# 2020–21 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by fourteenth 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 15–9, 8–7 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. As the seventh seed in the Big Ten tournament they defeated Penn State in the Second Round and Indiana in the Quarterfinals before losing to Iowa in the Semifinals. 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.

## Previous season

The Spartans finished the season 16–14, 9–9 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. In the Big Ten tournament they lost to Purdue in the first round. They did not get a chance for further post season play, as the NCAA women's basketball tournament and WNIT were cancelled before they began due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 27, 2020* 3:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Saint Francis | W 77–44 | 1–0 | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| December 2, 2020* 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Detroit Mercy | W 82–45 | 2–0 | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| December 9, 2020 9:00 p.m., BTN | | at Minnesota | W 81–68 | 3–0 (1–0) | Williams Arena (0) Minneapolis, MN |
| December 12, 2020 4:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Iowa | W 86–82 | 4–0 (2–0) | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| December 18, 2020* 5:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Central Michigan | W 79–70 | 5–0 | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| December 20, 2020* 3:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Northern Illinois | W 82–70 | 6–0 | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| December 22, 2020* Noon, BTN+ | No. 25 | Oakland | W 94–56 | 7–0 | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| December 31, 2020 Noon, BTN | No. 25 | at No. 17 Ohio State | Canceled | Canceled | Value City Arena Columbus, OH |
| January 3, 2021 2:00 p.m., BTN+ | No. 25 | at Purdue | W 71–64 | 8–0 (3–0) | Mackey Arena (152) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 7, 2021 5:00 p.m., BTN | No. 23 | No. 12 Maryland | L 87–93 | 8–1 (3–1) | Breslin Center (50) East Lansing, MI |
| January 10, 2021 3:00 p.m., BTN+ | No. 23 | Nebraska | L 64–68 | 8–2 (3–2) | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| January 14, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Illinois | Postponed | Postponed | State Farm Center Champaign, IL |
| January 21, 2021 6:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 16 Indiana | Postponed | Postponed | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| January 24, 2021 4:00 p.m., BTN | | at Wisconsin | W 94–62 | 9–2 (4–2) | Kohl Center (0) Madison, WI |
| January 26, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 12 Michigan Rivalry | Postponed | Postponed | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| January 28, 2021 4:00 p.m., BTN | | at No. 7 Maryland | L 52–92 | 9–3 (4–3) | Xfinity Center (0) College Park, MD |
| January 28, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at No. 12 Michigan Rivalry | Postponed | Postponed | Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 31, 2021 4:30 p.m., BTN | | at No. 16 Indiana | L 67–79 | 9–4 (4–4) | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (0) Bloomington, IN |
| February 4, 2021 8:00 p.m., BTN | | Illinois | W 81–60 | 10–4 (5–4) | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| February 7, 2021 3:00 p.m., BTN+ | | No. 22 Northwestern | L 60–63 | 10–5 (5–5) | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| February 13, 2021 Noon, BTN | | at Penn State | W 78–65 | 11–5 (6–5) | Bryce Jordan Center (209) University Park |
| February 16, 2021 4:30 p.m., BTN | | at No. 11 Michigan Rivalry | L 82–86 | 11–6 (6–6) | Crisler Center (50) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 21, 2021 11:30 a.m., FS1 | | Purdue | W 76–73 | 12–6 (7–6) | Breslin Center (51) East Lansing, MI |
| February 24, 2021 3:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 25 Rutgers | L 53–63 | 12–7 (7–7) | Breslin Center (36) East Lansing, MI |
| February 27, 2021 2:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Nebraska | Canceled | Canceled | Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE |
| March 6, 2021 2:00 p.m., BTN+ | | Wisconsin | W 67–54 | 13–7 (8–7) | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2021 6:30 p.m., FS2 | (7) | vs. (10) Penn State Second Round | W 75–66 | 14–7 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (1,064) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 11, 2021 6:30 p.m., FS2 | (7) | vs. (2) No. 9 Indiana Quarterfinals | W 69–61 | 15–7 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 12, 2021 4:30 p.m., FS2 | (7) | vs. (6) Iowa Semifinals | L 72–87 | 15–8 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 22, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN | (10 M) | vs. (7 M) Iowa State First Round | L 75–79 | 15–9 | Alamodome (0) San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. M=Mercado Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

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.