# 2021–22 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by fifteenth year head coach Suzy Merchant, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.
They finished the season 15–15, 8–9 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. As the seventh seed in the Big Ten tournament they defeated Purdue in the Second Round and Indiana in the Quarterfinals before losing to Iowa in the Semifinals. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the season 15–9, 8–7 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. As the eighth seed in the Big Ten tournament they defeated Purdue in the Second Round before losing to Ohio State in the Quarterfinals. They received and at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the ten seed in the Mercado Regional. They lost in the first round to seven seed Iowa State to end their season.

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 31, 2021* 2:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Northwood | W 95–49 | – | Breslin Center (2,331) East Lansing, MI |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 6:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Morehead State | W 93–31 | 1–0 | Breslin Center (3,203) East Lansing, MI |
| November 14, 2021* 2:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Niagara | W 89–65 | 2–0 | Breslin Center (3,422) East Lansing, MI |
| November 16, 2021* 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Valparaiso | W 73–62 | 3–0 | Breslin Center (3,524) East Lansing, MI |
| November 19, 2021* Noon, BTN+ | | Bryant | W 100–60 | 4–0 | Breslin Center (2,533) East Lansing, MI |
| November 21, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Fordham | L 68–71 | 4–1 | Rose Hill Gymnasium (425) Bronx, NY |
| November 23, 2021* 2:00 p.m. | | at St. Francis Brooklyn | L 63–66 | 4–2 | The Pope (213) Brooklyn, NY |
| November 26, 2021* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Oakland | W 84–71 | 5–2 | Athletics Center O'rena (1,219) Rochester, MI |
| November 28, 2021* 2:00 p.m., BTN | | Marshall | W 85–75 | 6–2 | Breslin Center (3,938) East Lansing, MI |
| December 2, 2021* 6:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 24 Notre Dame ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge | L 71–76 | 6–3 | Breslin Center (4,581) East Lansing, MI |
| December 5, 2021 4:00 p.m., BTN | | at No. 9 Iowa | L 61–88 | 6–4 (0–1) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,942) Iowa City, IA |
| December 9, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Illinois | W 75–60 | 7–4 (1–1) | Breslin Center (3,213) East Lansing, MI |
| December 20, 2021* 11:00 a.m., FloHoops | | vs. Florida Gulf Coast West Palm Beach Invitational | L 84–85 $^{2OT}$ | 7–5 | Massimino Court (0) West Palm Beach, FL |
| December 20, 2021* 11:00 a.m., FloHoops | | vs. West Virginia West Palm Beach Invitational | L 54–74 | 7–6 | Massimino Court (0) West Palm Beach, FL |
| December 30, 2021 3:00 p.m., BTN | | Nebraska | W 72–69 | 8–6 (2–1) | Breslin Center (4,122) East Lansing, MI |
| January 3, 2022 8:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Northwestern | Canceled | Canceled | Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| January 9, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Purdue | L 59–69 | 8–7 (2–2) | Breslin Center (4,220) East Lansing, MI |
| January 12, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Ohio State | L 83–89 | 8–8 (2–3) | Value City Arena (2,917) Columbus, OH |
| January 16, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Northwestern | W 65–46 | 9–8 (3–3) | Breslin Center (3,241) East Lansing, MI |
| January 19, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at No. 6 Indiana | Postponed to February 12 | Postponed to February 12 | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| January 23, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Minnesota | W 74–71 | 10–8 (4–3) | Breslin Center (2,899) East Lansing, MI |
| January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Penn State | W 79–58 | 11–8 (5–3) | Bryce Jordan Center (1,551) University Park |
| January 30, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Rutgers | W 61–45 | 12–8 (6–3) | Jersey Mike's Arena (1,335) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 3, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 17 Maryland | L 62–67 | 12–9 (6–4) | Breslin Center (2,563) East Lansing, MI |
| February 6, 2022 3:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Minnesota | L 60–71 | 12–10 (6–5) | Williams Arena (3,150) Minneapolis, MN |
| February 10, 2022 6:30 p.m., BTN | | No. 4 Michigan Rivalry | W 63–57 | 13–10 (7–5) | Breslin Center (4,764) East Lansing, MI |
| February 12, 2022 3:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at No. 7 Indiana Rescheduled from January 19 | L 58–76 | 13–11 (7–6) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (5,560) Bloomington, IN |
| February 16, 2022 7:30 p.m., BTN+ | | at Wisconsin | W 74–67 | 14–11 (8–6) | Kohl Center (2,166) Madison, WI |
| February 21, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN | | Penn State | L 71–79 | 14–12 (8–7) | Breslin Center (2,985) East Lansing, MI |
| February 24, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN | | at No. 6 Michigan Rivalry | L 51–62 | 14–13 (8–8) | Crisler Center (5,460) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 27, 2022 2:30 p.m., BTN | | No. 17 Ohio State | L 55–61 | 14–14 (8–9) | Breslin Center (7,124) East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 3, 2022 11:30 a.m., BTN | (8) | vs. (9) Purdue Second Round | W 73–69 | 15–14 | Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 4, 2022 11:30 a.m., BTN | (8) | vs. (1) No. 13 Ohio State Quarterfinals | L 58–74 | 15–15 | Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. 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 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | RV | 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.