Women's NCAA teams post strong graduation numbers

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The 64 schools in the women's NCAA basketball tournament combined to graduate 90 percent of their players.

The University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport released its annual report Tuesday.

The study also shows that the gap between graduation rates of white and African-American players shrunk to 6 percentage points. White athletes graduated at a 94 percent rate; African-Americans at 88 percent.

The graduation rates for the women's teams in this year's NCAA postseason are significantly higher than those of the men - 90 percent to 70 percent. Twenty-five of 64 teams have a 100 percent graduation rate

Only one women's team - Tennessee-Martin - falls below the NCAA's new benchmark for academic progress, and that could lead to penalties.