# 2015–16 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2015–16 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team represented Northwestern University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by eighth year head coach Joe McKeown, played their home games at the Welsh-Ryan Arena and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 18–17, 4–14 in Big Ten play to finish in twelfth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten women's tournament, where they lost to Maryland. They were invited to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to San Diego in the first round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/08/2015* 2:00 pm | No. 19 | Seton Hill | W 103–44 | | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/15/2015* 6:00 pm | No. 19 | Howard | W 89–49 | 1–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (623) Evanston, IL |
| 11/19/2015* 7:00 pm | No. 20 | Idaho State | W 72–36 | 2–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (420) Evanston, IL |
| 11/22/2015* 2:00 pm | No. 20 | Western Michigan | W 86–62 | 3–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (652) Evanston, IL |
| 11/26/2015* 5:00 pm | No. 19 | vs. Eastern Washington Lone Star Showcase | W 74–70 | 4–0 | Cedar Park Center Cedar Park, TX |
| 11/27/2015* 7:30 pm | No. 19 | vs. Creighton Lone Star Showcase | W 75–52 | 5–0 | Cedar Park Center (687) Cedar Park, TX |
| 11/28/2015* 7:30 pm | No. 19 | vs. East Carolina Lone Star Showcase | W 78–75 | 6–0 | Cedar Park Center (379) Cedar Park, TX |
| 12/02/2015* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 15 | at North Carolina ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | W 85–72 | 7–0 | Carmichael Auditorium (1,664) Chapel Hill, NC |
| 12/06/2015* 2:00 pm | No. 15 | Milwaukee | W 69–44 | 8–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (812) Evanston, IL |
| 12/13/2015* 2:00 pm | No. 12 | at Loyola–Chicago | W 81–72 | 9–0 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (411) Chicago, IL |
| 12/15/2015* 11:00 am | No. 12 | Alcorn State | W 91–47 | 10–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,246) Evanston, IL |
| 12/19/2015* 5:00 pm | No. 12 | No. 16 DePaul | L 64–77 | 10–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,744) Evanston, IL |
| 12/22/2015* 1:00 pm | No. 15 | UMKC | W 80–38 | 11–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (625) Evanston, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2015 1:00 pm | No. 14 | at Penn State | L 72–79 | 11–2 (0–1) | Bryce Jordan Center (2,956) University Park, PA |
| 01/03/2016 1:00 pm, BTN | No. 14 | Nebraska | W 85–62 | 12–2 (1–1) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,249) Evanston, IL |
| 01/07/2016 7:00 pm | No. 16 | Purdue | L 71–85 | 12–3 (1–2) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (714) Evanston, IL |
| 01/10/2016 1:00 pm, BTN | No. 16 | at No. 23 Michigan State | L 51–74 | 12–4 (1–3) | Breslin Center (6,272) East Lansing, MI |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm, BTN | | No. 5 Ohio State | W 86–82 | 13–4 (2–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (852) Evanston, IL |
| 01/17/2016 11:00 am, BTN | | at No. 8 Maryland | L 62–80 | 13–5 (2–4) | Xfinity Center (6,037) College Park, MD |
| 01/20/2016 7:00 pm | | at Minnesota | L 92–95 | 13–6 (2–5) | Williams Arena (2,549) Minneapolis, MN |
| 01/24/2016 4:00 pm, BTN | | Indiana | L 84–91 | 13–7 (2–6) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,642) Evanston, IL |
| 01/28/2016 6:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 7 Ohio State | L 73–76 | 13–8 (2–7) | Value City Arena (4,606) Columbus, OH |
| 01/31/2016 2:00 pm | | Iowa | L 64–79 | 13–9 (2–8) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (2,016) Evanston, IL |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm | | Illinois | W 69–59 | 14–9 (3–8) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,331) Evanston, IL |
| 02/07/2016 2:00 pm, BTN | | Minnesota | L 106–112 $^{2OT}$ | 14–10 (3–9) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,223) Evanston, IL |
| 02/10/2016 6:00 pm | | at Rutgers | L 59–61 | 14–11 (3–10) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,177) Piscataway, NJ |
| 02/14/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 5 Maryland | L 70–79 | 14–12 (3–11) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,792) Evanston, IL |
| 02/17/2016 7:00 pm | | Penn State | L 54–73 | 14–13 (3–12) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (796) Evanston, IL |
| 02/20/2016 1:00 pm, BTN | | at Wisconsin | W 71–53 | 15–13 (4–12) | Kohl Center (3,942) Madison, WI |
| 02/23/2016 5:30 pm, BTN | | Michigan | L 65–70 | 15–14 (4–13) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,140) Evanston, IL |
| 02/28/2016 3:00 pm, BTN | | at Nebraska | L 67–76 | 15–15 (4–14) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (6,596) Lincoln, NE |
| Big Ten Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/02/2016 12:30 pm, BTN | | vs. Wisconsin First Round | W 76–72 $^{OT}$ | 16–15 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/03/2016 1:30 pm, BTN | | vs. Minnesota Second Round | W 84–74 | 17–15 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/04/2016 1:30 pm, BTN | | vs. Indiana Quarterfinals | W 79–73 | 18–15 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/05/2016 2:00 pm, BTN | | vs. No. 5 Maryland Semifinals | L 62–83 | 18–16 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| WNIT ||||||
| 03/17/2016* 7:00 pm | | San Diego First Round | L 65–69 | 18–17 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (416) Evanston, IL |
| *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 |