| ASUN women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference basketball championship | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Conference | ASUN Conference |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Current stadium | Campus sites |
| Played | 1986–1991 (as NSWAC Tournament) 1992–2001 (as TAAC Tournament) 2002–present (as ASUN Tournament) |
| Last contest | 2023 |
| Current champion | Florida Gulf Coast |
| Most championships | FGCU (10) |
| Official website | asunsports.org |
The ASUN women's basketball tournament is a postseason tournament that determines which team receives the ASUN Conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.
The tournament was first held in 1986 by the New South Women's Athletic Conference, a women-only Division I conference. Following the 1990–91 basketball season, the NSWAC was absorbed by the Trans America Athletic Conference, with the TAAC incorporating all NSWAC statistics and records as its own. The conference changed its name to Atlantic Sun Conference in 2002, and rebranded itself as the ASUN Conference in 2016.[1]
History
For most of its history, the tournament was held at predetermined campus sites, a tradition which started with the inception of the women's tournament. From 2004-07, the tournament was played regularly at the Dothan Civic Center in Dothan, Alabama, though then-conference member Troy was the official host in 2004-05, and the city of Dothan was the host in 2006-07, after Troy had departed for the Sun Belt Conference. Starting in 2008, the tournament moved yet again, this time to Nashville, Tennessee, hosted by Lipscomb. In 2010, the tourney was moved to Macon, Georgia and was hosted by Mercer University through 2013. It then moved to Alico Arena on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University near Fort Myers, Florida for two seasons. The 2016 tournament began a new era for the event, with all games being held at campus sites. Since then, all games have been hosted by the higher seed of the teams involved, except for the 2021 edition. With the 2020–21 season dramatically affected by COVID-19, the ASUN chose to move its entire tournament to the campus of Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia.
Results
| Year | Champions | Score | Runner-Up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Women's Athletic Conference | ||||
| 1986 | Florida A&M (1) | 68–54 | Georgia Southern | Gaither Gym, Tallahassee, Florida |
| 1987 | Georgia Southern (1) | 74–69 | Florida A&M | Hanner Fieldhouse, Statesboro, Georgia |
| 1988 | Georgia Southern (2) | 73–66 | Florida A&M | Edmunds Center, DeLand, Florida |
| 1989 | Stetson (1) | 72–65 | Georgia Southern | GSU Sports Arena, Atlanta, Georgia |
| 1990 | Georgia Southern (3) | 71–70 | FIU | Golden Panther Arena, Miami, Florida |
| 1991 | Miami (FL) (1) | 73–44 | Florida A&M | Gaither Gym, Tallahassee, Florida |
| Trans America Athletic Conference | ||||
| 1992 | FIU (1) | 88–78 | Georgia Southern | Hanner Fieldhouse, Statesboro, Georgia |
| 1993 | FIU (2) | 77–52 | Mercer | Golden Panther Arena, Miami, Florida |
| 1994 | FIU (3) | 89–67 | Southeastern Louisiana | University Center, Hammond, Louisiana |
| 1995 | FIU (4) | 76–74 | Southeastern Louisiana | John Kresse Arena, Charleston, South Carolina |
| 1996 | Central Florida (1) | 81–57 | Florida Atlantic | University Center, Hammond, Louisiana |
| 1997 | FIU (5) | 91–71 | Jacksonville State | Edmunds Center, DeLand, Florida |
| 1998 | FIU (6) | 86–50 | Georgia State | Golden Panther Arena, Miami, Florida |
