[3] This tournament was the first to adopt the FIBA's 10ths-second clock during the final minute of each period, unlike whole seconds as in past seasons.

The coach decided to stress defense and it helped, but Penn State held a 41–29 lead at halftime.

It was only the second time in the ten-year history of the NCAA tournament that a number 1 seed had failed to advance to the regional.

Coincidentally, first time was in 1986 when number 1 seeded Virginia failed to reach the regional when they were defeated by James Madison.

In a game identified in 2009 as one of the top ten games in UConn history, Tonya Cardoza scored 16 points for the Cavaliers, including four three throws in the final second to help Virginia defeat Connecticut 61–55.

Virginia failed to score, then fouled Head with seconds to go, who sank the free throws to send the game to overtime.

Head continued to hit free throws in overtime, and the Volunteers went on to win the game and the national championship 70–67.

Twenty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 1991 NCAA tournament.

Two conferences, Metro Atlantic and Patriot sent a single representative as an at-large team.