# 2014–15 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2014–15 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team represented Northwestern University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by seventh year head coach Joe McKeown, played their home games at the Welsh-Ryan Arena and were a members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 23–9, 12–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten women's tournament, where they lost to Maryland. They received at-large bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament, which was their first trip since 1997. They lost in the first round to Arkansas.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/09/2014* 2:00 pm | | UW–Parkside | W 78–47 | – | Welsh-Ryan Arena (N/A) Evanston, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/14/2014* 7:05 pm | | at Chicago State | W 102–48 | 1–0 | Jones Convocation Center (N/A) Chicago, IL |
| 11/16/2014* 2:00 pm | | Hampton | W 62–36 | 2–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (546) Evanston, IL |
| 11/21/2014* 7:00 pm | | Kent State | W 72–54 | 3–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (452) Evanston, IL |
| 11/26/2014* 12:00 pm | | UIC | W 61–40 | 4–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (414) Evanston, IL |
| 11/29/2014* 7:00 pm | | at No. 18 DePaul | W 97–91 $^{2OT}$ | 5–0 | Sullivan Athletic Center (2,565) Chicago, IL |
| 12/04/2014* 6:00 pm | | at Virginia Tech ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | W 70–45 | 6–0 | Cassell Coliseum (1,430) Blacksburg, VA |
| 12/07/2014* 2:00 pm | | Loyola–Chicago | W 70–33 | 7–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (612) Evanston, IL |
| 12/15/2014* 12:00 pm | | Gonzaga | W 62–43 | 8–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,047) Evanston, IL |
| 12/17/2014* 6:00 pm | | at UNLV | W 88–84 | 9–0 | Thomas & Mack Center (N/A) Paradise, NV |
| 12/20/2014* 4:30 pm | | vs. Eastern Illinois ASU Tournament semifinals | W 92–44 | 10–0 | Wells Fargo Arena (1,189) Tempe, AZ |
| 12/21/2014* 3:00 pm | | at Arizona State ASU Tournament championship | L 75–88 | 10–1 | Wells Fargo Arena (2,647) Tempe, AZ |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2014 1:00 pm | | at No. 20 Michigan State | W 61–57 | 11–1 (1–0) | Breslin Center (8,128) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/01/2015 1:00 pm | | Wisconsin | W 68–46 | 12–1 (2–0) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,163) Evanston, IL |
| 01/04/2015 3:00 pm, BTN | | at Ohio State | L 64–73 | 12–2 (2–1) | Value City Arena (5,402) Columbus, OH |
| 01/11/2015 2:00 pm | | Michigan State | W 77–70 | 13–2 (3–1) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,152) Evanston, IL |
| 01/14/2015 7:00 pm | | at No. 22 Iowa | L 70–83 | 13–3 (3–2) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (4,027) Iowa City, IA |
| 01/17/2015 5:00 pm, BTN | | Michigan | L 66–73 | 13–4 (3–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (2,112) Evanston, IL |
| 01/22/2015 7:00 pm | | at Illinois | W 68–67 | 14–4 (4–3) | State Farm Center (1,725) Champaign, IL |
| 01/25/2015 1:00 pm | | at Penn State | L 75–76 | 14–5 (4–4) | Bryce Jordan Center (3,786) University Park, PA |
| 01/29/2015 7:00 pm | | No. 20 Iowa | L 99–102 | 14–6 (4–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (987) Evanston, IL |
| 02/01/2015 2:00 pm | | Minnesota | W 70–49 | 15–6 (5–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (918) Evanston, IL |
| 02/05/2015 6:00 pm | | at Indiana | W 75–69 | 16–6 (6–5) | Assembly Hall (2,094) Bloomington, IN |
| 02/08/2015 1:00 pm | | Illinois | W 64–58 | 17–6 (7–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (2,011) Evanston, IL |
| 02/11/2015 6:00 pm | | at Purdue | W 73–65 $^{OT}$ | 18–6 (8–5) | Mackey Arena (5,929) West Lafayette, IN |
| 02/14/2015 1:00 pm, BTN | | at Michigan | W 63–62 | 19–6 (9–5) | Crisler Center (2,129) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 02/18/2015 7:00 pm | | No. 21 Nebraska | W 59–51 | 20–6 (10–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (779) Evanston, IL |
| 02/22/2015 3:00 pm | | at Wisconsin | W 86–83 $^{OT}$ | 21–6 (11–5) | Kohl Center (N/A) Madison, WI |
| 02/26/2015 7:00 pm | No. 25 | No. 20 Rutgers | W 80–60 | 22–6 (12–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (903) Evanston, IL |
| 03/01/2015 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 25 | No. 5 Maryland | L 48–69 | 22–7 (12–6) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,743) Evanston, IL |
| Big Ten Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/06/2015 2:00 pm, BTN | No. 24 | vs. No. 23 Rutgers Quarterfinals | W 62–57 | 23–7 | Sears Centre (5,293) Hoffman Estates, IL |
| 03/07/2015 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 24 | vs. No. 4 Maryland Semifinals | L 57–62 | 23–8 | Sears Centre (N/A) Hoffman Estates, IL |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/20/2015* 11:00 am, ESPN2 | No. 22 | vs. Arkansas First Round | L 55–57 | 23–9 | Ferrell Center (N/A) Waco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | NR | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | 25 | 24 | 22 | 22 |
| Coaches | NR | NR | NR | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV |