The NCAA News - News and Features

August 3, 1998

Division III -- III women's basketball committee approves 22 automatic qualifiers

The Division III Women's Basketball Committee approved 22 conferences for automatic qualification to the championship during its July 6-8 meeting in Kansas City, Missouri.

The qualification of champions from following conferences was approved: Capital Athletic Conference, City University of New York Athletic Conference, College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Empire Athletic Conference, Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Little East Conference, Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference, Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference and Midwest Conference.

Also receiving approval were the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, New Jersey Athletic Conference, North Coast Athletic Conference, Ohio Athletic Conference, Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Pennsylvania Athletic Conference, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, University Athletic Association, Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

The committee also recommended to the Division III Championships Committee that this season's championship be hosted by Western Connecticut State at the O'Neill Center in Danbury, Connecticut, March 19-20.

In another recommendation, the committee will ask the championships committee to approve funding of three-person officiating crews for all tournament games beginning in 2000. Starting in 1999, the committee will use conference assigners to assign officials to all championship rounds.

The committee also made several logistical changes. First, it changed the term "sectionals" to "quarterfinals." The videotape exchange for this portion of the tournament also was changed.

Teams advancing to this round will be required to send tapes to their three quarterfinal opponents. The previous rule required that a tape be sent only to the first-game opponent. The last logistical point was that all shot clocks must be mounted on top of the backboard.