# 2016–17 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2016–17 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team represented Northwestern University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by ninth-year head coach Joe McKeown, played their home games at the Welsh-Ryan Arena as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–11, 8–8 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They defeated Iowa in the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament before losing to Ohio State. Despite having 20 wins, they were not invited to a postseason tournament first time since 2013.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/06/2016* 12:00 pm | | Illinois–Springfield | W 84–56 | | Welsh-Ryan Arena (550) Evanston, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 3:30 pm | | Hampton | W 67–48 | 1–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (747) Evanston, IL |
| 11/13/2016* 1:00 pm | | Oral Roberts | W 64–55 | 2–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (765) Evanston, IL |
| 11/16/2016* 7:00 pm | | Missouri State | W 75–52 | 3–0 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (651) Evanston, IL |
| 11/19/2016* 7:00 pm | | at No. 20 DePaul | L 66–89 | 3–1 | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,342) Chicago, IL |
| 11/25/2016* 7:00 pm | | No. 16 Florida | W 73–68 | 4–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (857) Evanston, IL |
| 11/27/2016* 2:00 pm | | Evansville | W 88–66 | 5–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (853) Evanston, IL |
| 12/01/2016* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Virginia ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | W 69–60 | 6–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (694) Evanston, IL |
| 12/04/2016* 1:00 pm | | Chicago State | W 75–42 | 7–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (886) Evanston, IL |
| 12/11/2016* 12:00 pm | | at Milwaukee | W 65–63 | 8–1 | Klotsche Center (364) Milwaukee, WI |
| 12/13/2016* 11:00 am | | UIC | W 88–44 | 9–1 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,447) Evanston, IL |
| 12/17/2016* 3:00 pm | | at Santa Clara | W 87–75 | 10–1 | Leavey Center (250) Santa Clara, CA |
| 12/19/2016* 8:00 pm | | at Gonzaga | L 56–67 | 10–2 | McCarthey Athletic Center (5,638) Spokane, WA |
| 12/22/2016* 2:00 pm | | UT Martin | W 82–59 | 11–2 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (709) Evanston, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2016 7:00 pm | | at Nebraska | W 62–58 | 12–2 (1–0) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (4,669) Lincoln, NE |
| 12/31/2016 2:00 pm | | Purdue | W 76–60 | 13–2 (2–0) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,205) Evanston, IL |
| 01/03/2017 8:00 pm, BTN | | No. 11 Ohio State | L 87–94 | 13–3 (2–1) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (971) Evanston, IL |
| 01/07/2017 1:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 3 Maryland | L 55–96 | 13–4 (2–2) | Xfinity Center (5,214) College Park, MD |
| 01/11/2017 7:00 pm | | at Minnesota Postponed, rescheduled for 02/13/2017 | | | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| 01/14/2017 2:00 pm | | Indiana | W 80–67 | 14–4 (3–2) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (2,482) Evanston, IL |
| 01/17/2017 8:00 pm, BTN | | Michigan State | W 76–65 | 15–4 (4–2) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (783) Evanston, IL |
| 01/25/2017 6:00 pm | | at Michigan | L 54–80 | 15–5 (4–3) | Crisler Center (2,097) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 01/29/2017 1:00 pm | | at Rutgers | W 55–37 | 16–5 (5–3) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (2,576) Piscataway, NJ |
| 02/01/2017 7:00 pm | | Wisconsin | W 63–43 | 17–5 (6–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (924) Evanston, IL |
| 02/05/2017 2:00 pm | | Penn State | L 58–74 | 17–6 (6–4) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,289) Evanston, IL |
| 02/11/2017 11:00 am, BTN | | at Indiana | L 38–66 | 17–7 (6–5) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (3,517) Bloomington, IN |
| 02/13/2017 6:00 pm | | at Minnesota | L 61–71 | 17–8 (6–6) | Williams Arena (3,764) Minneapolis, MN |
| 02/16/2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Iowa | L 59–78 | 17–9 (6–7) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (4,167) Iowa City, IA |
| 02/19/2017 1:00 pm | | Illinois | W 66–53 | 18–9 (7–7) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (2,233) Evanston, IL |
| 02/23/2017 6:00 pm, BTN | | Rutgers | W 60–38 | 19–9 (8–7) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,020) Evanston, IL |
| 02/26/2017 3:00 pm, BTN | | at Purdue | L 59–61 | 19–10 (8–8) | Mackey Arena (6,407) West Lafayette, IN |
| Big Ten Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/02/2017 11:00 am, BTN | (9) | vs. (8) Iowa Second Round | W 78–73 | 20–10 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 03/03/2017 11:00 am, BTN | (9) | vs. (1) No. 9 Ohio State Quarterfinals | L 68–99 | 20–11 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| *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 |