The 2009–10 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November 2009 and ended with the 2010 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament's championship game on April 6, 2010 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The tournament opened with the first and second rounds on Thursday through Sunday, March 18–21, 2010. Regional games were played on Thursday through Sunday, March 28–31, 2010, with the Final Four played on Sunday and Tuesday, April 4 and 6, 2010. The Connecticut Huskies successfully defended their national title from the previous season, defeating Stanford 53–47 in the final. This was the Huskies' second consecutive unbeaten championship season, unprecedented since the NCAA began to organize women's basketball in the 1981–82 season. Season headlines May 4:The tenth annual 2009 US Virgin Islands Paradise Jam is a women's basketball tournament that will take place on November 26–28, 2009. Eight teams from the NCAA have been invited to participate in the tournament. The teams will be separated into two brackets, the Reef Division and the Island Division. The Reef Division will consist of Mississippi State, Rutgers, Southern California and Texas. The Island Division will consist of Notre Dame, Oklahoma, San Diego State and South Carolina May 5: The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten Conference announced the pairings for the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge for women's basketball, which is in the third year of a four-year agreement. The 2009 Challenge, which will take on a two-day format this year, will open on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge matches 11 teams from each conference in head-to-head competition traditionally on the first Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after Thanksgiving, following the men's basketball Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Big Ten and ACC have been among the most successful conferences in women's basketball. During the 2008–09 season, the ACC was represented by six teams in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. It was the seventh straight year the league has had at least six teams in the tournament. Maryland advanced to the 2009 NCAA Regional Finals, giving the ACC at least one team in the Elite Eight for the eighth consecutive year. In 2005–06, the ACC became the first conference to send three teams: Duke, Maryland and North Carolina – to the same Final Four. Overall, the ACC has made 11 Final Four trips, including six in the past 13 years. May 28, 2009: NBA referee Violet Palmer was