2020–21 Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball season

The 2020–21 Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball season began with practices in November 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November. Conference play started in December 2020 and will conclude in March with the 2021 ACC women's basketball tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

On July 2, 2020 Duke announced that head coach Joanne McCallie had retired after thirteen years as head coach. On July 11, 2020, Kara Lawson was announced as the new head coach. On April 22, 2020 Muffet McGraw announced she would be retiring as head coach at Notre Dame after thirty three years in charge. On the same day, Niele Ivey was announced as her replacement.

Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Record at school ACC record ACC titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsBoston College Joanna Bernabei-McNamee Albany 3 34–28 14–20 0 0 0 0Clemson Amanda Butler Florida 3 28–36 12–22 0 1 0 0Duke Kara Lawson Boston Celtics (Assistant) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Florida State Sue Semrau Wisconsin (Assistant) 24 475–257 207–151 2 15 0 0Georgia Tech Nell Fortner Auburn 2 20–11 10–8 0 0 0 0Louisville Jeff Walz Maryland (Assistant) 14 360–103 161–52 1 5 3 0Miami Katie Meier Charlotte 16 292–187 118–114 1 8 0 0NC State Wes Moore Chattanooga 8 167–61 77–37 1 4 0 0North Carolina Courtney Banghart Princeton 2 16–14 7–11 0 0 0 0Notre Dame Niele Ivey Memphis Grizzlies (Assistant) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0Pittsburgh Lance White Florida State (Assistant) 3 16–46 3–31 0 0 0 0Syracuse Quentin Hillsman Syracuse (Assistant) 14 158–72 75–49 0 6 1 0Virginia Tina Thompson Texas (Associate Head Coach) 3 25–36 13–21 0 0 0 0Virginia Tech Kenny Brooks James Madison 5 86–49 27–39 0 0 0 0Wake Forest Jennifer Hoover High Point 9 114–140 37–95 0 0 0 0 Notes: Year at school includes 2020–21 season. Overall and ACC records are from time at current school and are through the end the 2019–20 season. NCAA tournament appearances are from time at current school only. NCAA Final Fours and Championship include time at other schools

Preseason

Preseason watch lists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. LiebermanDrysdaleMillerMcClainLeslieNaismithWooden Tiana England–Florida StateHailey Van Lith – LouisvilleRaina Perez – NC StateTiana Mangakahia – Syracuse Dana Evans – LouisvilleJakia Brown-Turner – NC StateKiara Lewis – Syracuse Taylor Soule – Boston CollegeElizabeth Balogun – LouisvilleIvana Raca – Wake Forest Sam Brunelle – Notre Dame Jade Williams – DukeElissa Cunane – NC StateJanelle Bailey – North CarolinaKamilla Cardoso – SyracuseElizabeth Kitley – Virginia Tech Sam Brunelle – Notre DameElissa Cunane – NC StateDana Evans – LouisvilleKiara Lewis – SyracuseTiana Mangakahia – SyracuseTaylor Soule – Boston CollegeHailey Van Lith – Louisville Elissa Cunane – NC StateDana Evans – LouisvilleKiara Lewis – SyracuseTiana Mangakahia – Syracuse

ACC Women's Basketball Tip-off Prior to the start of the season, the ACC hosted two media days virtually. At the media day, the head coaches voted on the finishing order of the teams, an All-ACC team, a Preseason Player of the Year, and Newcomers to watch. The media day was hosted on November 11&12, 2020. A selected group of student athletes also took questions from the media on this day.

At the media day, both the head coaches and the Blue Ribbon Panel predicted that Louisville would be league champion.

