The 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 39th edition of the tournament began on March 21, 2021, in sites around San Antonio, Texas, and concluded with the championship game on April 4 at the Alamodome, with the Stanford Cardinal defeating the Arizona Wildcats 54–53 to win their third NCAA title.
Due to logistical considerations surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (which resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 tournament), and mirroring a similar decision by the men's tournament, the entire tournament was played in the San Antonio area rather than at sites across the country, with some first and second round games played in nearby San Marcos and Austin. The Alamodome hosted all games from the regional semifinals onward, including the originally-awarded Final Four and championship game.
Four schools, America East champion Stony Brook, Big South champion High Point, Missouri Valley champion Bradley and Utah Valley from the WAC (California Baptist won the WAC tournament, but was ineligible for the NCAA tournament because it is in the third year of a four-year transition from Division II), made their first appearance in the tournament.
Additionally, Tennessee continued its record streak of making every edition of the tournament. Arizona made its first-ever appearance in the Final Four. UConn extended its record streak of 13 consecutive Final Four appearances. Wake Forest and Washington State made their first appearances since 1988 and 1991, respectively.
Tournament procedure
The tournament's 64 teams consisted of the 31 conference champions (down from 32, due to the Ivy League having cancelled all winter athletics due to COVID-19), and 33 "at-large" bids extended by the Selection Committee.
This tournament was the first since 1983 in which the RPI was not used in the selection process. On May 4, 2020, the NCAA announced that it would replace the RPI with the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool), a metric that has been used in the selection process for the men's tournament since 2019. The women's version of the NET uses input data specific to the women's game but is otherwise functionally identical to the men's version.
Schedule and venues
On February 5, 2021, the NCAA announced that due to logistical considerations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (which prompted the cancellation of the 2020 tournament), the entirety of the tournament would be conducted at sites in and around San Antonio and Austin (mirroring a similar decision for the men's tournament, which would similarly use venues in and around its Final Four host city of Indianapolis), rather than across the country;
First and second round (March 21–22, 23–24) Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of the Incarnate Word) Bill Greehey Arena, San Antonio (Hosts: University of Houston and St. Mary's University) Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin) Strahan Arena, San Marcos, Texas (Host: Texas State University) UTSA Convocation Center, San Antonio (Host: the University of Texas at San Antonio)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) (March 27–30) Alamodome, San Antonio (Hosts: the University of the Incarnate Word and the University of Texas at San Antonio)
National semifinals and championship (final Four and championship) (April 2 and 4) Alamodome, San Antonio (Hosts: the University of the Incarnate Word, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and San Antonio Sports)
The Alamodome had two courts for first- and second-round games, and was converted to a single court for later rounds. Practices were held at the Alamodome and the Henry B. González Convention Center. The regions were named after famous sites in San Antonio: the Alamo, the HemisFair, the Mercado, and the River Walk.
All games were played behind closed doors (with only friends and family present) until the Sweet Sixteen at the Alamodome, which operated at 17% capacity (10,880) for the remainder of the tournament.