2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record7–20 (1–13 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • John Patterson
  • Corry Irvin
  • Hernando Planells
Home arenaState Farm Center
Seasons
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

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]

Roster

2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Sara Anastasieska 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) GS Monte Sant Angelo Mercy
Duke 		Sydney, Australia
F 2 Lyric Robins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Sr Plano West Plano, TX
F 3 Solape Amusan 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Woodbury Woodbury, MN
G 5 De'Myla Brown 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr North Little Rock
Chipola College 		North Little Rock, AR
G 11 Jada Peebles 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Wakefield Raleigh, NC
G 12 Jayla Oden 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr McDonogh Baltimore, MD
G 13 Tara O'Malley 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) GS Mother McAuley Chicago, IL
F/C 14 Geovana Lopes 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr Odessa College Bataguassu, Brazil
F 15 Keanna Rembert 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Millbrook Raleigh, NC
F 20 Erika Porter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Notre Dame H.S. West Windsor, NJ
C 22 Eva Rubin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) RS Sr Homewood-Flossmoor Flossmoor, IL
G 24 Adalia McKenzie 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Park Center Brooklyn Park, MN
G 32 Aaliyah Nye 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So East Lansing East Lansing, MI
F 44 Kendall Bostic 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Northwestern H.S. Kokomo, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: May 12, 2022

Schedule

Source:[2]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 9, 2021*
11:00 a.m., BTN+ 		North Carolina Central W 73–56  1–0
 State Farm Center (1,983)
Champaign, IL
November 14, 2021*
3:00 p.m., BTN+ 		Miami (OH) W 72–65  2–0
 State Farm Center (1,121)
Champaign, IL
November 18, 2021*
7:00 p.m., BTN+ 		SIUE L 62–71  2–1
 State Farm Center (1,008)
Champaign, IL
November 21, 2021*
2:00 p.m., BTN+ 		UC Riverside W 86–82  3–1
 State Farm Center (1,053)
Champaign, IL
November 26, 2021*
1:15 p.m., FloHoops 		vs. Dayton
Daytona Beach Invitational 		L 53–67  3–2
 Ocean Center (0)
Daytona Beach, FL
November 27, 2021*
11:00 a.m., FloHoops 		vs. Middle Tennessee
Daytona Beach Invitational 		L 52–62  3–3
 Ocean Center (0)
Daytona Beach, FL
December 2, 2021*
7:00 p.m., BTN+ 		No. 25 Florida State
ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge 		L 58–67  3–4
 State Farm Center (1,027)
Champaign, IL
December 5, 2021*
2:00 p.m., BTN+ 		Eastern Kentucky W 71–57  4–4
 State Farm Center (1,227)
Champaign, IL
December 9, 2021
6:00 p.m., BTN+ 		at Michigan State L 60–75  4–5
(0–1) 		Breslin Center (3,213)
East Lansing, MI
December 12, 2021*
2:00 p.m., BTN+ 		Butler W 78–66  5–5
 State Farm Center (1,015)
Champaign, IL
December 19, 2021*
2:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Southern Illinois L 51–66  5–6
 Banterra Center (539)
Carbondale, IL
December 22, 2021*
Noon, BTN+ 		Missouri L 65–84  5–7
 State Farm Center (1,247)
Champaign, IL
December 30, 2021
7:00 p.m., BTN+ 		No. 6 Maryland Canceled State Farm Center 
Champaign, IL
January 6, 2022
6:00 p.m., BTN+ 		at Ohio State L 69–90  5–8
(0–2) 		Value City Arena (2,567)
Columbus, OH
January 9, 2022
2:00 p.m., BTN+ 		Wisconsin W 68–47  6–8
(1–2) 		State Farm Center (2,066)
Champaign, IL
January 16, 2022
1:00 p.m., BTN+ 		at Penn State L 72–90  6–9
(1–3) 		Bryce Jordan Center (2,048)
University Park, PA
January 20, 2022
7:00 p.m., BTN+ 		Purdue L 67–89  6–10
(1–4) 		State Farm Center (1,038)
Champaign, IL
January 23, 2022
5:00 p.m., BTN 		at No. 25 Iowa L 56–82  6–11
(1–5) 		Carver–Hawkeye Arena (8,977)
Iowa City, IA
January 27, 2022
6:00 p.m., BTN+ 		at No. 6 Indiana Canceled Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN
January 30, 2022
2:00 p.m., BTN+ 		at Northwestern Canceled Welsh-Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
February 3, 2022
7:00 p.m., BTN+ 		No. 6 Michigan Canceled State Farm Center 
Champaign, IL
February 6, 2022
1:00 p.m., BTN 		at Wisconsin L 62–70  6–12
(1–6) 		Kohl Center (6,007)
Madison, WI
February 9, 2022
7:00 p.m., BTN+ 		No. 7 Indiana L 61–93  6–13
(1–7) 		State Farm Center (1,198)
Champaign, IL
February 12, 2022
2:00 p.m., BTN+ 		Nebraska L 63–82  6–14
(1–8) 		State Farm Center (1,182)
Champaign, IL
February 14, 2022
8:00 p.m., BTN+ 		No. 18 Ohio State L 67–86  6–15
(1–9) 		State Farm Center (997)
Champaign, IL
February 17, 2022
6:00 p.m., BTN+ 		at Purdue L 54–70  6–16
(1–10) 		Mackey Arena (2,983)
West Lafayette, IN
February 20, 2022
4:00 p.m., BTN+ 		Northwestern L 59–82  6–17
(1–11) 		State Farm Center (942)
Champaign, IL
February 24, 2022
7:00 p.m., BTN+ 		at Minnesota L 54–87  6–18
(1–12) 		Williams Arena (2,896)
Minneapolis, MN
February 27, 2022
2:00 p.m., BTN+ 		Rutgers L 56–66  6–19
(1–13) 		State Farm Center (1,445)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 2, 2022
3:30 p.m., BTN 		(14) vs. (11) Wisconsin
First Round 		W 75–66  7–19
 Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0)
Indianapolis, IN
March 3, 2022
7:30 p.m., BTN 		(14) vs. (6) Nebraska
Second Round 		L 74–92  7–20
 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: — = Not ranked
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314151617Final
AP———————————————————
Coaches———————————————————
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.

References

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