# 2020–21 West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball team

The 2020–21 West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball team represented West Virginia University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Mountaineers were coached by twentieth-year head coach Mike Carey, played their home games at WVU Coliseum and were members of the Big 12 Conference.
They finished the season 22–7, 13–5 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for second place. As the second seed in the Big 12 Tournament, they defeated Kansas State and Oklahoma State before losing to Baylor in the Final. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the four seed in the HemisFair Regional they defeated Lehigh before losing to Georgia Tech in the Second Round to end their season.

## Previous season

The Mountaineers finished the season 17–12, 7–11 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for sixth place. The Big 12 Tournament, NCAA women's basketball tournament and WNIT were all cancelled before they began due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 27, 2020* 1:00 p.m. | | vs. Fresno State South Point Thanksgiving Shootout | W 83–62 | 1–0 | South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa (0) Enterprise, NV |
| November 28, 2020* 5:45 p.m. | | vs. LSU South Point Thanksgiving Shootout | W 62–42 | 2–0 | South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa (0) Enterprise, NV |
| December 3, 2020* 7:00 p.m. | | North Alabama | W 80–51 | 3–0 | WVU Coliseum (138) Morgantown, WV |
| December 6, 2020* 2:00 p.m. | | Tennessee Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge | W 79–73 $^{OT}$ | 4–0 | WVU Coliseum (142) Morgantown, WV |
| December 10, 2020 6:00 p.m. | | No. 7 Baylor | L 45–65 | 4–1 (0–1) | WVU Coliseum (121) Morgantown, WV |
| December 13, 2020* 6:00 p.m. | | James Madison | W 85–54 | 5–1 | WVU Coliseum (117) Morgantown, WV |
| December 18, 2020 6:30 p.m. | | at Oklahoma State | L 73–78 | 5–2 (0–2) | Gallagher-Iba Arena (867) Stillwater, OK |
| December 21, 2020* 2:00 p.m. | | Ohio | W 88–79 | 6–2 | WVU Coliseum (112) Morgantown, WV |
| December 22, 2020* | | Coppin State | Canceled | Canceled | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV |
| January 2, 2021 | | at Kansas | Postponed | Postponed | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| January 3, 2020 2:00 p.m. | | at Oklahoma | W 90–72 | 7–2 (1–2) | Lloyd Noble Center (417) Norman, OK |
| January 5, 2021 | | at Kansas State | Postponed | Postponed | Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS |
| January 9, 2021 6:00 p.m. | | No. 17 Texas | W 92–58 | 8–2 (2–2) | WVU Coliseum (131) Morgantown, WV |
| January 13, 2021 7:00 p.m. | | Texas Tech | W 83–78 | 9–2 (3–2) | WVU Coliseum (107) Morgantown, WV |
| January 16, 2021 2:00 p.m. | | Oklahoma State | W 67–59 | 10–2 (4–2) | WVU Coliseum (109) Morgantown, WV |
| January 20, 2021 7:00 p.m. | | Kansas State | W 65–56 | 11–2 (5–2) | WVU Coliseum (113) Morgantown, WV |
| January 27, 2021 6:00 p.m. | No. 24 | at Texas Tech | W 73–53 | 12–2 (6–2) | United Supermarkets Arena (1,989) Lubbock, TX |
| January 30, 2021 1:00 p.m. | No. 24 | at TCU | W 79–70 | 13–2 (7–2) | Schollmaier Arena (904) Fort Worth, TX |
| February 3, 2021 7:00 p.m. | No. 21 | Iowa State | W 65–56 | 14–2 (8–2) | WVU Coliseum (514) Morgantown, WV |
| February 6, 2021 7:00 p.m. | No. 21 | at Texas | W 81–75 | 15–2 (9–2) | Frank Erwin Center (997) Austin, TX |
| February 10, 2021 7:00 p.m. | No. 19 | Kansas | W 69–61 | 16–2 (10–2) | WVU Coliseum (648) Morgantown, WV |
| February 13, 2021 7:00 p.m. | No. 19 | Oklahoma | L 71–72 | 16–3 (10–3) | WVU Coliseum (1,112) Morgantown, WV |
| February 17, 2021 | No. 19 | at No. 7 Baylor | Postponed | Postponed | Ferrell Center Waco, TX |
| February 20, 2021 2:00 p.m. | No. 19 | TCU | W 81–78 | 17–3 (11–3) | WVU Coliseum (1,236) Morgantown, WV |
| February 24, 2021 6:30 p.m. | No. 18 | at Iowa State | L 68–85 | 18–4 (11–4) | Hilton Coliseum (822) Ames, IA |
| February 27, 2021 1:00 p.m. | No. 18 | at Kansas | W 72–68 | 18–4 (12–4) | Allen Fieldhouse (0) Lawrence, KS |
| March 3, 2021 6:30 p.m. | No. 20 | at Kansas State | W 72–64 | 19–4 (13–4) | Bramlage Coliseum (603) Manhattan, KS |
| March 8, 2021 7:00 p.m. | No. 17 | at No. 6 Baylor | L 73–96 | 19–5 (13–5) | Ferrell Center (2,260) Waco, TX |
| Big 12 Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 12, 2021 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) No. 17 | vs. (10) Kansas State Quarterfinals | W 58–56 | 20–5 | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO |
| March 13, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) No. 17 | vs. (3) Oklahoma State Semifinals | W 59–50 | 21–5 | Municipal Auditorium (848) Kansas City, Missouri |
| March 14, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (2) No. 17 | vs. (1) No. 6 Baylor Final | L 50–76 | 21–6 | Municipal Auditorium (720) Kansas City, Missouri |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 21, 2021 8:00 p.m. | (4 H) No. 17 | vs. (13 H) Lehigh First Round | W 77–53 | 22–6 | Bill Greehey Arena San Antonio, TX |
| March 23, 2021 5:30 p.m., ESPNU | (4 H) No. 17 | vs. Georgia Tech Second Round | L 56–73 | 22–7 | UTSA Convocation Center San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. H=HemisFair. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | 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 | Final |
| AP | — | — | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | 24 | 21 | 19 | 19т | 18 | 20 | 17 | 17 |
| Coaches | — | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 21 | 24 | 22 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 24 |