# 2021–22 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens women's basketball team represented the University of Delaware during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fightin' Blue Hens, led by fifth year head coach Natasha Adair, played their home games at the Bob Carpenter Center and were members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
They finished the season 24–8, 15–3 in CAA play to finish second place. As the second seed in the CAA tournament the defeated William & Mary in the Quarterfinals, Towson in the Semifinals, and Drexel in the Final to win their third championship in team history. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and were the thirteen seed in the Spokane Regional. They were defeated in the First Round by Maryland to end their season.

## Previous season

The Blue Hens finished the regular season 19–3, 16–2 in CAA play to win their first conference regular season championship since 2013. They lost in the finals of the CAA women's tournament to Drexel. The team was given an automatic qualifier to the 2021 Women's National Invitation Tournament where they won the Charlotte Regional Championship by defeating Villanova. The team lost to eventual WNIT Champion Rice in the semifinals, marking Delaware's furthest advance in the tournament. The team received Top 25 votes in the Coaches Poll of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings in weeks 8, 9, 16, and 17.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 6:30 p.m., FloHoops | | Chestnut Hill | W 87–48 | 1–0 | Bob Carpenter Center (774) Newark, DE |
| November 12, 2021* 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | Princeton | L 56–76 | 1–1 | Bob Carpenter Center (997) Newark, DE |
| November 15, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Maine | W 83–60 | 2–1 | Cross Insurance Center (1,013) Bangor, ME |
| November 19, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | at Delaware State | W 79–48 | 3–1 | Memorial Hall (512) Dover, DE |
| November 21, 2021* 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | | Charlotte | W 73–57 | 4–1 | Bob Carpenter Center (720) Newark, DE |
| November 26, 2021* 2:00 p.m. | | vs. Eastern Michigan FIU Thanksgiving Tournament | W 87–72 | 5–1 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (165) Miami, FL |
| November 27, 2021* Noon | | vs. Chicago State FIU Thanksgiving Tournament | W 72–63 | 6–1 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (0) Miami, FL |
| December 2, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Columbia | L 67–73 | 6–2 | Levien Gymnasium (532) New York, NY |
| December 7, 2021* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at SMU | L 55–61 | 6–3 | Moody Coliseum (422) Dallas, TX |
| December 11, 2021* 3:00 p.m., B1G+ | | at Northwestern | L 53–76 | 6–4 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (919) Evanston, IL |
| December 22, 2021* 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | | VCU | Cancelled | Cancelled | Bob Carpenter Center Newark, DE |
| CAA Regular Season ||||||
| January 9, 2022 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Charleston | W 86–84 $^{OT}$ | 7–4 (1–0) | TD Arena (264) Charleston, SC |
| January 14, 2022 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | Hofstra | W 73–38 | 8–4 (2–0) | Bob Carpenter Center (788) Newark, DE |
| January 16, 2022 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | | Northeastern | W 79–60 | 9–4 (3–0) | Bob Carpenter Center (767) Newark, DE |
| January 18, 2022 6:00 p.m., FloHoops | | James Madison Rescheduled from December 31 | W 64–57 | 10–4 (4–0) | Bob Carpenter Center (790) Newark, DE |
| January 23, 2022 2:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Drexel | L 62–70 | 10–5 (4–1) | Daskalakis Athletic Center (667) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 26, 2022 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at UNC Wilmington Rescheduled from January 7 | W 78–69 | 11–5 (5–1) | Trask Coliseum (346) Wilmington, NC |
| January 28, 2022 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at William & Mary | W 70–56 | 12–5 (6–1) | Kaplan Arena (313) Williamsburg, VA |
| January 30, 2022 2:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Elon | W 87–65 | 13–5 (7–1) | Schar Center (846) Elon, NC |
| February 4, 2022 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | Charleston | W 103–79 | 14–5 (8–1) | Bob Carpenter Center (799) Newark, DE |
| February 6, 2022 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | | UNC Wilmington | W 77–62 | 15–5 (9–1) | Bob Carpenter Center (1,294) Newark, DE |
| February 9, 2022 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Towson Rescheduled from January 2 | W 87–78 | 16–5 (10–1) | SECU Arena (889) Towson, MD |
| February 11, 2022 6:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Northeastern | W 66–63 | 17–5 (11–1) | Cabot Center (254) Boston, MA |
| February 13, 2022 2:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Hofstra | W 71–58 | 18–5 (12–1) | Mack Sports Complex (273) Hempstead, NY |
| February 20, 2022 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | | Drexel | L 64–65 | 18–6 (12–2) | Bob Carpenter Center (1,834) Newark, DE |
| February 25, 2022 11:00 a.m., FloHoops | | Elon | W 65–61 | 19–6 (13–2) | Bob Carpenter Center Newark, DE |
| February 27, 2022 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | | William & Mary | W 67–45 | 20–6 (14–2) | Bob Carpenter Center (1,372) Newark, DE |
| March 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Towson | W 85–71 | 21–6 (15–2) | SECU Arena (933) Towson, MD |
| March 5, 2022 4:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at James Madison | L 62–78 | 21–7 (15–3) | Atlantic Union Bank Center (2,705) Harrisonburg, VA |
| CAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2022 5:00 p.m., FloHoops | (2) | vs. (7) William & Mary Quarterfinals | W 61–35 | 22–7 | Daskalakis Athletic Center (0) Philadelphia, PA |
| March 12, 2022 3:30 p.m., FloHoops | (2) | vs. (3) Towson Semifinals | W 56–55 | 23–7 | Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,385) Philadelphia, PA |
| March 13, 2022 1:00 p.m., FloHoops | (2) | at (1) Drexel Final | W 63–59 | 24–7 | Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,812) Philadelphia, PA |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 18, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPNU | (13 S) | at (4 S) No. 13 Maryland First Round | L 71–102 | 24–8 | Xfinity Center (4,776) College Park, MD |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=Spokane. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked and Did not receive votes |
The Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll and the AP Poll did not release a poll after the NCAA Tournament.