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.

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: As per the return to the 16-site subregional format, the following sites were added in 2008: 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: 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.

[2] Third seeded Ohio State beat Sacred Heart by 14 points, but led by only two well into the second half.

[8] Twelfth seeded Ball State upset defending national champion Tennessee, which had never lost an opening game in the tournament before.

[21] Seventh seeded Rutgers beat Virginia Commonwealth to spoil VCU's NCAA Tournament debut.

[22] Top seeded Oklahoma struggled early, but ended up winning easily over Prairie View A&M.

Playing on their home court, the Scarlet Knights scored the first nine points and lead 13–2 at the first media timeout.

Whitney Hand had a career-high 22 points, which helped overcome foul trouble for Courtney Paris.

[33] Seventh seeded South Dakota State tied an NCAA record with 16 three-point goals to help beat the Horned Frogs of TCU.

Head coach Kim Mulkey was not at the game, having been hospitalized earlier in the day due to a reaction to medication.

Kelli Griffin scored with 0.5 seconds remaining in the game to break a 58–58 tie, and move the Bears into the regional semi-final.

[41] Marissa Coleman has 18 points and 18 rebounds to lead top seeded Maryland over Utah on their home floor.

Both Angel McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham had double-doubles to help lead the Cardinals to the first regional championship game in school history.

Vanderbilt's Christina Wirth had a career-high 28 points, but it wasn't enough as Maryland's Marissa Coleman scored 42.

Coleman scored the basket to give Maryland the lead with just under 30 seconds left in the game, and the clinching free throws.

[47] Sixth seeded Arizona State beat Georgia, despite playing without injured Dymond Simon.

[48] Third seeded Florida State had five players in double figure, helping win over North Carolina A&T.

[50] Top seed Connecticut easily beat Vermont behind Tina Charles's 32 points on 13–14 from the field.

[51] Eighth seeded Florida beats Temple for its 24th win of the year, tying a school record.

[54] Sixth seeded Arizona State's Danielle Orsillo hit a three-pointer with 32 seconds left to break a 54–54 tie.

The win moves Connecticut in the Sweet Sixteen for the 16th consecutive time, the longest active streak.

[58] Connecticut faced their largest deficit of the year (eight points) against California, and went into halftime with only a two-point margin.

UConn's Tiffany Hayes had a career-high 28 points, shooting 9–10 from the field, including 5–6 from beyond the three-point arc.

Briann January and Danielle Orsillo were both perfect from the floor, helping the Sun Devils to a season-high 62 percent shooting percentage.

After Candyce Bingham hit one of two free throws, Nyeshia Stevenson took a three-point shot with two seconds left in the game.

Jayne Appel matched Renee Montgomery for high scoring honors with 26, but Connecticut also got 24 from Maya Moore.

UConn prevailed in the first meeting by 28 points, and won by 39 in the Big East Tournament Championship game.

[64] Angel McCoughtry tried to change the outcome this time, scoring eleven of Louisville's first 15 points, and assisting on two others, to take a 15–13 lead just over eight minutes into the game.