# 1981–82 Cheyney State Lady Wolves basketball team

The 1981–82 Cheyney State Lady Wolves basketball team represented Cheyney State College as an NCAA independent during the 1981–82 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team was led by 11th–year head coach C. Vivian Stringer and played their home games at Cope Hall in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Fueled by a roster with eight high school All-Americans and an eventual Hall of Fame coach, the Lady Wolves earned a record of 28–3 and a No. 2 ranking, and finished runner-up for the inaugural NCAA Division I women's basketball championship – despite being a Division II school with limited resources.
To date, this Cheyney State team is the only HBCU to reach the NCAA women's Final Four and play for an NCAA championship. Years later, Stringer became the first coach to lead three different teams to the NCAA Final Four, following her success at Cheyney with strong runs at Iowa and Rutgers, and ended her 50-year career with over 1,000 victories.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 21, 1981* 7:00 p.m. | No. 7 | Morgan State | | | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Nov 24, 1981* 6:00 p.m. | No. 7 | at Boston University | W 85–58 | 2–0 | Case Gym Boston, Massachusetts |
| Dec 1, 1981* 7:00 p.m. | No. 6 | at Kutztown State | W 103–38 | 3–0 | Keystone Hall Kutztown, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 9, 1981* 8:00 p.m. | No. 6 | at Mount St. Mary's | W 66–65 | 4–0 | Emmitsburg, Maryland |
| Dec 15, 1981* 7:00 p.m. | No. 7 | Millersville State | | | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 19, 1981* | No. 7 | vs. No. 3 Old Dominion Manufacturers Hanover Christmas Classic | L 55–83 | 5–1 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Dec 20, 1981* | No. 8 | vs. No. 6 Rutgers Manufacturers Hanover Christmas Classic | L 82–86 | 5–2 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Jan 5, 1982* | No. 8 | Delta State | W 90–36 | 6–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 6, 1982* | No. 8 | William Penn | W 92–51 | 7–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 16, 1982* 7:30 p.m. | No. 4 | at University of DC | | | UDC Gymnasium Washington, D.C. |
| Jan 19, 1982* 6:30 p.m. | No. 4 | at Shippensburg State | W 97–48 | 9–2 | Heiges Field House Shippensburg, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 21, 1982* 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 | Saint Joseph's | W 90–49 | 10–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 23, 1982* 6:00 p.m. | No. 4 | No. 15 Villanova | W 68–58 | 11–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 25, 1982* 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 | East Stroudsburg State | W 105–35 | 12–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 27, 1982* 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 | Seton Hall | W 86–57 | 13–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 30, 1982* 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 | Pittsburgh | W 85–59 | 14–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 3, 1982* 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 | No. 12 Penn State | W 78–70 | 15–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 5, 1982* 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 | Howard | | | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 8, 1982* 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 | Temple | W 91–54 | 17–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 10, 1982* 7:30 p.m. | No. 4 | at No. 5 Maryland | W 67–51 | 18–2 | Cole Field House College Park, Maryland |
| Feb 13, 1982* 6:30 p.m. | No. 4 | Queens College | | | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 17, 1982* 7:30 p.m. | No. 3 | at No. 5 Rutgers | W 67–53 | 20–2 | Rutgers Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Feb 19, 1982* 6:00 p.m. | No. 3 | Edinboro | | | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 23, 1982* 7:00 p.m. | No. 2 | La Salle | W 75–49 | 22–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| PSAC tournament ||||||
| Feb 26, 1982* | No. 2 | Millersville State Semifinals | W 114–37 | 23–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 27, 1982* | No. 2 | Slippery Rock Championship game | W 92–33 | 24–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1982* | (2 E) No. 2 | vs. (7 E) Auburn First round | W 75–64 | 25–2 | Cope Hall Cheyney, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 18, 1982* | (2 E) No. 2 | vs. (3 E) No. 11 NC State Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 74–61 | 26–2 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Mar 20, 1982* | (2 E) No. 2 | vs. (4 E) No. 18 Kansas State Regional Final – Elite Eight | W 93–71 | 27–2 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Mar 26, 1982* | (2 E) No. 2 | vs. (2 W) No. 3 Maryland National Semifinal – Final Four | W 76–66 | 28–2 | Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia |
| Mar 28, 1982* CBS | (2 E) No. 2 | vs. (1 MW) No. 1 Louisiana Tech National Championship | L 62–76 | 28–3 | Norfolk Scope (9,531) Norfolk, Virginia |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | 7 (1) | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Valerie Walker – All-American