The Division III Women's Basketball Committee used its April 26-28 meeting in Indianapolis to determine a championship tournament format in preparation for when the bracket expands to 63 teams in the 2005-06 season.

In a move heavily favored by coaches, the committee recommended that the tournament retain its current structure.

Early round games will continue to be played on Wednesday/Saturday, with sectional play occurring on the following Friday and Saturday. The national semifinals and final will be conducted the next Friday and Saturday.

Committee members noted that retaining the current format with an expanded bracket will not only increase the number of games played during the three-week event, but also will add more opportunities for schools to host preliminary-round competition.

The committee also voted to not allow live scouting at the first and second rounds of the tournament because all teams do not have equal opportunity to review games in-person. Instead, teams will be required to rely on the tape-exchange program currently in place.

In other action, the committee approved the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and the North Atlantic Conference for automatic qualification beginning with the 2004-05 season, and renewed the automatic qualification status for 37 other leagues.

Cathie Schweitzer, director of athletics at Springfield College, was voted as the new committee chair.