| Division: | II |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Gender: | Women's |
| Teams: | 64 |
| Finalfourcity: |
St. Joseph, Missouri
Dallas, Texas |
| Champions: | Ashland |
| Titlecount: | 3rd |
| Runnerup: | Minnesota-Duluth |
| Gamecount: | 1st |
| Semifinal1: | Glenville State |
| Finalfourcount: | 3rd |
| Semifinal2: | Catawba |
| Finalfourcount2: | 1st |
| Coach: | Kari Pickens |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Annie Roshak |
| Mopteam: | Ashland |
The 2023 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament is a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA Division II college basketball in the United States. The tournament featured 64 teams.
During the 2022–23 academic year, the NCAA organized many events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, federal legislation outlawing sex discrimination in higher education. As part of this celebration, the NCAA scheduled the women's basketball championship games of all three of its divisions at the site of the 2023 Division I Final Four.[1] Accordingly, the championship game will be held on April 1, 2023, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The national quarterfinals and semifinals were played at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri.
This scheduling also created an unusually long break in the tournament. Normally, the national championship game is played one or two days after the semifinals, but this year's final took place 10 days after the semifinals.[1]
First, second, and third-round games (the latter of which doubles as a regional championship) were held at campus sites from March 10–13, 2023. The top-seeded team in each regional served as host.
The national quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals were held at predetermined sites: the former two rounds were played at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri and the latter at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The national championship was played on April 1, 2023, in Dallas, concurrently with the 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four.
A total of 64 bids were available for the tournament: Twenty-three automatic bids (awarded to the champions of each Division II conference) and 41 at-large bids.
The bids are allocated evenly among the eight NCAA-designated regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West), each of which contains either two or three of the twenty-three Division II conferences that sponsor men's basketball. Each region consists of two or three automatic qualifiers (the teams who won their respective conference tournaments) and either five or six at-large bids, awarded regardless of conference affiliation.
| Automatic bids | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region (Bids) | Conference | School | Record (Conf.) | Appearance | Last bid | |
| Atlantic (3) | CIAA | Elizabeth City State | 20–10 | 2nd | 2007 | |
| MEC | Glenville State | 29-2 | 16th | 2022 | ||
| PSAC | California (PA) | 21-10 | 19th | 2022 | ||
| Central (3) | GAC | Southern Nazarene | 27-4 | 2nd | 2021 | |
| MIAA | Missouri Southern | 27-6 | 5th | 2022 | ||
| NSIC | Minnesota Duluth | 27-3 | 15th | 2022 | ||
| East (3) | CACC | Dominican (NY) | 21-10 | 3rd | 2021 | |
| ECC | Daemen | 20-4 | 4th | 2022 | ||
| NE-10 | Bentley | 21-9 | 37th | 2022 | ||
| Midwest (3) | GLIAC | Grand Valley State | 29-2 | 17th | 2022 | |
| GLVC | Drury | 30-1 | 20th | 2022 | ||
| G-MAC | Ashland | 31-0 | 13th | 2022 | ||
| South (3) | GSC | Union (TN) | 26-3 | 8th | 2022 | |
| SIAC | Tuskegee | 26-3 | 7th | 2021 | ||
| SSC | Tampa | 30-1 | 15th | 2022 | ||
| South Central (2) | LSC | Angelo State | 25-6 | 14th | 2020 | |
| RMAC | Regis | 25-6 | 7th | 2017 | ||
| Southeast (3) | CC | UNC Pembroke | 22-9 | 1st | Never | |
| PBC | Georgia Southwestern State | 24-6 | 2nd | 2022 | ||
| SAC | Lenoir–Rhyne | 24-7 | 5th | 2014 | ||
| West (3) | CCAA | Cal State San Marcos | 23-5 | 3rd | 2022 | |
| GNAC | Western Washington | 24-3 | 19th | 2022 | ||
| PacWest | Azusa Pacific | 25-4 | 7th | 2022 | ||
| At-large bids | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region (Bids) | School | Conference | Record (Conf.) | Appearance | Last bid |
| Atlantic (5) | Charleston (WV) | MEC | 23-8 | 11th | 2022 |
| Gannon | PSAC | 29-4 | 14th | 2022 | |
| Shippensburg | PSAC | 24-6 | 10th | 2017 | |
| West Chester | PSAC | 22-8 | 8th | 2018 | |
| West Virginia State | MEC | 22-6 | 2nd | 2004 | |
| Central (5) | Augustana (SD) | NSIC | 25-5 | 15th | 2018 |
| Central Missouri | MIAA | 25-4 | 25th | 2021 | |
| Minnesota State-Mankato | NSIC | 25-4 | 8th | 2022 | |
| Nebraska–Kearney | MIAA | 28-4 | 15th | 2022 | |
| Pittsburg State | MIAA | 22-7 | 12th | 2019 | |
| East (5) | Assumption | NE-10 | 24-5 | 8th | 2017 |
| Jefferson | CACC | 26-4 | 14th | 2022 | |
| Le Moyne | NE-10 | 21-6 | 5th | 2022 | |
| Southern New Hampshire | NE-10 | 21-7 | 4th | 2022 | |
| St. Thomas Aquinas | ECC | 21-8 | 3rd | 2019 | |
| Midwest (5) | Kentucky Wesleyan | G-MAC | 23-6 | 5th | 2021 |
| Lewis | GLVC | 21-10 | 16th | 2020 | |
| Malone | G-MAC | 21-9 | 2nd | 2017 | |
| Michigan Tech | GLIAC | 25-6 | 21st | 2021 | |
| Trevecca Nazarene | G-MAC | 21-9 | 1st | Never | |
| South (5) | Eckerd | SSC | 24-5 | 7th | 2022 |
| Lee | GSC | 25-6 | 7th | 2022 | |
| Lynn | SSC | 23-8 | 3rd | 2013 | |
| Nova Southeastern | SSC | 21-8 | 7th | 2019 | |
| Valdosta State | GSC | 22-6 | 15th | 2022 | |
| South Central (6) | Black Hills State | RMAC | 22-7 | 4th | 2021 |
| Colorado Mines | RMAC | 24-6 | 5th | 2022 | |
| Lubbock Christian | LSC | 22-10 | 7th | 2022 | |
| Texas Woman's | LSC | 26-5 | 4th | 2022 | |
| UT Tyler | LSC | 24-7 | 1st | Never | |
| West Texas A&M | LSC | 21-10 | 28th | 2022 | |
| Southeast (5) | Catawba | SAC | 25-5 | 8th | 2022 |
| Clayton State | PBC | 18-11 | 15th | 2020 | |
| North Georgia | PBC | 19-10 | 7th | 2022 | |
| South Carolina-Aiken | PBC | 18-11 | 7th | 2013 | |
| Wingate | SAC | 22-7 | 20th | 2022 | |
| West (5) | Cal State Dominguez Hills | CCAA | 28-2 | 8th | 2015 |
| Cal State LA | CCAA | 20-9 | 3rd | 2012 | |
| Cal Poly Pomona | CCAA | 18-10 | 28th | 2020 | |
| Central Washington | GNAC | 21-8 | 5th | 2022 | |
| Montana State Billings | GNAC | 24-7 | 15th | 2018 | |
* – Denotes overtime period
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* – Denotes overtime period