2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team explained

Mode:Women's basketball
Year:2021–22
Prev Year:2020–21
Next Year:2022–23
Team:Illinois Fighting Illini
Conference:Big Ten Conference
Short Conf:Big Ten
Record:7–20
Conf Record:1–13
Head Coach:Nancy Fahey
Hc Year:5th
Asst Coach1:John Patterson
Asst Coach2:Corry Irvin
Asst Coach3:Hernando Planells
Stadium:State Farm Center

The 2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team represented the University of Illinois during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Illini, led by fifth-year head coach Nancy Fahey, played their home games at State Farm Center as members of the Big Ten Conference.

They finished the season 7–20, 1–13 in Big Ten play to finish in fourteenth place. As the fourteenth seed in the Big Ten women's tournament, they defeated eleventh seed Wisconsin in the First Round before losing to sixth seed Nebraska in the Second Round. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT.

Previous season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Illini played fewer non-conference games than in previous seasons; three games were originally postponed and later canceled due to the pandemic. They finished the season 5–18, 2–16 in Big Ten play to finish in thirteenth place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament to Northwestern. Their first round win against Wisconsin was the first Big Ten tournament victory in coach Fahey's tenure at Illinois.[1]

Schedule

Source:[2]

|-!colspan="6" style=| Regular season|-!colspan="6" style=| Big Ten Women's Tournament

Rankings

See main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings.

style="background:#D8FFEB; width:20px;"
 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.

Notes and References

  1. News: Vozzelli Jr.. Joe . March 10, 2021 . Illini blitz Badgers early, deliver convincing first round knockout . The News-Gazette . Champaign, Illinois . March 24, 2021.
  2. Web site: 2021-22 Women's Basketball Schedule. University of Illinois Department of Intercollegiate Athletics . n.d. . May 12, 2022.