ACC preseason polls First place votes shown in parentheses. 2020 ACC Women's Basketball Preseason Polls Head coaches Blue Ribbon PanelLouisville (13) – 223 NC State (2) – 210 Syracuse – 193 North Carolina – 157 Georgia Tech – 146 Notre Dame – 138 Virginia Tech – 125 Florida State – 124 Boston College – 120 Miami – 99 Duke – 74 Wake Forest – 73 Clemson – 56 Pitt – 37 Virginia – 25Louisville (45) – 840 NC State (10) – 797 Syracuse (2) – 724 Notre Dame – 555 North Carolina – 547 Florida State – 516 Virginia Tech – 482 Boston College – 468 Georgia Tech – 452 Duke – 385 Miami – 359 Wake Forest – 258 Clemson – 183 Virginia – 149 Pitt – 125

Preseason All-ACC Teams 2020 ACC Women's Basketball Preseason All-ACC Teams Head coaches Blue Ribbon PanelTaylor Soule – Boston College Dana Evans – Louisville Janelle Bailey – North Carolina Jakia Brown-Turner – NC State Elissa Cunane – NC State Kiara Lewis – Syracuse Tiana Mangakahia – Syracuse Elizabeth Kitley – Virginia Tech Aisha Sheppard – Virginia Tech Ivana Raca – Wake ForestTaylor Soule – Boston College Dana Evans – Louisville Janelle Bailey – North Carolina Elissa Cunane – NC State Sam Brunelle – Notre Dame Kiara Lewis – Syracuse Tiana Mangakahia – Syracuse Elizabeth Kitley – Virginia Tech Aisha Sheppard – Virginia Tech Ivana Raca – Wake Forest

Preseason ACC Player of the Year 2020 ACC Women's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year Head coaches Blue Ribbon Panel Dana Evans – Louisville

Newcomer Watchlist 2020 ACC Women's Basketball Newcomer Watchlists Head coaches Blue Ribbon PanelHailey Van Lith – Louisville Kianna Smith – Louisville Deja Kelly – North Carolina Maddy Westbeld – Notre Dame Kamilla Cardoso – Syracuse Tiana England – Florida State Hailey Van Lith – Louisville Deja Kelly – North Carolina Maddy Westbeld – Notre Dame Kamilla Cardoso – Syracuse

Regular season

Records against other conferences 2020–21 records against non-conference foes as of (March 30, 2021):

Regular season Power 7 ConferencesRecordAmerican 2–2Big East 2–0Big Ten 1–1Big 12 0–0Pac-12 0–0SEC 2–2Power 7 Conferences Total 7–5Other NCAA Division 1 ConferencesRecordAmerica East 3–0A-10 5–0ASUN 5–0Big Sky 0–0Big South 5–0Big West 0–0CAA 3–2C-USA 4–0Horizon 2–0Ivy League 0–0MAAC 0–0MAC 1–1MEAC 2–0MVC 1–0Mountain West 0–0NEC 0–0OVC 4–0Patriot League 0–0SoCon 4–0Southland 0–0SWAC 0–0Summit 0–0Sun Belt 3–0WAC 0–0WCC 0–0Other Division I Total 42–3 Division II Total 1–0NCAA Division I Total 49–8

Post Season Power 7 ConferencesRecordAmerican 1–0Big East 1–1Big Ten 1–1Big 12 1–2Pac-12 1–2SEC 0–2Power 7 Conferences Total 5–8Other NCAA Division 1 ConferencesRecordAmerica East 0–0 A-10 0–0ASUN 0–0Big Sky 0–0Big South 0–0Big West 0–0CAA 0–1C-USA 0–0Horizon 0–0Ivy League 0–0MAAC 2–0MAC 1–0MEAC 0–0MVC 0–0Mountain West 0–0NEC 0–0OVC 0–0Patriot League 0–0SoCon 0–0Southland 1–0SWAC 0–0Summit 1–0Sun Belt 0–0WAC 0–0WCC 0–0Other Division I Total 5–1 NCAA Division I Total 10–9

Record against ranked non-conference opponents This is a list of games against ranked opponents only (rankings from the AP Poll):

Date Visitor Home Site Significance Score Conference record Nov 27 Wake Forest No. 14 Arkansas † Alico Arena ● Fort Myers, FL Gulf Coast Showcase L 82–98 0–1 Nov 29 Wake Forest No. 24 Missouri State † Alico Arena ● Fort Myers, FL Gulf Coast Showcase W 68–59 1–1 Dec 3 No. 8 NC State No. 1 South Carolina Colonial Life Arena ● Columbia, SC Jimmy V Classic W 54–46 2–1 Dec 3 No. 24 Michigan Notre Dame Purcell Pavilion ● Notre Dame, IN ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge L 66–78 2–2 Dec 4 No. 5 Louisville No. 20 DePaul † Mohegan Sun Arena ● Uncasville, CT Jimmy V Classic W 116–75 3–2

