1982 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
The 1982 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was the first Women's Basketball Tournament held under the auspices of the NCAA. From 1972 to 1982, there were national tournaments for Division I schools held under the auspices of the AIAW. The inaugural NCAA Tournament included 32 teams. Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, Cheyney State, and Maryland met in the Final Four, held at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia and hosted by Old Dominion University, with Louisiana Tech defeating Cheyney for the title, 76-62. Louisiana Tech's Janice Lawrence was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. Her teammate Kim Mulkey went on to become the first woman to win NCAA Division I basketball titles as a player and coach, winning the 2005, 2012, 2019 titles as head coach at Baylor and the 2023 title at LSU..
Louisiana Tech women's basketball team
Pam Kelly cutting down the nets after the 1982 NCAA women's basketball tournament championship win
Kimberly Duane Mulkey is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University's women's basketball team. A Pan-American gold medalist in 1983 and Olympic gold medalist in 1984, she is the first coach in NCAA basketball history to win national championships as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. Since the inception of the NCAA women's tournament in 1982, Mulkey has participated as a player or coach every year except 1985 and 2003.
Mulkey in 2024
Mulkey in a postgame interview in 2006.
Mulkey (foreground left) at the White House event celebrating the LSU Tigers winning the 2022–23 NCAA National Championship