2021–22 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team

2021–22 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball
WNIT, second round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	15–18 (7–11 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lindsay Whalen (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Carly Thibault-DuDonis Shimmy Gray-Miller Kelly Curry
Home arena	Williams Arena

2021–22 Big Ten women's basketball standings

v t e	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 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Golden Gophers, led by fourth-year head coach Lindsay Whalen, played their home games at Williams Arena and compete as members of the Big Ten Conference.

The Golden Gophers are currently 14-17 and 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in tenth place. As the tenth seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were defeated by Northwestern in the second round. They were not invited to the NCAA Tournament, but were chosen as an at-large team for the WNIT.[1]

Previous season

The Golden Gophers finished the season 8–13 and 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in tenth place. As the ninth seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were defeated by Nebraska in the second round. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT.[2]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Justice Ross	24	F	6'0"	RS Freshman	Des Moines, IA	Transferred to New Orleans[3]

Arrivals

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School	Notes
Deja Winters	3	G	5'11"	Grad Senior	Cleveland, Ohio	North Carolina A&T	Grad Transfer - Able to Play Immediately
Bailey Helgren	35	C	6'5"	Grad Senior	Edina, Minnesota	Kansas	Grad Transfer - Able to Play Immediately

2021 Recruiting Class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Maggie Czinano G	Watertown, MN	Watertown-Mayer High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Alanna Micheaux F	Wayne, MI	Wayne Memorial High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

• Katie Borowicz was originally a member of the 2021 Recruiting Class. She enrolled at the University of Minnesota early and joined the team for the 2020-21 Season.

Roster

2021–22 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Alexia Smith 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So Columbus Africentric Columbus, OH G 3 Deja Winters 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) GS Richmond Heights North Carolina A&T Columbus, OH G 4 Jasmine Powell 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Jr Detroit Country Day Detroit, MI G 5 Maggie Czinano 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Watertown-Mayer High School Watertown, MN F 10 Erin Hedman 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Eisenhower New Berlin, WI F 12 Laura Bagwell Katalinich 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) GS Academy of the Holy Angels Cornell Minneapolis, MN G 13 Gadiva Hubbard 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) GS Princess Anne HS Virginia Beach, VA G 14 Sara Scalia 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Stillwater HS Stillwater, MN F 15 Kayla Mershon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr Minnetonka Nebraska Chanhasen, MN G 21 Caroline Strande 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Racine Lutheran Racine, WI G 23 Katie Borowicz 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) So Roseau Roseau, MN C 25 Klarke Sconiers 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Christ the King HS Queens, NY F 30 Kadi Sissoko 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) RS Jr Lycée Marcelin Berthelot Syracuse Paris, France F 35 Bailey Helgren 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) GS Edina Kansas Edina, MN F 43 Grace Cumming 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS So Des Moines Roosevelt HS Des Moines, IA F 54 Alanna Micheaux 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Wayne Memorial Wayne, MI	Head coach Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota) Assistant coach(es) Carly Thibault-DuDonis (Monmouth) Shimmy Gray-Miller (Michigan) Kelly Curry (Minnesota) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: October 31, 2021

