The 2009 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament commenced 21 March 2009 and concluded 7 April 2009 when the University of Connecticut Huskies defeated the Louisville Cardinals 76–54.
Michigan State's upset over Duke in the second round would be the last time until 2023 that all four 1 seeds did not progress to at least the Sweet Sixteen.
Subregionals
Once again, the system is the same as the Division I men's basketball tournament, with the exception that only 64 teams went and there was no play-in game. Automatic bids were secured by 31 conference champions and 33 at-large bids.
The subregionals, which used the "pod system", keeping most teams either at or close to the home cities, was held from 21 March to 24 at sixteen sites. The following were chosen in July 2006, prior to the re-expansion of the subregional sites from eight to sixteen:
The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico) Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Host: Louisiana State University) Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (Host: The Ohio State University) Comcast Center, College Park, Maryland (Host: University of Maryland, College Park) Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Georgia (Host: University of Georgia) United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas (Host: Texas Tech University) Galen Center, Los Angeles (Host: University of Southern California) Louis Brown Athletic Center, Piscataway, New Jersey (Host: Rutgers University)
As per the return to the 16-site subregional format, the following sites were added in 2008:
E. A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Kentucky (Host: Western Kentucky University) Jack Breslin Student Events Center, East Lansing, Michigan (Host: Michigan State University) Carver–Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa (Host: University of Iowa) Edmund P. Joyce Center, South Bend, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame) Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle (Host: University of Washington) Cox Arena, San Diego (Host: San Diego State University) Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut) McKenzie Arena, Chattanooga, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga)
Regionals
The regionals, held in the city rather than the geographic area as a practice that has been used since 2005, were held there from 28 March to 31 at these sites:
Trenton Regional: Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New Jersey (Hosts: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Rider University). Raleigh Regional: RBC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University). Oklahoma City Regional: Ford Center, Oklahoma City (Host: Big 12 Conference). Berkeley Regional: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, California (Hosts: University of California, Berkeley and Pac-10 Conference).
The regional winners advanced to the Final Four, held 5 and 7 April 2009 at the Scottrade Center, in St. Louis, Missouri, hosted by the Missouri Valley Conference.
Tournament records Three-pointers—Iowa State hit 16 three-point field goals in a first-round game against East Tennessee State, tied for the most number of three-point shots completed in an NCAA Tournament game. Three-pointers—South Dakota State hit 16 three-point field goals in a first-round game against TCU, tied for the most number of three-point shots completed in an NCAA Tournament game. Three-pointers—Connecticut hit 47 three-point field goals, tied for the most number of three-point shots completed in an NCAA Tournament.
Qualifying teams – automatic Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA tournament.
Automatic bids Record Qualifying School Conference RegularSeason Conference Seed Austin Peay State University Ohio Valley Conference 16 Ball State University MAC 12 Baylor University Big 12 Conference 2 University of North Carolina at Charlotte Atlantic 10 11 University of Connecticut Big East 1 Dartmouth College Ivy League 16 Drexel University Colonial 12 East Tennessee State University Atlantic Sun Conference 13 University of Evansville Missouri Valley Conference 15 California State University, Fresno WAC 13 Gonzaga University West Coast Conference 12 University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Horizon League 11 Lehigh University Patriot League 15 Liberty University Big South Conference 14 Marist College MAAC 12 University of Maryland, College Park ACC 1 Middle Tennessee State University Sun Belt Conference 8 University of Montana Big Sky Conference 13 North Carolina A&T MEAC 14 Ohio State University Big Ten 3 Prairie View A&M University SWAC 16 Sacred Heart University Northeast Conference 14 South Dakota State University The Summit League 7 Stanford University Pac-10 2 University of California, Santa Barbara Big West Conference 15 University of Central Florida Conference USA 14 University of Utah Mountain West 9 University of Texas at San Antonio Southland 15 Vanderbilt University SEC 4 University of Vermont America East 16 Western Carolina University Southern Conference 13
Qualifying teams – at-large Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.
