# 2021–22 Northern Iowa Panthers women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Northern Iowa Panthers women's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Panthers were led by head coach Tanya Warren in her fifteenth season, and played their home games at the McLeod Center as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2020–21 season with a 17–13 record, including 11–7 in MVC play. They received a bid to the 2021 Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they advanced to the Final Four.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Megan Maahs | 50 | F | 6'1" | RS Senior | Epworth, IA | Graduated |

### 2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Riley Wright G | Marion, IA | Marion | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A | Jul 1, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Anaya Barney G | Cedar Falls, IA | Cedar Falls | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A | Jul 13, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 2, 2021* 6:00 p.m. | | Truman | W 83–58 | – | 14 – 2 tied | 8 – Gunnels | 7 – Rucker | McLeod Center Cedar Falls, IA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 9, 2021* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Louis | W 63–54 | 1–0 | 17 – Rucker | 11 – Wolf | 3 – Gunnels | Chaifetz Arena (402) St. Louis, MO |
| November 14, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 9 Iowa | L 61–82 | 1–1 | 17 – Finley | 8 – Gunnels | 4 – McDermott | McLeod Center (3,095) Cedar Falls, IA |
| November 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at North Dakota State | W 76–63 | 2–1 | 27 – Rucker | 8 – Boffeli | 4 – Rucker | Scheels Center (504) Fargo, ND |
| November 20, 2021* 11:00 a.m. | | Witchita State | W 87–55 | 3–1 | 16 – Kroeger | 8 – Boffeli | 5 – Green | McLeod Center (497) Cedar Falls, IA |
| November 27, 2021* 1:00 p.m., FloSports | | at Creighton | L 72–79 | 3–2 | 20 – Rucker | 11 – Boffeli | 5 – 2 tied | D. J. Sokol Arena (792) Omaha, NE |
| December 1, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | at St. Thomas (MN) | W 102–62 | 4–2 | 17 – Green | 11 – Wolf | 10 – McDermott | Schoenecker Arena (375) Saint Paul, MN |
| December 4, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | South Dakota State | W 59–50 | 5–2 | 13 – Finley | 8 – Wolf | 3 – Wolf | McLeod Center (636) Cedar Falls, IA |
| December 6, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Graceland | W 110–34 | 6–2 | 15 – 2 tied | 7 – Wolf | 7 – McDermott | McLeod Center (668) Cedar Falls, IA |
| December 12, 2021* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at No. 15 Iowa State | L 69–70 | 6–3 | 28 – Finley | 8 – Boffeli | 6 – Rucker | Hilton Coliseum (9,726) Ames, IA |
| December 18, 2021* 9:00 p.m. | | vs. Idaho Maui Classic | W 75–64 | 7–3 | 21 – Rucker | 19 – Boffeli | 5 – Rucker | Lahaina Civic Center (212) Lahaina, HI |
| December 19, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | vs. Oregon State Maui Classic | L 59–70 | 7–4 | 17 – Rucker | 9 – Gunnels | 3 – Rucker | Lahaina Civic Center (415) Lahaina, HI |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season |||||||||
| January 7, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Valparaiso | L 58–60 | 7–5 (0–1) | 13 – Boffeli | 12 – Boffeli | 8 – Rucker | Athletics-Recreation Center (179) Valparaiso, IN |
| January 9, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Loyola Chicago | W 58–54 | 8–5 (1–1) | 16 – Rucker | 9 – Boffeli | 4 – Rucker | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (203) Chicago, IL |
| January 13, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Missouri State | W 74–65 | 9–5 (2–1) | 19 – Rucker | 14 – Boffeli | 4 – Boffeli | McLeod Center (739) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 15, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | W 66–57 | 10–5 (3–1) | 18 – Rucker | 7 – Gunnels | 3 – 2 tied | McLeod Center (837) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 21, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Drake | L 57–65 | 10–6 (3–2) | 12 – Rucker | 10 – Boffeli | 4 – 2 tied | Knapp Center (2,300) Des Moines, IA |
| January 27, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Illinois State | W 74–67 | 11–6 (4–2) | 16 – Kroeger | 8 – Kroeger | 5 – 2 tied | Redbird Arena (824) Normal, IL |
| January 29, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Bradley | W 60–36 | 12–6 (5–2) | 14 – Boffeli | 10 – Boffeli | 3 – Rucker | Renaissance Coliseum (322) Peoria, IL |
| February 2, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Indiana State | W 72–49 | 13–6 (6–2) | 15 – Finley | 11 – Boffeli | 4 – Gunnels | McLeod Center (821) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 4, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Loyola Chicago | W 69–56 | 14–6 (7–2) | 14 – 2 tied | 18 – Boffeli | 3 – 3 tied | McLeod Center (867) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 6, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | W 68–38 | 15–6 (8–2) | 14 – Rucker | 14 – Boffeli | 4 – McDermott | McLeod Center (1,099) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 8, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 78–58 | 16–6 (9–2) | 20 – Gunnels | 12 – Wolf | 3 – Kroeger | McLeod Center Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 11, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Illinois | L 60–64 | 16–7 (9–3) | 25 – Rucker | 6 – Wolf | 4 – Rucker | Banterra Center (418) Carbondale, IL |
| February 13, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | L 57–66 | 16–8 (9–4) | 14 – 2 tied | 8 – Gunnels | 3 – Kroeger | JQH Arena (1,870) Springfield, MO |
| February 19, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Drake | L 68–73 | 16–9 (9–5) | 19 – Rucker | 10 – Boffeli | 4 – Laube | McLeod Center (1,374) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 25, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Bradley | W 77–56 | 17–9 (10–5) | 15 – Finley | 12 – Wolf | 5 – McDermott | McLeod Center (1,701) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 27, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Illinois State | W 70–63 | 18–9 (11–5) | 19 – Gunnels | 11 – Boffeli | 5 – Rucker | McLeod Center (1,333) Cedar Falls, IA |
| March 3, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Indiana State | W 61–55 | 19–9 (12–5) | 22 – Rucker | 11 – Boffeli | 4 – Wolf | Hulman Center (1,102) Terre Haute, IN |
| March 5, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Evansville | W 83–56 | 20–9 (13–5) | 14 – 2 tied | 6 – McCullough | 3 – 3 tied | Meeks Family Fieldhouse (208) Evansville, IN |
| MVC tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2022 8:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (3) | vs. (6) Valparaiso Quarterfinals | W 63–39 | 21–9 | 16 – Finley | 15 – Gunnels | 3 – Rucker | TaxSlayer Center Moline, IL |
| March 12, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (3) | vs. (2) Missouri State Semifinals | W 63–57 | 22–9 | 18 – Rucker | 9 – Boffeli | 5 – Rucker | TaxSlayer Center (1,456) Moline, IL |
| March 13, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | (3) | vs. (4) Illinois State Championship | L 48–50 | 22–10 | 16 – Rucker | 8 – Gunnels | 4 – Rucker | TaxSlayer Center (1,392) Moline, IL |
| Women's National Invitation Tournament |||||||||
| March 17, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Kansas City First round | W 75–58 | 23–10 | 19 – Finley | 6 – 2 tied | 4 – 2 tied | McLeod Center (1,074) Cedar Falls, IA |
| March 21, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Drake Second round | L 55–62 | 23–11 | 11 – Finley | 13 – Boffeli | 3 – 2 tied | Knapp Center (2,037) Des Moines, IA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. |||||||||
Source: