The 2026 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a 68 team single-elimination tournament to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 44th edition of the tournament began on March 18, 2026, with the First Four, and concluded with the championship game on April 5, at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The UCLA Bruins won their first national championship in the NCAA era by defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks 79–51.