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
10/31/21* 2:00 pm, BTN Plus		Minnesota-Crookston	W 78–33		Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
Regular season
11/9/21* 12:00 pm, BTN Plus		Jacksonville	L 66–69	0–1	Williams Arena (2,554) Minneapolis, MN
11/12/21* 8:00 pm		at Arizona State	W 66–59 ^OT	1–1	Desert Financial Arena (4,111) Tempe, AZ
11/14/2021* 2:00 pm, BTN Plus		George Washington	W 48–32	2–1	Williams Arena (3,056) Minneapolis, MN
11/17/2021* 7:00 pm, BTN Plus		American	W 73-56	3-1	Williams Arena (2,643) Minneapolis, MN
11/20/2021* 11:00 am, Flo Hoops		vs. No. 2 Connecticut Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, preliminary	L 58-88	3-2	Imperial Arena (1,175) Paradise Island, Bahamas[4]
11/21/2021* 4:00 pm, Flo Hoops		vs. Syracuse Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Consolation 2nd Round	W 70-63	4-2	Imperial Arena (420) Paradise Island, Bahamas
11/22/2021*  Flo Hoops		vs. Oklahoma Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, 5th Place Game	L 69-88	4-3	Imperial Arena (267) Paradise Island, Bahamas
11/26/2021* 3:00 pm, BTN Plus		Bradley	W 73-54	5-3	Williams Arena (3,389) Minneapolis, MN
11/28/2021* 2:00 pm, BTN Plus		UTSA	W 81-52	6-3	Williams Arena (3,150) Minneapolis, MN
12/1/2021* 8:00 pm, BTN		North Carolina Big Ten/ACC Challenge	L 76-82	6-4	Williams Arena (3,432) Minneapolis, MN
12/6/2021 7:00 pm, BTN		Nebraska	L 67-70	6-5 (0-1)	Williams Arena (3,300) Minneapolis, MN
12/12/2021 1:00 pm, BTN Plus		at No. 13 Michigan	L 61-73	6-6 (0-2)	Crisler Center (2,484) Ann Arbor, MI
12/12/2021* 7:00 pm, BTN Plus		Ohio	W 99-93	7-6 (0-2)	Williams Arena (2,751) Minneapolis, MN
12/23/2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Drake	L 63-77	7-7 (0-2)	Knapp Center (2,183) Des Moines, IA
01/6/2022 6:00 pm		at Rutgers	W 62-49	8-7 (1-2)	Louis Brown Athletic Center (1,001) Piscataway, New Jersey
01/9/2022 2:00 pm, BTN Plus		No. 10 Maryland	L 73-87	8-8 (1-3)	Williams Arena (3,447) Minneapolis MN
01/12/2020 6:30 pm, BTN Plus		at Wisconsin	W 82-66	9-8 (2-3)	Kohl Center (2,157) Madison, WI
01/15/2022 5:00 pm, BTN Plus		No. RV Ohio State	L 75-83	9-9 (2-4)	Williams Arena (3,177) Minneapolis, MN
01/20/2022 7:00 pm, BTN		No. 25 Iowa	L 49-105	9-10 (2-5)	Williams Arena (3,741) Minneapolis, MN
01/23/2022 1:00 pm		at Michigan State	L 71-74	9-11 (2-6)	Breslin Center (2,899) East Lansing, MI
01/27/2022 6:00 pm, BTN Plus		at Purdue	L 66-80	9-12 (2-7)	Mackey Arena (2,901) West Lafayette, IN
01/30/2022 2:00 pm, BTN		Wisconsin	W 57-55	10-12 (3-7)	Williams Arena (4,482) Minneapolis, MN
02/3/2022 6:00 pm, BTN Plus		at No. 5 Indiana	L 70-80	10-13 (3-8)	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (No Attendance - Weather) Bloomington, IN
02/06/2022 2:00 pm, BTN Plus		Michigan State	W 71-60	11-13 (4-8)	Williams Arena (3,150) Minneapolis, MN
02/10/2022 6:30 pm		at Iowa	L 78-88	11-14 (4-9)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (8,141) Iowa City, IA
2/11/2022 3:30 pm, BTN Plus		Northwestern	W 74-68	12-14 (5-9)	Williams Arena (2,734) Minneapolis, MN
02/17/2022 7:00 pm, BTN Plus		Rutgers	L 61-79	12-15 (5-10)	Williams Arena (2,747) Minneapolis, MN
02/30/2022 2:00 pm, BTN Plus		at No. RV Nebraska	L 70-93	12-16 (5-11)	Pinnacle Bank Arena (6,566) Lincoln, NE
02/24/2022 7:00 pm, BTN Plus		Illinois	W 87-54	13-16 (6-11)	Williams Arena (2,896) Minneapolis, MN
02/30/2022  BTN		at Penn State	W 94-83	14-16 (7-11)	Bryce Jordan Center (2,401) University Park, PA
Big Ten Women's tournament
March 3, 2022 5:30 pm, BTN	(10)	vs. (7) Northwestern 2nd Round	L 60-65	14-17	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (–) Indianapolis, IN
WNIT
March 17, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Green Bay 1st Round	W 73-65	15-17	Kress Events Center (–) Green Bay, WI
March 20, 2022* 2:00 pm		at South Dakota State 2nd Round	L 57–78	15-18	Frost Arena (–) Brookings, SD
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source[5]

Rankings

Main article: 2021–22 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
Coaches

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked and Did not receive votes

See also

• 2021–22 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

References

1. "Postseason WNIT announces 64-team field for 2022 event". womensnit.com. WNIT. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
2. "Nebraska Beats Short-Handed Minnesota In Second Round of Big Ten tournament". Big Ten Conference. March 10, 2021. Archived from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
3. "Women's Basketball Adds Minnesota Transfer Justice Ross". unoprivateers.com. UNO University. May 12, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
4. "Women's Basketball Tournament | Battle 4 Atlantis | Atlantis Bahamas". www.atlantisbahamas.com. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
5. "2021-22 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE". gophersports.com. Gopher Sports. Retrieved October 31, 2021.