# 2021–22 Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team represented the University of Virginia during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cavaliers were led by fourth year head coach Tina Thompson, and played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena as members the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cavaliers finished the season 5–22 and 2–16 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourteenth place. As the fourteenth seed in the ACC tournament they lost their First Round matchup with Wake Forest. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or WNIT. After the season, Virginia announced that Head Coach Tina Thompson had been relieved of her duties after going 30–63 during her tenure.

## Previous season

On January 14, 2021, it was announced that the team would end their season due to COVID-19 concerns. Virginia was the second team in the Atlantic Coast Conference to suspend their season, after Duke did so on December 25, 2020.
The Cavaliers finished the season 0–5, and 0–2 in ACC play. Due to their season cancellation they did not participate in the ACC tournament, NCAA tournament or WNIT.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Dylan Horton | 0 | G | 5'9" | Sophomore | Los Angeles, California | Transferred to Florida A&M |
| Zaria Johnson | 4 | G | 6'0" | Freshman | Houston, Texas | – |
| Dani Lawson | 21 | G | 6'2" | Junior | Cleveland, Ohio | Graduated |
| Emily Maupin | 35 | F | 6'3" | Graduate Student | Charlottesville, Virginia | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Taylor Valladay | 2 | G | 5'7" | Junior | Chicago, Illinois | Marquette |
| Camryn Taylor | 20 | F | 6'2" | Junior | Peoria, Illinois | Marquette |
| Eleah Parker | 21 | F | 6'4" | Graduate Student | Charlotte, North Carolina | Penn |
| McKenna Dale | 44 | G | 6'0" | Graduate Student | Storrs, Connecticut | Brown |
| Source: |||||||

### Recruiting Class

Source:
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Annaliese Griffin F | Joliet, Illinois | Aurora Christian | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., FloSports | | at James Madison | L 69–84 | 0–1 | Atlantic Union Bank Center (3,766) Harrisonburg, VA |
| November 14, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | | USC | L 48–65 | 0–2 | John Paul Jones Arena (1,385) Charlottesville, VA |
| November 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | UCF | L 38–59 | 0–3 | John Paul Jones Arena (1,432) Charlottesville, VA |
| November 21, 2021* 6:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 20 UCLA | L 57–69 | 0–4 | Pauley Pavilion (1,077) Los Angeles, CA |
| November 23, 2021* 9:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 60–48 | 1–4 | Titan Gym (283) Fullerton, CA |
| November 26, 2021* Noon, ACCNX | | Rhode Island Cavalier Classic | L 70–80 | 1–5 | John Paul Jones Arena (1,498) Charlottesville, VA |
| November 28, 2021* 3:30 p.m., ACCN | | Richmond Cavalier Classic | L 65–74 | 1–6 | John Paul Jones Arena (1,670) Charlottesville, VA |
| December 2, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | William & Mary | W 60–44 | 2–6 | John Paul Jones Arena (1,555) Charlottesville, VA |
| December 5, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at George Washington | W 62–53 | 3–6 | Charles E. Smith Center (364) Washington, D.C. |
| December 7, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | American | L 56–69 | 3–7 | John Paul Jones Arena (1,441) Charlottesville, VA |
| December 19, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | at No. 2 NC State | L 55–82 | 3–8 (0–1) | Reynolds Coliseum (4,564) Raleigh, NC |
| December 22, 2021* 1:00 p.m. | | at Texas Southern | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues | H&PE Arena Houston, TX |
| December 30, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 17 Notre Dame | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA |
| January 2, 2022 2:00 p.m., ACCN | | Miami (FL) | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA |
| January 6, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Virginia Tech Commonwealth Clash | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, VA |
| January 9, 2022 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | at No. 16 Georgia Tech | L 31–67 | 3–9 (0–2) | McCamish Pavilion (1,841) Atlanta, GA |
| January 13, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 4 NC State | L 43–66 | 3–10 (0–3) | John Paul Jones Arena (1,969) Charlottesville, VA |
| January 16, 2022 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Syracuse | Postponed due to inclement weather | Postponed due to inclement weather | John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA |
| January 18, 2022 5:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Virginia Tech Commonwealth Clash Rescheduled from Jan 6, 2022 | L 52–69 | 3–11 (0–4) | Cassell Coliseum (1,518) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 20, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at No. 20 North Carolina | L 52–61 | 3–12 (0–5) | Carmichael Arena (1,513) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 23, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | at No. 21 Duke | L 48–57 | 3–13 (0–6) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (2,126) Durham, NC |
| January 25, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 20 Notre Dame Rescheduled from Dec 30, 2021 | Postponed, Forfeited | Postponed, Forfeited | John Paul Jones Arena Charlottesville, VA |
| January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Virginia Tech Commonwealth Clash | L 42–71 | 3–14 (0–8) | John Paul Jones Arena (1,779) Charlottesville, VA |
| January 30, 2022 Noon, ACCRSN | | at Florida State | L 37–62 | 3–15 (0–9) | Donald L. Tucker Center (2,144) Tallahassee, FL |
| February 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Boston College | L 57–65 | 3–16 (0–10) | Conte Forum (736) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| February 6, 2022 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | Clemson | L 55–59 | 3–17 (0–11) | John Paul Jones Arena (1,798) Charlottesville, VA |
| February 8, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Syracuse Rescheduled from Jan. 16, 2022 | L 70–77 | 3–18 (0–12) | John Paul Jones Arena (1,556) Charlottesville, VA |
| February 10, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at No. 3 Louisville | Forfeited to Louisville due to travel issues. | Forfeited to Louisville due to travel issues. | KFC Yum! Center Louisville, KY |
| February 13, 2022 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Wake Forest | L 53–68 | 3–19 (0–14) | LJVM Coliseum (1,994) Winston–Salem, NC |
| February 15, 2022 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Miami (FL) | L 55–71 | 3–20 (0–15) | John Paul Jones Arena (1,478) Charlottesville, VA |
| February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Duke | W 67–54 | 4–20 (1–15) | John Paul Jones Arena (1,695) Charlottesville, VA |
| February 20, 2022 4:00 p.m., ACCN | | Pittsburgh | W 74–65 | 5–20 (2–15) | John Paul Jones Arena (1,872) Charlottesville, VA |
| February 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 18 North Carolina | L 57–68 | 5–21 (2–16) | John Paul Jones Arena (1,879) Charlottesville, VA |
| ACC Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 2, 2022 6:30 p.m., ACCRSN | (14) | vs. (11) Wake Forest First Round | L 53–61 | 5–22 | Greensboro Coliseum (3,618) Greensboro, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |