2021–22 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team represented Northwestern University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats were led by 14th-year head coach Joe McKeown. They played their home games at Welsh–Ryan Arena as members of the Big Ten Conference.

2021–22 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	17–12 (8–8 Big Ten)
Head coach	Joe McKeown (14th season)
Assistant coaches	Kate Popovec Preston Reid Tangela Smith
Home arena	Welsh–Ryan Arena

2021–22 Big Ten women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 14 Ohio State	14	–	4		.778			25	–	7		.781
No. 8 Iowa †	14	–	4		.778			24	–	8		.750
No. 12 Michigan	13	–	4		.765			25	–	7		.781
No. 13 Maryland	13	–	4		.765			23	–	9		.719
No. 11 Indiana	11	–	5		.688			24	–	9		.727
Nebraska	11	–	7		.611			24	–	9		.727
Northwestern	8	–	8		.500			17	–	12		.586
Michigan State	8	–	9		.471			15	–	15		.500
Purdue	7	–	11		.389			17	–	15		.531
Minnesota	7	–	11		.389			15	–	18		.455
Penn State	5	–	13		.278			11	–	18		.379
Wisconsin	5	–	13		.278			8	–	21		.276
Rutgers	3	–	14		.176			11	–	20		.355
Illinois	1	–	13		.071			7	–	20		.259
† 2022 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

They finished the season 17–12, 8–8 in Big Ten play to finish in seventh place. They received a bye into the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament where they defeated Minnesota before losing to eventual champions Iowa in the quarterfinals. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT.

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the season 16–9, 11–7 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place. They received a bye into the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament where they defeated Illinois and Michigan before losing to eventual champions Maryland in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the seven seed in the Alamo Regional they defeated ten seed UCF in the first round before losing to two seed Louisville in the second round to end their season.

Roster

2021–22 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Jess Sancataldo 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Turamurra Sydney, Australia G 1 Kaylah Rainey 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Jr Belleville East Belleville, IL G 2 Lauryn Satterwhite 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) GS Valley Vista Avondale, AZ G 3 Sydney Wood 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Sr St. John's College Olney, MD G 4 Jillian Brown 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr East Grand Rapids Grand Rapids, MI F 10 Caileigh Walsh 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Gill St. Bernard's Sparta, NJ G 11 Hailey Weaver 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Solon Solon, OH G 12 Veronica Burton 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Newton South Newton, MA F 13 Mercy Ademusayo 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr Linden Hall Ode-Irele, Nigeria F 15 Courtney Shaw 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Perry Hall Perry Hall, MD F 20 Paige Mott 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Abington Friends Philadelphia, PA G 21 Melannie Daley 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Hastings Hastings, NY G 23 Jasmine McWilliams 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So North Central Indianapolis, IN G 33 Laya Hartman 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Jr Okemos Okemos, MI F 42 Anna Morris 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Immaculate Heart Mahwah, NJ	Head coach Joe McKeown (Mercer) Assistant coach(es) Kate Popovec (Northwestern) Preston Reid (Ball State) Tangela Smith (Iowa) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: May 3, 2022

Schedule and results

Source:

