# 2021–22 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team represented Illinois State University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Redbirds, led by fifth-year head coach Kristen Gillespie, played their home games at the Redbird Arena as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
They finished the season with a 19–14 overall record, 12–6 in conference play to finish in fourth place. As the fourth seed in the Missouri Valley Tournament, they earned a bye into the Quarterfinals and defeated Loyola–Chicago, Southern Illinois, and Northern Iowa to win the championship. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where they were the fifteenth seed in the Greensboro Region. They lost to second seed Iowa in the First Round to end their season.

## Previous season

The Redbirds finished the season with a 16–9 overall record, 12–6 in Missouri Valley play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the Missouri Valley Tournament, they earned a bye into the Quarterfinals where they lost to Loyola–Chicago. They received an at-large bid to the WNIT, where they lost to Tulane in the First Round, defeated Samford in the Consolation Semifinal and lost to UT Martin in the Consolation Final.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 3, 2021* 6:00 p.m. | | UMSL | W 64–53 | – | Redbird Arena (363) Normal, IL |
| Non-Conference Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Illinois | L 60–77 | 0–1 | NIU Convocation Center (432) DeKalb, IL |
| November 13, 2021* 1:00 p.m. | | at St. Thomas | W 70–55 | 1–1 | Schoenecker Arena (400) Saint Paul, MN |
| November 17, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Purdue | L 64–76 | 1–2 | Redbird Arena (672) Normal, IL |
| November 20, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UT Martin | L 52–54 | 1–3 | Skyhawk Arena (1,131) Martin, TN |
| November 26, 2021* 4:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UC Irvine UCI Thanksgiving Classic | L 55–67 | 1–4 | Bren Events Center (277) Irvine, CA |
| November 27, 2021* 4:30 p.m. | | vs. Sacramento State UCI Thanksgiving Classic | L 63–65 | 1–5 | Bren Events Center (186) Irvine, CA |
| December 1, 2021* 11:00 a.m., ESPN3 | | Missouri Baptist | W 91–42 | 2–5 | Redbird Arena (1,549) Normal, IL |
| December 5, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Dayton | L 67–78 | 2–6 | Redbird Arena (568) Normal, IL |
| December 11, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at SIUE | W 80–71 | 3–6 | Vadalabene Center (150) Edwardsville, IL |
| December 16, 2021* 6:30 p.m., BTN+ | | at Wisconsin | L 60–70 | 3–7 | Kohl Center (2,150) Madison, WI |
| December 20, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Saint Louis | W 77–66 | 4–7 | Redbird Arena (366) Normal, IL |
| Missouri Valley Regular season ||||||
| January 1, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Bradley | W 64–57 | 5–7 (1–0) | Redbird Arena (312) Normal, IL |
| January 7, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Indiana State | W 66–58 | 6–7 (2–0) | Hulman Center (1,112) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 9, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Evansville | W 87–68 | 7–7 (3–0) | Meeks Family Fieldhouse (222) Evansville, IN |
| January 13, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | W 65–49 | 8–7 (4–0) | Redbird Arena (316) Normal, IL |
| January 15, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Loyola–Chicago | W 68–50 | 9–7 (5–0) | Redbird Arena (703) Normal, IL |
| January 20, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Illinois | L 47–56 | 9–8 (5–1) | SIU Arena (317) Carbondale, IL |
| January 22, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | W 52–51 | 10–8 (6–1) | JQH Arena (2,036) Springfield, MO |
| January 27, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern Iowa | L 67–74 | 10–9 (6–2) | Redbird Arena (824) Normal, IL |
| January 29, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Drake | W 70–58 | 11–9 (7–2) | Redbird Arena (1,480) Normal, IL |
| February 4, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 75–60 | 12–9 (8–2) | Redbird Arena (504) Normal, IL |
| February 6, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Indiana State | W 72–64 | 13–9 (9–2) | Redbird Arena (656) Normal, IL |
| February 10, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Loyola–Chicago | W 57–53 | 14–9 (10–2) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (327) Chicago, IL |
| February 12, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Valparaiso | W 85–80 | 15–9 (11–2) | Athletics–Recreation Center (388) Valparaiso, IN |
| February 18, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Missouri State | L 67–75 | 15–10 (11–3) | Redbird Arena (735) Normal, IL |
| February 20, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Illinois | L 49–65 | 15–11 (11–4) | Redbird Arena (1,039) Normal, IL |
| February 25, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Drake | L 62–104 | 15–12 (11–5) | Knapp Center (2,261) Des Moines, IA |
| February 27, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Iowa | L 63–70 | 15–13 (11–6) | McLeod Center (1,333) Cedar Falls, IA |
| March 5, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Bradley | W 62–53 | 16–13 (12–6) | Renaissance Coliseum (626) Peoria, IL |
| Missouri Valley Tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2022 2:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (5) Loyola–Chicago Quarterfinals | W 68–52 | 17–13 | TaxSlayer Center (0) Moline, IL |
| March 12, 2022 1:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (1) Southern Illinois Semifinals | W 50–42 | 18–13 | TaxSlayer Center (0) Moline, IL |
| March 13, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (3) Northern Iowa Final | W 50–48 | 19–13 | TaxSlayer Center (1,392) Moline, IL |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 18, 2022 3:00 p.m., ESPN | (15 G) | at (2 G) No. 8 Iowa First Round | L 58–98 | 19–14 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,382) Iowa City, IA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. G=Greensboro. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: — = Not ranked :
| | 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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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.