The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee has selected Boston to host the NCAA Women’s Final Four in 2006, culminating a nine-month lobbying effort from Harvard, Northeastern and the Massachusetts Sports Partnership.

The Women’s Final Four festivities, which include the national semifinals and championship at the Fleet Center, a three-day fan festival and a national coaches meeting, are expected to pump an estimated $25 million into the host city’s economy.

“I am ecstatic—[Boston] is absolutely a wonderful city to have it in,” said Harvard women’s basketball Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, who has been to every Women’s Final Four since the events’ inception in 1982.

Indianapolis and Cleveland were also successful in their bids, which earned them hosting rights for the 2005 and 2007 Women’s Final Fours, respectively. St. Louis—the host of the most recent Women’s Final Four—and Phoenix were also considered.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Acting Gov. Jane Swift made the announcement official on Monday morning. Swift, a former high school basketball player in North Adams, cited the positive influence that high-profile female athletes would have on the community.

“As a mother of three daughters, I’m glad they’re going to have role models in the area of athletics that has traditionally been dominated by men,” Swift said.

The 2006 Final Four will be particularly monumental, since it will mark the events’ 25th anniversary, adding to the rich history of women’s basketball in the state. Massachusetts is where women’s collegiate basketball was born with an intersquad game at Smith College in 1895.

"Boston has a long and rich tradition of playing host to premier sports events,” Menino said. “It is in keeping with that storied history that we will for the first time host a Women’s Final Four championship."