The 2019–20 Big Ten women's basketball season began with practices in October 2019, followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November 2019. The regular season ended in March, 2020.

The Big Ten tournament was played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana in March 2020.

Head coaches Coaching changes prior to the season

Penn State On March 9, 2019, Penn State fired head coach Coquese Washington. On April 3, 2019, the school hired Carolyn Kieger away from Marquette to serve as head coach.

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 ChampionshipsIllinois Washington (MO) 3 19–42 2–32 0 0 0 0 0Indiana Teri Moren Indiana State 6 103–66 43–43 0 0 2 0 0Iowa Lisa Bluder Drake 20 393–215 193–124 1 2 14 0 0Maryland Brenda Frese Minnesota 18 458–124 78–10* 4 3 15 3 1Michigan Kim Barnes Arico St. John's (Asst.) 8 156–85 66–52 0 0 3 0 0Michigan State Suzy Merchant Eastern Michigan 13 265–134 127–77 2 0 9 0 0Minnesota Lindsay Whalen Minnesota Lynx (Player) 2 21–11 9–9 0 0 0 0 0Nebraska Amy Williams South Dakota 4 42–49 23–27 0 0 1 0 0Northwestern Joe McKeown George Washington 11 180–172 67–119 0 0 1 0 0Ohio State Kevin McGuff Washington 7 134–65 71–31 2 1 4 0 0Penn State Carolyn Kieger Marquette 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0 0Purdue Sharon Versyp Indiana 14 276–162 128–92 0 4 9 0 0Rutgers C. Vivian Stringer Iowa 25 499–277 42–42* 0 0 16 2 0Wisconsin Jonathan Tsipis George Washington 4 33–61 9–41 0 0 0 0 0 Notes: All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2019–20 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 October 23, 2019, which featured a ranking by both media and coaches. MediaRankingTeam1Maryland2Michigan3Michigan State4Indiana5Minnesota CoachesRankingTeam1Maryland2Michigan State3Indiana4Michigan5Purdue

Preseason All-Big Ten On October 21, 2019, a panel of conference media selected a 10-member preseason All-Big Ten Team and Player of the Year. Honor Recipient Preseason Player of the Year Kaila Charles, Maryland Preseason All-Big Ten Team Ali Patberg, Indiana Kathleen Doyle, Iowa Kaila Charles*, Maryland Taylor Mikesell, Maryland Naz Hillmon*, Michigan Shay Colley, Michigan State Destiny Pitts, Minnesota Lindsey Pulliam, Northwestern Ae'Rianna Harris, Purdue Karissa McLaughlin, Purdue*Unanimous selections

Preseason watchlists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. WoodenNaismithDrysdaleLiebermanMillerMcClainLeslieAli Patberg, IndianaKathleen Doyle, IowaShakira Austin, MarylandKaila Charles, MarylandStephanie Jones, MarylandTaylor Mikesell, MarylandNaz Hillmon, MichiganShay Colley, Michigan StateTaiye Bello, MinnesotaDestiny Pitts, MinnesotaKate Cain, NebraskaLindsey Pulliam, NorthwesternAe'Rianna Harris, Purdue

Preseason national polls

AP CBS Sports Coaches ESPN ESPNWIllinois Indiana 24 16 21 24Iowa Maryland 4 5 5 5 5Michigan 25 24 24 23 23Michigan State 17 21 25 Minnesota 23 18 16 17Nebraska Northwestern Ohio State Penn State Purdue Rutgers Wisconsin

Regular season Rankings

+ Legend     Improvement in ranking   Drop in ranking   Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll (Italics) Number of first place votes

  Pre/Wk 1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 Wk20 FinalIllinois AP C Indiana AP 24 21 18 17 14 12 12 14 14 12 15 17 20 18 20 24 22 C RV 25 23 16 15 14 15 15 13 16 24 23 22 23 RV 24 Iowa AP RV RV RV 22 19 18 20 17 19 18 C RV RV 24 21 19 20 20 21 20 Maryland AP 4 8 9 9 9 13 13 12 12 17 20 20 17 13 10 7 7 C 5 10 10 9 12 11 11 11 16 20 17 16 12 10 8 7 Michigan AP 25 24 21 RV 24 24 24 23 RV 24 C 24 19 RV 25 22 22 23 RV RV Michigan State AP C Minnesota AP C Nebraska AP C Northwestern AP C Ohio State AP C Penn State AP C Purdue AP C Rutgers AP C Wisconsin AP C

Early season tournaments Nine of the 14 Big Ten teams participated in early season tournaments. All Big Ten teams participated in the ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge against Atlantic Coast Conference teams, the 13th year for the event. Team Tournament Finish IndianaParadise Jam tournament3rd IowaPuerto Rico Clasico2nd MarylandDayton Beach Invitational Michigan StateJunkanoo Jam3rd PurdueGulf Coast Showcase2nd RutgersJunkanoo Jam1st

References