Baylor’s title win caps exciting women’s basketball season
TAMPA, Fla. — Baylor and Notre Dame capped the women’s college basketball season with a thrilling championship game.
The sport now has had a different champion in the past four years, with the Lady Bears edging the Irish 82-81 on Sunday night to win their third title. It’s only the second time in the past two decades that there have been that many teams claiming the title.
“Just a great game for women’s basketball,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said.
The 11-point combined differential for the three games in the Final Four was the closest in the history of the tournament, topping last season’s 15-point margin. More than 40,000 fans attended the Final Four games, which was the most since 2010. Overall, nearly 275,000 fans attended the entire tournament, which ranks eighth all-time, including 20,127 for the title game. It was the highest attendance in over 15 years for the NCAAs.