| 1999 | Central Florida (2) | 80–59 | Jacksonville State | GSU Sports Arena, Atlanta, Georgia |
| 2000 | Campbell (1) | 66–49 | Georgia State | Pelham Civic Center, Pelham, Alabama |
| 2001 | Georgia State (1) | 64–62 | Campbell | UCF Arena, Orlando, Florida |
| Atlantic Sun Conference | ||||
| 2002 | Georgia State (2) | 64–63 | Florida Atlantic | Trojan Arena, Troy, AL |
| 2003 | Georgia State (3) | 80–63 | Central Florida | UCF Arena, Orlando, Florida |
| 2004 | Lipscomb (1) | 64–62 | Central Florida | Dothan Civic Center, Dothan, Alabama |
| 2005 | Stetson (2) | 88–62 | Georgia State | |
| 2006 | Florida Atlantic (1) | 88–62 | Gardner–Webb | |
| 2007 | Belmont (1) | 69–57 | East Tennessee State | |
| 2008 | East Tennessee State (1) | 72–72 | Jacksonville | Allen Arena, Nashville, Tennessee |
| 2009 | East Tennessee State (2) | 58–52 | Jacksonville | |
| 2010 | East Tennessee State (3) | 63–62 | North Florida | University Center, Macon, Georgia |
| 2011 | Stetson (3) | 69–50 | Jacksonville | |
| 2012 | Florida Gulf Coast (1) | 67–39 | Stetson | |
| 2013 | Stetson (4) | 70–64 | Stetson | |
| 2014 | Florida Gulf Coast (2) | 72–70 | Stetson | Alico Arena, Fort Myers, Florida |
| 2015 | Florida Gulf Coast (3) | 60–43 | Northern Kentucky | |
| 2016 | Jacksonville (1) | 56–54 | Florida Gulf Coast | |
| ASUN Conference | ||||
| 2017 | Florida Gulf Coast (4) | 77–70 | Stetson | Edmunds Center, DeLand, Florida |
| 2018 | Florida Gulf Coast (5) | 68–58 | Jacksonville | Alico Arena, Fort Myers, Florida |
| 2019 | Florida Gulf Coast (6) | 72–49 | Liberty | |
| 2020 | Tournament canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic[2][3] | |||
| 2021 | Florida Gulf Coast (7)[4] | 84–62 | Liberty | KSU Convocation Center, Kennesaw, Georgia |
| 2022 | Florida Gulf Coast (8) | 69–54 | Jacksonville State | Alico Arena, Fort Myers, Florida |
| 2023 | Florida Gulf Coast (9) | 84–60 | Liberty | |
Champions
| School | Titles | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Florida Gulf Coast | 10 |
2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020Co, 2021, 2022, 2023 |
| FIU | 6 |
1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 |
| Stetson | 4 |
1989, 2005, 2011, 2013 |
| East Tennessee State | 3 |
2008, 2009, 2010 |
| Georgia State | 3 |
2001, 2002, 2003 |
| Georgia Southern | 3 |
1987, 1988, 1990 |
| UCF | 2 |
1996, 1999 |
| Jacksonville | 1 |
2016 |
| Belmont | 1 |
2007 |
| Lipscomb | 1 |
2004 |
| Campbell | 1 |
2000 |
| Florida Atlantic | 1 |
2006 |
| Miami (FL) | 1 |
1991 |
| Florida A&M | 1 |
1986 |
| Liberty | 1 |
2020Co |
- Austin Peay, Bellarmine, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, North Florida, and Queens (NC) have not yet won an ASUN tournament.
- Centenary (LA), Charleston, Gardner–Webb, Mercer, Northern Kentucky, NJIT, Samford, Southeastern Louisiana,Troy, and USC Upstate never won the tournament as a ASUN members.
- Schools highlighted in pink are former members of the ASUN as of the 2023–24 season.
See also
References
- ↑ "ASUN Conference Women's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). asunsports.org. ASUN Conference. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- ↑ FGCU, Liberty, semi-finalists, named as co-champions of tournament
- ↑ Carmany, Paul (2020-09-25). "Lady Flames Announce Revamped 2020-21 ASUN WBB Schedule". WSLS. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
- ↑ "No. 21 FGCU Defeats Liberty to Capture the 2021 #ASUNMadness Championship". ASUN Conference. 2021-03-14. Retrieved 2021-04-30.