# 2021–22 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team represented Northwestern University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats were led by 14th-year head coach Joe McKeown. They played their home games at Welsh–Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference.
They finished the season 17–12, 8–8 in Big Ten play, to finish in seventh place. They received a bye into the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament where they defeated Minnesota before losing to eventual champions Iowa in the quarterfinals. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the season 16–9, 11–7 in Big Ten play, to finish in fifth place. They received a bye into the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament where they defeated Illinois and Michigan before losing to eventual champions Maryland in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the seven seed in the Alamo Regional they defeated ten seed UCF in the first round before losing to two seed Louisville in the second round to end their season.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 7, 2021* 5:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Parkside | W 70–58 | – | Welsh–Ryan Arena (314) Evanston, IL |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2021* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | UIC | W 72–49 | 1–0 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (742) Evanston, IL |
| November 14, 2021* 1:00 p.m., B1G+ | | UCSB | W 72–46 | 2–0 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (834) Evanston, IL |
| November 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Loyola | W 63–47 | 3–0 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (931) Evanston, IL |
| November 21, 2021* 5:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at DePaul | L 75–78 | 3–1 | McGrath-Phillips Arena (1,140) Chicago, IL |
| November 25, 2021* 4:45 p.m., ESPN3 | | vs. South Dakota Paradise Jam | W 73–57 | 4–1 | Sports and Fitness Center (0) Saint Thomas, USVI |
| November 26, 2021* 4:45 p.m., ESPN3 | | vs. Pittsburgh Paradise Jam | L 60–72 | 4–2 | Sports and Fitness Center (0) Saint Thomas, USVI |
| November 27, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | vs. No. 23 Texas A&M Paradise Jam | L 68–77 | 4–3 | Sports and Fitness Center (878) Saint Thomas, USVI |
| December 2, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Clemson ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | W 72–61 | 5–3 | Littlejohn Coliseum (502) Clemson, SC |
| December 5, 2021 2:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Wisconsin | W 61–49 | 6–3 (1–0) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,231) Evanston, IL |
| December 11, 2021* 2:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Delaware | W 76–53 | 7–3 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (919) Evanston, IL |
| December 14, 2021* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Milwaukee | W 55–46 | 8–3 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (797) Evanston, IL |
| December 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Temple | W 68–58 | 9–3 | Welsh–Ryan Arena (802) Evanston, IL |
| December 21, 2021* 8:00 p.m., B1G | | Oregon | Canceled | Canceled | Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| December 31, 2021 1:00 p.m., B1G | | at Minnesota | Postponed to February 11 | Postponed to February 11 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| January 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Michigan State | Canceled | Canceled | Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| January 6, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G | | at No. 22 Iowa | W 77–69 | 10–3 (2–0) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (5,020) Iowa City, IA |
| January 9, 2022 2:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Ohio State | L 61–74 | 10–4 (2–1) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,232) Evanston, IL |
| January 13, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Rutgers | W 68–63 | 11–4 (3–1) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (670) Evanston, IL |
| January 16, 2022 1:00 p.m., B1G+ | | at Michigan State | L 46–65 | 11–5 (3–2) | Breslin Center (3,241) East Lansing, MI |
| January 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Penn State | L 59–63 | 11–6 (3–3) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (939) Evanston, IL |
| January 23, 2022 Noon, B1G+ | | at No. 12 Maryland | L 59–87 | 11–7 (3–4) | Xfinity Center (4,940) College Park, MD |
| January 28, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | No. 23 Iowa | L 67–72 $^{OT}$ | 11–8 (3–5) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,578) Evanston, IL |
| January 30, 2022 2:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Illinois | Canceled | Canceled | Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| February 4, 2022 5:00 p.m., B1G+ | | at Purdue | W 80–67 | 12–8 (4–5) | Mackey Arena (2,862) West Lafayette, IN |
| February 6, 2022 1:00 p.m., B1G+ | | at Penn State | W 78–72 | 13–8 (5–5) | Bryce Jordan Center (3,401) University Park, PA |
| February 11, 2022 3:30 p.m., B1G+ | | at Minnesota Rescheduled from December 31 | L 68–74 | 13–9 (5–6) | Williams Arena (2,734) Minneapolis, MN |
| February 13, 2022 Noon, B1G+ | | No. 4 Michigan | W 71–69 $^{2OT}$ | 14–9 (6–6) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (2,341) Evanston, IL |
| February 17, 2022 5:00 p.m., B1G | | at No. 5 Indiana | L 58–69 | 14–10 (6–7) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (3,632) Bloomington, IN |
| February 20, 2022 4:00 p.m., B1G | | at Illinois | W 82–59 | 15–10 (7–7) | State Farm Center (942) Champaign, IL |
| February 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+ | | Purdue | W 68–51 | 16–10 (8–7) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,481) Evanston, IL |
| February 27, 2022 3:30 p.m., B1G | | at Nebraska | L 59–73 | 16–11 (8–8) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (6,234) Lincoln, NE |
| Big Ten women's tournament ||||||
| March 3, 2022 5:30 p.m., B1G | (7) | vs. (10) Minnesota Second round | W 65–60 | 17–11 | Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 4, 2022 5:30 p.m., B1G | (7) | vs. (2) No. 12 Iowa Quarterfinals | L 59–72 | 17–12 | Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
Source:

## 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 |
| т | Tied with team above or below also with this symbol |
The Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll and the AP poll did not release a poll after the NCAA tournament.