# 2021–22 UMass Minutewomen basketball team

The 2021–22 UMass Minutewomen basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst during the 2021–22 college basketball season. The Minutewomen, led by sixth-year head coach Tory Verdi, were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference and played their home games at the Mullins Center.
They finished the season 26–7 overall, and 11–4 in A-10 play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the A-10 Tournament they received a bye into the Quarterfinals where they defeated Fordham. They went on to defeat Saint Joseph's in the Semifinals and first seed Dayton in the Final to win the tournament. As a result, the Minutewomen received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the twelfth seed in the Bridgeport Region. They lost in the first round to Notre Dame to end their season.

## Previous Season

The Minutewomen finished the season 16–8 overall, and 7–5 in A-10 play to finish in seventh place. As the seventh seed in the A-10 Tournament they received a bye into the Second Round where they defeated Saint Joseph's in overtime. They would go on to lose to Fordham in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the WNIT. In the Charlotte regional, they lost in the First Round to Villanova, but won both consolation games versus Charlotte and Ohio.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | Saint Rose | W 95–54 | – | Mullins Center Amherst, MA |
| Non-Conference Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 5:00 p.m., NESN+ | | Central Connecticut State | W 87–50 | 1–0 | Mullins Center (356) Amherst, MA |
| November 12, 2021* 5:00 p.m., NESN | | Harvard | W 80–71 | 2–0 | Mullins Center (720) Amherst, MA |
| November 16, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Iona | W 79–56 | 3–0 | Mullins Center (612) Amherst, MA |
| November 19, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Holy Cross | W 61–58 | 4–0 | Hart Center (673) Worcester, MA |
| November 23, 2021* 4:00 p.m., FloHoops | | at Providence | W 80–62 | 5–0 | Alumni Hall (225) Providence, RI |
| November 26, 2021* 11:00 a.m., FloHoops | | vs. South Dakota State Gulf Coast Showcase | W 81–63 | 6–0 | Hertz Arena (143) Estero, FL |
| November 27, 2021* 5:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Kent State Gulf Coast Showcase | W 72–64 | 7–0 | Hertz Arena (187) Estero, FL |
| November 28, 2021* 7:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. No. 13 Iowa State Gulf Coast Showcase | L 71–76 | 7–1 | Hertz Arena (200) Estero, FL |
| December 1, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NESN | | Fairfield | W 74–61 | 8–1 | Mullins Center (407) Amherst, MA |
| December 5, 2021* Noon, NESN | | UMass Lowell | W 58–53 | 9–1 | Mullins Center (537) Amherst, MA |
| December 8, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NESN+ | | Boston College | L 60–66 | 9–2 | Mullins Center (958) Amherst, MA |
| December 11, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Columbia | W 87–75 | 10–2 | Levien Gymnasium (676) New York, NY |
| December 19, 2021* 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Vermont | W 68–63 | 11–2 | Mullins Center (1,739) Amherst, MA |
| December 22, 2021* Noon, ESPN+ | | at Hartford | W 86–40 | 12–2 | Chase Arena (204) Hartford, CT |
| A-10 Regular season ||||||
| January 9, 2022 2:00 p.m., NESN+ | | La Salle | Cancelled | Cancelled | Mullins Center Amherst, MA |
| January 12, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at VCU | W 72–60 | 13–2 (1–0) | Siegel Center (323) Richmond, VA |
| January 15, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Richmond | W 73–72 $^{OT}$ | 14–2 (2–0) | Robins Center (450) Richmond, VA |
| January 17, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Rhode Island | L 58–66 | 14–3 (2–1) | Ryan Center (498) Kingston, RI |
| January 19, 2022 7:00 p.m., NESN+ | | Dayton | L 60–69 | 14–4 (2–2) | Mullins Center (632) Amherst, MA |
| January 22, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at George Washington | W 68–41 | 15–4 (3–2) | Smith Center Washington, D.C. |
| January 26, 2022 7:00 p.m., NESN+ | | Rhode Island | L 46–60 | 15–5 (3–3) | Mullins Center (1,374) Amherst, MA |
| January 29, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Joseph's | W 74–48 | 16–5 (4–3) | Hagan Arena (202) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 5, 2022 Noon, NESN | | Saint Louis | W 69–66 | 17–5 (5–3) | Mullins Center (765) Amherst, MA |
| February 9, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at St. Bonaventure | W 78–59 | 18–5 (6–3) | Reilly Center (252) Olean, NY |
| February 11, 2022 Noon, NESN | | George Mason | W 87–58 | 19–5 (7–3) | Mullins Center (550) Amherst, MA |
| February 13, 2022 Noon, CBSSN | | Duquesne | W 89–59 | 20–5 (8–3) | Mullins Center (762) Amherst, MA |
| February 16, 2022 7:00 p.m., NESN+ | | Fordham | W 60–57 | 21–5 (9–3) | Mullins Center (692) Amherst, MA |
| February 20, 2022 Noon, CBSSN | | at Davidson | L 67–76 | 21–6 (9–4) | John M. Belk Arena (626) Davidson, NC |
| February 23, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | VCU | W 66–57 | 22–6 (10–4) | Mullins Center (1,161) Amherst, MA |
| February 26, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Louis | W 74–62 | 23–6 (11–4) | Chaifetz Arena (1,102) St. Louis, MO |
| Atlantic 10 Tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2022 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (3) | vs. (6) Fordham Quarterfinals | W 66–63 | 24–6 | Chase Fieldhouse (1,148) Wilmington, DE |
| March 5, 2022 1:30 p.m., CBSSN | (3) | vs. (7) Saint Joseph's Semifinals | W 76–58 | 25–6 | Chase Fieldhouse (2,012) Wilmington, DE |
| March 6, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (3) | vs. (1) Dayton Final | W 62–56 | 26–6 | Chase Fieldhouse (2,228) Wilmington, DE |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 19, 2022 7:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (12 B) | vs. (5 B) No. 21 Notre Dame First Round | L 78–89 | 26–7 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. B=Bridgeport. 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 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 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.