The 1988 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 16 and ended on April 3.

This year Auburn advanced to the Final Four for the first time defeating Maryland in the Mideast Regional 103–74.

In the semifinal game, the Long Beach 49ers team started out slowly, but their coach Joan Bonvicini wasn't worried; she was convinced they would come back.

Ruthie Bolton scored eleven points in the final six minutes for the Tigers to help seal the 68–55 victory, and the right to play for the national championship.

Their opponent, Louisiana Tech, had won the first NCAA Tournament in 1982, and had finished as runner up to Tennessee in the previous year's championship game.

[6] The two teams met in the regular season, with Tennessee winning 76–74 in an overtime game played in Knoxville.

[7] The Lady Techsters were a two seed, but upset top ranked Texas 83–80 in the Midwest Regional to make it to the semifinal game.

Ruthie Bolton scored 16 points in the first half, a source of frustration for her defender Teresa Weatherspoon.

Weatherspoon made sure the second half was different, both offensively, with seven assists and defensively, holding Bolton to zero points and helping to force six turnovers.

The exception:[11] The following table lists the region, host school, venue and the twenty-four first and second round locations: The regionals, named for the general location, were held from March 24 to March 26 at these sites: Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held April 1 and April 3 in Tacoma, Washington at the Tacoma Dome, co-hosted by Seattle University & University of Washington.