# 2018–19 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team represented Northwestern University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats were led by 11th-year head coach Joe McKeown. They returned to play their home games at Welsh–Ryan Arena after a one year renovation. They were members of the Big Ten Conference.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/04/2018* 2:00 pm | | Lewis | W 84–69 | | Welsh–Ryan Arena (350) Evanston, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/06/2018* 7:00 pm | | at Green Bay | W 57–55 | 1–0 | Kress Events Center (1,662) Green Bay, WI |
| 11/11/2018* 1:00 pm, BTN | | No. 21 Duke | W 84–58 | 2–0 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (2,258) Evanston, IL |
| 11/15/2018* 7:00 pm | | UIC | W 87–44 | 3–0 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (761) Evanston, IL |
| 11/18/2018* 1:00 pm | | at Florida | W 83–74 $^{OT}$ | 4–0 | O'Connell Center (1,379) Gainesville, FL |
| 11/25/2018* 2:00 pm | | UT Martin | W 90–64 | 5–0 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (372) Evanston, IL |
| 11/29/2018* 7:00 pm | | Pittsburgh ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | L 49–52 | 5–1 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (411) Evanston, IL |
| 12/05/2018* 7:00 pm | | at No. 20 DePaul | L 60–76 | 5–2 | McGrath-Phillips Arena (1,518) Chicago, IL |
| 12/09/2018* 1:00 pm, BTN | | No. 18 Marquette | L 57–76 | 5–3 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,467) Evanston, IL |
| 12/17/2018* 11:00 am | | Chicago State | W 97–35 | 6–3 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (5,799) Evanston, IL |
| 12/19/2018* 7:00 pm | | vs. Wichita State Duel in the Desert Desert Division semifinals | W 65–43 | 7–3 | Cox Pavilion (952) Paradise, NV |
| 12/20/2018* 7:00 pm | | vs. Kansas Duel in the Desert Desert Division championship game | L 57–66 | 7–4 | Cox Pavilion (751) Paradise, NV |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2018 3:00 pm | | at Rutgers | L 41–45 | 7–5 (0–1) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (1,952) Piscataway, NJ |
| 12/31/2018 2:00 pm, BTN | | Illinois | W 68–45 | 8–5 (1–1) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,129) Evanston, IL |
| 01/03/2019 7:00 pm | | No. 15 Michigan State | W 70–62 | 9–5 (2–1) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,071) Evanston, IL |
| 01/08/2019 6:00 pm | | at Michigan | L 78–79 $^{OT}$ | 9–6 (2–2) | Crisler Center (2,229) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 01/13/2019 4:00 pm, BTN | | Purdue | L 54–57 | 9–7 (2–3) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,349) Evanston, IL |
| 01/16/2019 6:00 pm | | at No. 25 Indiana | W 75–69 | 10–7 (3–3) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (3,352) Bloomington, IN |
| 01/20/2019 3:30 pm | | Wisconsin | W 72–46 | 11–7 (4–3) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,524) Evanston, IL |
| 01/24/2019 7:00 pm | | at Nebraska | W 58–54 | 12–7 (5–3) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (3,660) Lincoln, NE |
| 01/27/2019 2:00 pm | | at Illinois | W 64–56 | 13–7 (6–3) | State Farm Center (1,532) Champaign, IL |
| 01/31/2019 7:00 pm | | Minnesota | L 54–61 | 13–8 (6–4) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (606) Evanston, IL |
| 02/03/2019 3:30 pm | | Ohio State | W 76–59 | 14–8 (7–4) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,283) Evanston, IL |
| 02/07/2019 5:30 pm | | at No. 10 Maryland | L 57–72 | 14–9 (7–5) | Xfinity Center (4,933) College Park, MD |
| 02/10/2019 1:00 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 64–73 | 14–10 (7–6) | Williams Arena (5,475) Lincoln, NE |
| 02/14/2019 7:00 pm | | Penn State | W 78–63 | 15–10 (8–6) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (490) Evanston, IL |
| 02/17/2019 5:00 pm, BTN | | at Purdue | L 58–61 | 15–11 (8–7) | Mackey Arena (7,265) West Lafayette, IN |
| 02/21/2019 7:00 pm | | Nebraska | L 64–71 | 15–12 (8–8) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (446) Evanston, IL |
| 02/26/2019 7:00 pm | | Indiana | W 69–49 | 16–12 (9–8) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (531) Evanston, IL |
| 03/03/2019 3:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 12 Iowa | L 50–74 | 16–13 (9–9) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (12,051) Iowa City, IA |
| Big Ten Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/07/2019 11:00 am, BTN | (8) | vs. (9) Michigan State Second Round | L 52–68 | 16–14 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| WNIT ||||||
| 03/21/2019* 7:00 pm | | Dayton First Round | W 74–51 | 17–14 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (325) Evanston, IL |
| 03/24/2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Toledo Second Round | W 54–47 | 18–14 | Savage Arena (1,879) Toledo, OH |
| 03/27/2019* 7:00 pm | | at West Virginia Third Round | W 56–54 | 19–14 | WVU Coliseum (1,314) Morgantown, WV |
| 03/30/2019* 6:00 pm | | Ohio Quarterfinals | W 61–58 | 20–14 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,031) Evanston, IL |
| 04/03/2019* 6:00 pm | | at James Madison Semifinals | W 74–69 | 21–14 | JMU Convocation Center (1,992) Harrisonburg, VA |
| 04/06/2019* 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Arizona Championship Game | L 42–56 | 21–15 | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, AZ |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |