Ohio State failed to earn an invitation to the NCAA tournament in the prior two years, but in 1993, they added Katie Smith, the Gatorade National player of the year,[3] to the roster, who helped lead the team to a 24–3 regular season record and an NCAA invitation as a 1 seed.

Despite 30 points from Virginia's Heather Burge, the Ohio State team won a close match, 75–73, to move on to their first ever NCAA Final Four.

With time winding down, and trailing by two points, Virginia raced down the court and Dana Evans would hit a three-point shot, but it was disallowed, because the coach had called a timeout with 0.6 seconds left in the game.

Tennessee had won the National Championship three of the prior six years an advanced to the regional final with wins of 20 points or more in their first two games.

That game wasn't close, as Texas Tech, with Sheryl Swoopes, the "Michael Jordan of women's basketball" beat Colorado by 25 points to make it to their first ever Final Four.

This set up a match up with Vanderbilt, the number one seeded winner of the Midwest Regional, who were also appearing in their first ever Final Four.

In one semifinal, second seeded Texas Tech faced a number one seed in Vanderbilt, but Texas Tech would win easily, 60–46, while Vanderbilt set a tournament record for fewest points in a half, of a semi-final game, with only 20 points in the second half.

[8] In the championship game, Swoopes scored 23 points in the first half to help Texas Tech take a nine-point lead at half-time.

She completed a three-point play on a layup and foul shot to give her team a seven-point lead with under a minute to go.

Ohio State hit two three-pointers in the final seconds, but it wasn't enough, and the Red Raiders won their first national championship with a score of 84–82.