# 2021–22 Michigan Wolverines women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Michigan Wolverines women's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wolverines were led by head coach Kim Barnes Arico in her tenth year, and played their home games at the Crisler Center. This season marked the program's 40th season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
This season was highlighted by Michigan reaching their highest ranking ever in the AP Poll at No. 4. They also earned their first ever win over a top-five ranked team when they defeated No. 5 Baylor 74–68 in overtime on December 19, 2021. Naz Hillmon also became the program's all-time leading rebounder, surpassing the previous record set by Trish Andrew in 1993. They were ranked the No. 3 seed in the 2022 NCAA tournament, their highest seed ever, and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.

## Previous season

The Wolverines finished the 2020–21 season with a 16–6 record, including 9–5 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place. They also reached No. 11 in the AP Poll, their highest rank ever, and were ranked the No. 6 seed in the 2021 NCAA tournament, their highest seed ever. The Wolverines advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history.

## Offseason

On April 1, 2021, former assistant coach Toyelle Wilson was named the head coach at SMU.
On September 10, 2021, Kim Barnes Arico signed a contract extension through the 2025–26 season.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 4, 2021* 7:00 pm | No. 11 | Grand Valley State | W 80–57 | – | Crisler Center (1,672) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 pm | No. 11 | IUPUI | W 67–62 $^{OT}$ | 1–0 | Crisler Center (1,948) Ann Arbor, MI |
| November 13, 2021* 2:00 pm | No. 11 | St. Francis Brooklyn | W 82–46 | 2–0 | Crisler Center (2,363) Ann Arbor, MI |
| November 16, 2021* 6:00 pm | No. 13 | UMass Lowell | W 73–54 | 3–0 | Crisler Center (1,957) Ann Arbor, MI |
| November 20, 2021* 1:00 pm | No. 13 | at Central Michigan | W 69–45 | 4–0 | McGuirk Arena (2,654) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| November 22, 2021* 7:00 pm | No. 13 | Oakland | W 69–58 | 5–0 | Crisler Center (1,967) Ann Arbor, MI |
| November 26, 2021* 6:45 pm | No. 12 | vs. No. 16 Oregon State Daytona Beach Invitational | W 61–52 | 6–0 | Ocean Center Daytona Beach, FL |
| November 27, 2021* 4:30 pm | No. 12 | vs. Mississippi State Daytona Beach Invitational | W 64–48 | 7–0 | Ocean Center Daytona Beach, FL |
| December 2, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | at No. 10 Louisville ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 48–70 | 7–1 | KFC Yum! Center (7,309) Louisville, KY |
| December 5, 2021* 2:00 pm | No. 12 | Akron | W 93–54 | 8–1 | Crisler Center (2,274) Ann Arbor, MI |
| December 9, 2021 9:00 pm, BTN | No. 13 | at Wisconsin | W 93–81 | 9–1 (1–0) | Kohl Center (2,669) Madison, WI |
| December 12, 2021 2:00 pm | No. 13 | Minnesota | W 73–61 | 10–1 (2–0) | Crisler Center (2,484) Ann Arbor, MI |
| December 19, 2021* 1:00 pm, ESPN | No. 13 | vs. No. 5 Baylor Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase | W 74–68 $^{OT}$ | 11–1 | Mohegan Sun (8,204) Uncasville, CT |
| December 22, 2021* 1:00 pm | No. 9 | Eastern Michigan | Cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic) | Cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic) | Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI |
| December 31, 2021 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 9 | No. 25 Ohio State Rivalry | W 90–71 | 12–1 (3–0) | Crisler Center (7,904) Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 4, 2022 9:00 pm, BTN | No. 8 | at Nebraska | L 58–79 | 12–2 (3–1) | Pinnacle Bank Arena (3,591) Lincoln, NE |
| January 9, 2022 12:00 pm, FS1 | No. 8 | Rutgers | W 76–47 | 13–2 (4–1) | Crisler Center (2,154) Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 13, 2022 7:00 pm | No. 11 | at Penn State | W 74–57 | 14–2 (5–1) | Bryce Jordan Center (1,622) University Park, PA |
| January 16, 2022 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 11 | at No. 8 Maryland | W 69–49 | 15–2 (6–1) | Xfinity Center (4,189) College Park, MD |
| January 20, 2022 7:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 8 | Wisconsin | W 83–44 | 16–2 (7–1) | Crisler Center (1,994) Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 24, 2022 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 7 | Purdue | W 79–66 | 17–2 (8–1) | Crisler Center (1,845) Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 27, 2022 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 7 | at No. 22 Ohio State Rivalry | W 77–58 | 18–2 (9–1) | Value City Arena (4,293) Columbus, OH |
| January 31, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 6 | No. 5 Indiana | W 65–50 | 19–2 (10–1) | Crisler Center (4,198) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 3, 2022 8:00 pm | No. 6 | at Illinois | Postponed (inclement weather) | Postponed (inclement weather) | State Farm Center Champaign, IL |
| February 6, 2022 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 6 | No. 21 Iowa | W 98–90 | 20–2 (11–1) | Crisler Center (3,827) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 10, 2022 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 4 | at Michigan State Rivalry | L 57–63 | 20–3 (11–2) | Breslin Center (4,764) East Lansing, MI |
| February 13, 2022 1:00 pm | No. 4 | at Northwestern | L 69–71 $^{2OT}$ | 20–4 (11–3) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (2,341) Evanston, IL |
| February 20, 2022 3:00 pm, BTN | No. 9 | No. 13 Maryland | W 71–59 | 21–4 (12–3) | Crisler Center (6,394) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 24, 2022 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 6 | Michigan State Rivalry | W 62–51 | 22–4 (13–3) | Crisler Center (5,460) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 27, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 6 | at No. 21 Iowa | L 80–104 | 22–5 (13–4) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,056) Iowa City, IA |
| Big Ten Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2022 9:00 pm, BTN | (3) No. 10 | vs. (6) Nebraska Quarterfinals | L 73–76 | 22–6 | Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 19, 2022 3:30 pm, ESPN2 | (3 W) No. 12 | (14 W) American First round | W 74–39 | 23–6 | Crisler Center (6,471) Ann Arbor, MI |
| March 21, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | (3 W) No. 12 | (11 W) Villanova Second round | W 64–49 | 24–6 | Crisler Center (5,581) Ann Arbor, MI |
| March 26, 2022 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (3 W) No. 12 | vs. (10 W) South Dakota Sweet Sixteen | W 52–49 | 25–6 | Intrust Bank Arena (8,540) Wichita, KS |
| March 28, 2022 9:00 p.m., ESPN | (3 W) No. 12 | vs. (1 W) No. 4 Louisville Elite Eight | L 50–62 | 25–7 | Intrust Bank Arena (4,695) Wichita, KS |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=Wichita. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | 11 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Coaches | 10 | 10^ | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 7 |
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.