleman | DePaul |
| 2019 | Chante Stonewall | DePaul |
| 2020 | Lexi Held | DePaul |
| 2021 | Paige Bueckers | UConn |
| 2022 | Christyn Williams | UConn |
| 2023 | Aaliyah Edwards | UConn |
| 2024 | Paige Bueckers (2) | UConn |
| 2025 | Paige Bueckers (3) | UConn |
| Years | Title of Award |
| 1983–1993 | Most Valuable Player |
| 1994–1997 | Most Outstanding Performer |
| 1998–present | Most Outstanding Player |