At-large Bids Record Qualifying School Conference RegularSeason Conference Seed Arizona State University Pacific-10 6 Auburn University Southeastern 2 University of California, Berkeley Pacific-10 4 DePaul University Big East 7 Duke University Atlantic Coast 1 University of Florida Southeastern 8 Florida State University Atlantic Coast 3 University of Georgia Southeastern 11 Georgia Tech Atlantic Coast 9 University of Iowa Big Ten 8 Iowa State Big 12 4 Kansas State Big 12 5 Louisville Big East 3 LSU Southeastern 6 Michigan State University Big Ten 9 Minnesota Big Ten 10 Mississippi State University Southeastern 11 University of North Carolina Atlantic Coast 3 University of Notre Dame Big East 7 University of Oklahoma Big 12 1 University of Pittsburgh Big East 4 Purdue University Big Ten 6 Rutgers University Big East 7 San Diego State University Mountain West 10 TCU Mountain West 10 Temple University Atlantic 10 9 University of Tennessee Southeastern 5 University of Texas at Austin Big 12 6 Texas A&M University Big 12 2 VCU Colonial 10 Villanova University Big East 8 University of Virginia Atlantic Coast 5 Xavier University Atlantic 10 5
Tournament seeds +Trenton Regional +Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New JerseySeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1ConnecticutBig East33–0Automatic2Texas A&MBig 1225–7At-large3Florida StateACC25–7At-large4CaliforniaPac-1025–6At-large5VirginiaACC23–9At-large6Arizona StatePac-1023–8At-large7Notre DameBig East22–8At-large8FloridaSEC23–7At-large9TempleAtlantic 1021–9At-large10MinnesotaBig 1019–11At-large11GeorgiaSEC18–13At-large12MaristMAAC29–3Automatic13Fresno StateWAC24–8Automatic14North Carolina A&TMEAC26–6Automatic15EvansvilleMissouri Valley15–18Automatic16VermontAmerica East21–11Automatic+Berkeley Regional +Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, CaliforniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1DukeACC26–5At-large2StanfordPac-1029–4Automatic3Ohio StateBig 1027–5Automatic4Iowa StateBig 1224–8At-large5TennesseeSEC22–10At-large6TexasBig 1221–11At-large7DePaulBig East23–9At-large8Middle Tennessee StateSun Belt28–5Automatic9Michigan StateBig Ten20–10At-large10San Diego StateMountain West23–7At-large11Mississippi StateSEC22–9At-large12Ball StateMAC25–8Automatic13East Tennessee StateAtlantic Sun20–10Automatic14Sacred HeartNortheast25–7Automatic15UCSBBig West22–9Automatic16Austin PeayOhio Valley17–15Automatic+Raleigh Regional +RBC Center, Raleigh, North CarolinaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1MarylandACC28–4Automatic2BaylorBig 1227–5Automatic3LouisvilleBig East29–4At-large4VanderbiltSEC24–8Automatic5Kansas StateBig 1224–7At-large6LSUSEC18–10At-large7South Dakota StateSummit31–2Automatic8VillanovaBig East19–13At-large9UtahMountain West22–9Automatic10TCUMountain West20–10At-large11Green BayHorizon29–3Automatic12DrexelCAA24–8Automatic13Western CarolinaSouthern21–11Automatic14LibertyBig South24–8Automatic15UTSASouthland24–8Automatic16DartmouthIvy18–10Automatic+Oklahoma City Regional +Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OklahomaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1OklahomaBig 1228–4At-large2AuburnSEC29–3At-large3North CarolinaACC27–6At-large4PittsburghBig East23–7At-large5XavierAtlantic 1025–6At-large6PurdueBig 1022–10At-large7RutgersBig East19–12At-large8IowaBig 1021–10At-large9Georgia TechACC21–9At-large10VCUCAA26–6At-large11CharlotteAtlantic 1023–8Automatic12GonzagaWest Coast26–6Automatic13MontanaBig Sky28–4Automatic14UCFConference USA17–16Automatic15LehighPatriot26–6Automatic16Prairie View A&MSWAC23–10Automatic
Bids by conference Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In twenty-two cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from nine of the conferences.
Bids Conference Teams 7
Big East
Connecticut, DePaul, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Villanova 7
Southeastern
Vanderbilt, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi St., Tennessee 6
Atlantic Coast
Maryland, Duke, Florida St., Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia 6
Big 12
Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M 5
Big Ten
Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue 3
Atlantic 10
Charlotte, Temple, Xavier 3
Mountain West
Utah, San Diego State, TCU 3
Pacific-10
Stanford, Arizona State, California 2
Colonial
Drexel, VCU 1
America East
Vermont 1
Atlantic Sun
East Tennessee State 1
Big Sky
Montana 1
Big South
Liberty 1
Big West
UC Santa Barbara 1
Conference USA
UCF 1
Horizon
Green Bay 1
Ivy
Dartmouth 1
Metro Atlantic
Marist 1
Mid-American
Ball State 1
Mid-Eastern
North Carolina A&T 1
Missouri Valley
Evansville 1
Northeast
Sacred Heart 1
Ohio Valley
Austin Peay 1
Patriot
Lehigh 1
Southern
Western Carolina 1
Southland
UTSA 1
Southwestern
Prairie View 1
Summit
South Dakota State 1
Sun Belt
Middle Tennessee State 1
West Coast
Gonzaga 1
Western Athletic
Fresno State
Bids by state
The sixty-four teams came from thirty-two states. Texas had the most teams with six bids. Eighteen states did not have any teams receiving bids.
Bids State Teams 6
Texas
Baylor, Prairie View, UTSA, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M 5
California
Fresno State, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, California, San Diego State 5
North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina A&T, Western Carolina, Duke, North Carolina 5
Pennsylvania
Drexel, Lehigh, Pittsburgh, Temple, Villanova 5
Tennessee
Austin Peay, East Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee 4
Indiana
Ball State, Evansville, Notre Dame, Purdue 3
Florida
UCF, Florida, Florida State 3
Virginia
Liberty, VCU, Virginia 2
Connecticut
Connecticut, Sacred Heart 2
Georgia
Georgia, Georgia Tech 2
Iowa
Iowa, Iowa State 2
Ohio
Ohio State, Xavier 1
Alabama
Auburn 1
Arizona
Arizona State 1
Illinois
DePaul 1
Kansas
Kansas State 1
Kentucky
Louisville 1
Louisiana
LSU 1
Maryland
Maryland 1
Michigan
Michigan State 1
Minnesota
Minnesota 1
Mississippi
Mississippi State 1
Montana
Montana 1
New Hampshire
Dartmouth 1
New Jersey
Rutgers 1
New York
Marist 1
Oklahoma
Oklahoma 1
South Dakota
South Dakota State 1
Utah
Utah 1
Vermont
Vermont 1
Washington
Gonzaga 1
Wisconsin
Green Bay
Game summaries
Berkeley Region
First round Second seeded Stanford easily beat the 15th seeded Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara behind a double-double by Jayne Appel. Third seeded Ohio State beat Sacred Heart by 14 points, but led by only two well into the second half. Freshman guard Samantha Prahalis scored 23 to help lead the Buckeyes to victory.