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 7, 2021* 5:00 p.m., B1G+		Parkside	W 70–58	–	Welsh–Ryan Arena (314) Evanston, IL
Regular season
November 10, 2021* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		UIC	W 72–49	1–0	Welsh–Ryan Arena (742) Evanston, IL
November 14, 2021* 1:00 p.m., B1G+		UCSB	W 72–46	2–0	Welsh–Ryan Arena (834) Evanston, IL
November 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Loyola	W 63–47	3–0	Welsh–Ryan Arena (931) Evanston, IL
November 21, 2021* 5:00 p.m., FloHoops		at DePaul	L 75–78	3–1	McGrath-Philips Arena (1,140) Chicago, IL
November 25, 2021* 4:45 p.m., ESPN3		vs. South Dakota Paradise Jam	W 73–57	4–1	Sports and Fitness Center (0) Saint Thomas, USVI
November 26, 2021* 4:45 p.m., ESPN3		vs. Pittsburgh Paradise Jam	L 60–72	4–2	Sports and Fitness Center (0) Saint Thomas, USVI
November 27, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3		vs. No. 23 Texas A&M Paradise Jam	L 68–77	4–3	Sports and Fitness Center (878) Saint Thomas, USVI
December 2, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ACCN		at Clemson ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge	W 72–61	5–3	Littlejohn Coliseum (502) Clemson, SC
December 5, 2021 2:00 p.m., B1G+		Wisconsin	W 61–49	6–3 (1–0)	Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,231) Evanston, IL
December 11, 2021* 2:00 p.m., B1G+		Delaware	W 76–53	7–3	Welsh–Ryan Arena (919) Evanston, IL
December 14, 2021* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Milwaukee	W 55–46	8–3	Welsh–Ryan Arena (797) Evanston, IL
December 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Temple	W 68–58	9–3	Welsh–Ryan Arena (802) Evanston, IL
December 21, 2021* 8:00 p.m., B1G		Oregon	Canceled		Welsh–Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
December 31, 2021 1:00 p.m., B1G		at Minnesota	Postponed to February 11		Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
January 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Michigan State	Canceled		Welsh–Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
January 6, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G		at No. 22 Iowa	W 77–69	10–3 (2–0)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (5,020) Iowa City, IA
January 9, 2022 2:00 p.m., B1G+		Ohio State	L 61–74	10–4 (2–1)	Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,232) Evanston, IL
January 13, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Rutgers	W 68–63	11–4 (3–1)	Welsh–Ryan Arena (670) Evanston, IL
January 16, 2022 1:00 p.m., B1G+		at Michigan State	L 46–65	11–5 (3–2)	Breslin Center (3,241) East Lansing, MI
January 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Penn State	L 59–63	11–6 (3–3)	Welsh–Ryan Arena (939) Evanston, IL
January 23, 2022 Noon, B1G+		at No. 12 Maryland	L 59–87	11–7 (3–4)	Xfinity Center (4,940) College Park, MD
January 28, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+		No. 23 Iowa	L 67–72 OT	11–8 (3–5)	Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,578) Evanston, IL
January 30, 2022 2:00 p.m., B1G+		Illinois	Canceled		Welsh–Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
February 4, 2022 5:00 p.m., B1G+		at Purdue	W 80–67	12–8 (4–5)	Mackey Arena (2,862) West Lafayette, IN
February 6, 2022 1:00 p.m., B1G+		at Penn State	W 78–72	13–8 (5–5)	Bryce Jordan Center (3,401) University Park, PA
February 11, 2022 3:30 p.m., B1G+		at Minnesota Rescheduled from December 31	L 68–74	13–9 (5–6)	Williams Arena (2,734) Minneapolis, MN
February 13, 2022 Noon, B1G+		No. 4 Michigan	W 71–69 2OT	14–9 (6–6)	Welsh–Ryan Arena (2,341) Evanston, IL
February 17, 2022 5:00 p.m., B1G		at No. 5 Indiana	L 58–69	14–10 (6–7)	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (3,632) Bloomington, IN
February 20, 2022 4:00 p.m., B1G		at Illinois	W 82–59	15–10 (7–7)	State Farm Center (942) Champaign, IL
February 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Purdue	W 68–51	16–10 (8–7)	Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,481) Evanston, IL
February 27, 2022 3:30 p.m., B1G		at Nebraska	L 59–73	16–11 (8–8)	Pinnacle Bank Arena (6,234) Lincoln, NE
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 3, 2022 5:30 p.m., B1G	(7)	vs. (10) Minnesota Second Round	W 65–60	17–11	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN
March 4, 2022 5:30 p.m., B1G	(7)	vs. (2) No. 12 Iowa Quarterfinals	L 59–72	17–12	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	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.