2020–21 Big Ten Conference women's basketball season

2020–21 Big Ten Conference women's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams14
TV partner(s)Big Ten Network, ESPN, Fox, FS1
2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season
Regular season championsMaryland
Tournament
ChampionsMaryland
  Runners-upIowa
Finals MVPDiamond Miller
Basketball seasons
2020–21 Big Ten women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 Maryland † 17 – 1   .944 26 – 2   .929
No. 12 Indiana 16 – 2   .889 20 – 5   .800
No. 21 Rutgers 10 – 3   .769 14 – 5   .737
No. 16 Michigan 9 – 4   .692 16 – 6   .727
Northwestern 11 – 7   .611 16 – 9   .640
Iowa 11 – 8   .579 20 – 9   .690
No. 22 Ohio State 9 – 7   .563 13 – 7   .650
Michigan State 8 – 7   .533 15 – 9   .625
Nebraska 9 – 10   .474 13 – 13   .500
Minnesota 7 – 11   .389 8 – 13   .381
Penn State 6 – 13   .316 9 – 15   .375
Purdue 4 – 14   .222 7 – 16   .304
Illinois 2 – 16   .111 5 – 18   .217
Wisconsin 2 – 18   .100 5 – 19   .208
† 2021 Big Ten tournament winner
As of March 27, 2021
Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Big Ten women's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November 2020. The regular season will end in March, 2021.

The Big Ten tournament will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana in March 2021.

Head coaches

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Big Ten record Big Ten titles Big Ten tournament titles NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Illinois Nancy Fahey Washington (MO) 4 30–58 4–46 0 0 0 0 0
Indiana Teri Moren Indiana State 7 127–74 56–48 0 0 2 0 0
Iowa Lisa Bluder Drake 21 416–222 207–128 1 2 14 0 0
Maryland Brenda Frese Minnesota 19 486–128 92–12* 5 4 16 3 1
Michigan Kim Barnes Arico St. John's (Asst.) 9 177–96 76–60 0 0 3 0 0
Michigan State Suzy Merchant Eastern Michigan 14 281–148 136–86 2 0 9 0 0
Minnesota Lindsay Whalen Minnesota Lynx (Player) 3 37–26 14–22 0 0 0 0 0
Nebraska Amy Williams South Dakota 5 59–62 30–38 0 0 1 0 0
Northwestern Joe McKeown George Washington 12 206–175 83–121 0 0 1 0 0
Ohio State Kevin McGuff Washington 8 155–77 82–38 2 1 4 0 0
Penn State Carolyn Kieger Marquette 2 7–23 1–17 0 0 0 0 0
Purdue Sharon Versyp Indiana 15 294–176 136–102 0 4 9 0 0
Rutgers C. Vivian Stringer Iowa 26 521–286 53–49* 0 0 16 2 0
Wisconsin Jonathan Tsipis George Washington 5 44–79 12–56 0 0 0 0 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Year at school includes 2020–21 season.
  • Overall and Big Ten records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the season.
  • Frese's ACC conference record excluded since Maryland began Big Ten Conference play in 2014–15.
  • Stringer's Big East and American conference record excluded since Rutgers began Big Ten Conference play in 2014–15.

Preseason

Preseason conference poll

The Big Ten released the preseason ranking on November 11, 2020, which featured a ranking by both media and coaches.[1]

Media
Ranking Team
1 Indiana
2 Northwestern
3 Maryland
4 Michigan
5 Ohio State
Coaches
Ranking Team
1 Indiana
2 Maryland
3 Michigan
4 Northwestern
5 Ohio State

Preseason national polls

See also: 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season § Pre-season polls
AP[2] CBS Sports[3] Coaches[4] ESPNW[5]
Illinois
Indiana 16 18 15 17
Iowa
Maryland 12 10 11 12
Michigan 25 24 24 25
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern 17 15 16 16
Ohio State 20 25 22 21
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers
Wisconsin

Regular season

Rankings

Main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Honors and awards

All-Big Ten awards and teams

On March 8, 2021, the Big Ten announced its conference awards.[6]

Honor Winner
Player of the Year Naz Hillmon, Michigan
Coach of the Year Brenda Frese, Maryland
Freshman of the Year Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Defensive Player of the Year Veronica Burton, Northwestern
Sixth Player of the Year Maddie Burke, Penn State
All-Big Ten First Team Grace Berger, Indiana
Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Monika Czinano, Iowa
Diamond Miller, Maryland
Ashley Owusu, Maryland
Naz Hillmon, Michigan
Nia Clouden, Michigan State
Veronica Burton, Northwestern
Dorka Juhász, Ohio State
Arella Guirantes, Rutgers
All-Big Ten Second Team Ali Patberg, Indiana
Katie Benzan, Maryland
Leigha Brown, Michigan
Jasmine Powell, Minnesota
Sam Haiby, Nebraska
Lindsey Pulliam, Northwestern
Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State
Kayana Traylor, Purdue
Diamond Johnson, Rutgers
All-Big Ten Honorable Mention Chloe Bibby, Maryland
Sara Scalia, Minnesota
Isabelle Bourne, Nebraska
Kate Cain, Nebraska
Madison Greene, Ohio State
Johnasia Cash, Penn State
Makenna Marisa, Penn State
Tekia Mack, Rutgers
Sydney Hilliard, Wisconsin
Imani Lewis, Wisconsin
All-Freshman Team Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Kateri Poole, Ohio State
Maddie Burke, Penn State
Madison Layden,Purdue
Diamond Johnson, Rutgers
All-Defensive Team Akienreh Johnson, Michigan
Kate Cain, Nebraska
Veronica Burton, Northwestern
Sydney Wood, Northwestern
Tekia Mack, Rutgers

References

  1. ^ "Indiana Tops Big Ten Women's Basketball Preseason Rankings". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  2. ^ "AP Top 25 Women's Basketball Poll - Preseason". apnews.com. The Associated Press. November 10, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  3. ^ "Women's college basketball power rankings: South Carolina is preseason No. 1 ahead of No. 2 UConn". CBSSports.com. CBS Interactive. November 23, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  4. ^ "Women's Basketball Coaches Poll - Preseason". usatoday.com. USA Today. November 19, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  5. ^ "Women's college basketball's Way-Too-Early Top 25: South Carolina still on top, Baylor rising". ESPN.com. ESPN. September 28, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  6. ^ "2020-21 All-Big Ten Women's Basketball Teams & Honors" (PDF). BigTen.org. March 8, 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 13, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.