Entire NCAA women's basketball tournament to be held in San Antonio area
The women's NCAA basketball tournament will be held on six courts at five venues in the San Antonio region from March 21 to April 4, it was announced Friday. The Alamodome will host the Women's Final Four, Elite Eight and Sweet 16. All 63 games of the 64-team event will be televised by the ESPN family of networks and available on the ESPN App. No decision has been made yet about fan attendance.
The first round will be in three cities: San Antonio; Austin, Texas; and San Marcos, Texas. All subsequent games will be in San Antonio.
The Alamodome had previously been scheduled as the 2021 Women's Final Four host, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire event was moved to that area for safety reasons. COVID-19 testing will take place throughout the event, and the NCAA will work with the San Antonio Metro Health department on approved medical protocols.
"Like the 2020-21 season, we know the championship will have its challenges, but we feel we have the necessary structure and safeguards in place to ensure a quality student-athlete championship experience," Division I women's basketball committee chair Nina King said in a statement. "We feel certain that one geographic region allows us to focus on the potential benefits of conducting certain safety measures in a controlled environment with competition and practice venues, medical resources and lodging for teams and officials all within close proximity."
The first round is March 21-22. The games in San Antonio will be held at the Alamodome (which will have two courts), Bill Greehey Arena at St. Mary's University and UTSA Convocation Center. Games in Austin will be at the University of Texas' Frank Erwin Center, and games in San Marcos will be at Texas State's Strahan Arena.
In the second round, March 23-24, all games will be at the three San Antonio venues. After that, all games will be at the Alamodome. The regional semifinals will be held March 27-28, the regional finals March 29-30 and the Final Four April 2 and 4. The Alamodome will be reconfigured for just one court for the Final Four.
The NCAA tournament field will be revealed on Selection Monday, March 15 (ESPN/ESPN App, 7 p.m. ET). Team travel parties will have a maximum of 34 people, and every team will be housed in hotels in San Antonio's Bexar County with other Tier 1-tested individuals.
Practices for all teams will be in San Antonio at the Alamodome's two courts and the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, which can hold nine courts. San Antonio previously hosted the Women's Final Four in 2002 and 2010.
"We appreciate the historical significance of moving the entire championship to one region and want to acknowledge the work by the women's basketball committee and staff, our hosts, local organizers, and ESPN that has allowed us to make plans for a successful 2021 championship," Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president of women's basketball, said in a statement. "We're fortunate to be working with San Antonio, which features one of the most experienced local organizing committees in the country."
