| Mode: | Women's basketball |
| Year: | 2020–21 |
| Prev Year: | 2019–20 |
| Next Year: | 2021–22 |
| Team: | Northwestern Wildcats |
| Conference: | Big Ten Conference |
| Record: | 16–9 |
| Conf Record: | 11–7 |
| Short Conf: | Big Ten |
| Head Coach: | Joe McKeown |
| Hc Year: | 13th |
| Asst Coach1: | Kate Popovec |
| Asst Coach2: | Preston Reid |
| Asst Coach3: | Tangela Smith |
| Stadium: | Welsh–Ryan Arena |
| Bowl: | NCAA tournament |
| Bowl Result: | second round |
The 2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team represented Northwestern University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats were led by 13th-year head coach Joe McKeown. They played their home games at Welsh–Ryan Arena as members of the Big Ten Conference.
They 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 in the First Round before losing to two seed Louisville in the Second Round to end their season.
The Wildcats finished 26–4, 16–2 in Big Ten play to finish tied for first place. As the second seed in the Big Ten women's tournament they received a double-bye into the Quarterfinals where they lost to Michigan. 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.[1]
Source:[2]
|-!colspan=6 style=| Regular season|-!colspan=6 style= |Big Ten Women's Tournament|-!colspan=6 style= |NCAA tournament
See main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings.
| + Regular Season Polls | Poll | Pre- Season | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP | 17 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 24 | RV | RV | RV | ||
| Coaches | 16 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 23т | 20 | 20 | 22 | 25 | 25 | RV | RV | RV |
| 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.
2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team