Team rankings are reflective of AP poll when the game was played, not current or final ranking

† denotes game was played on neutral site

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week     First Place votes shown in ()

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 FinalBoston College AP RV RV RV RV C Clemson AP C RV RV RV RV Duke AP RV RV C Florida State AP RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV Georgia Tech AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RVC RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 22Louisville AP 5 5 2 (2) 2 (1) 2 (1) 2 (1) 2 2 1 (20) 1 (22) 1 (26) 3 3 6 5 7т 8C 5 2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (1) 2 (1) 2 (1) 2 (1) 1 (30) 1 (30) 3 (5) 2 (11) 2 (8) 5 5 7 7 6Miami AP C North Carolina AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV NC State AP 8 8 4 (2) 4 (2) 4 (2) 3 (2) 3 (2)т 3 (1) 2 (5) 2 (5) 4 4 (1) 4 2 3 3 (2) 3 (2)C 6 3 (1) 3 3 3 3 3 2 (1) 2 (2) 2 (7) 6 6 4 4 3 3 7 Notre Dame AP 22 RV RV C 23 RV Pittsburgh AP C Syracuse AP 23 22 20 18 22 22 24 24 23 RV RV RV C 21 18 16 20т 20 20 21 20 RV RV RV RVVirginia AP C Virginia Tech AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RVC RV RV 25т RV RV RV RVWake Forest AP RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV

Note: The Coaches Poll releases a final poll after the NCAA tournament, but the AP Poll does not release a poll at this time.

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team played 20 conference games, and at least 1 against each opponent. This marked the first year that teams played a twenty-game conference schedule.

Duke suspended its season on December 25, 2020.Virginia suspended its season on January 14, 2021.

  Boston CollegeClemsonDukeFlorida StateGeorgia TechLouisvilleMiamiNorth CarolinaNC StateNotre DamePittsburghSyracuseVirginiaVirginia TechWake Forestvs. Boston College – – – – 86–6843–49 89–7097–68 77–60 – 75–6976–57 61–6483–73 83–80 83–7092–75 – – 68–48vs. Clemson – – – 69–7295–88 (2OT) 67–5571–69 70–45 80–7168–62 77–64 86–65 55–78 80–7179–69 77–86 (OT) 55–71 70–64 66–6972–65vs. Duke – – – – – 73–49 – – – – – – – – –vs. Florida State – 72–6988–95 (2OT) – – 66–5862–48 84–5659–68 68–5359–67 51–61 – 72–64 53–67 52–67 51–69 63–73 73–5951–59vs. Georgia Tech 68–8649–43 55–6769–71 – 58–6648–62 – 85–70 56–7056–67 84–59 84–75 67–8269–67 60–65 63–76 – 54–56 44–7361–52vs. Louisville 70–8968–97 45–70 49–73 56–8468–59 70–85 – 76–79 68–79 74–60 65–7161–78 58–82 54–67 – 67–71 63–65vs. Miami 60–77 71–8062–68 – 53–6867–59 70–5667–56 79–76 – 63–6759–69 87–47 71–60 68–72 69–5899–64 – 75–55 63–6067–69vs. North Carolina – 64–77 – 61–51 59–84 79–68 67–6369–59 – 69–7682–63 73–78 72–81 68–9288–76 – 66–5473–6963–68 57–5474–77 (OT)vs. NC State 69–7557–76 65–86 – – 75–84 60–74 47–78 76–6963–82 – – 53–83 61–68 – 87–8983–71 (OT) 65–7947–66vs. Notre Dame 64–6173–83 78–55 – 64–72 82–6767–69 71–6578–61 60–71 78–73 – – 48–59 81–69 – 78–8460–65 72–79vs. Pittsburgh 80–83 71–8069–79 – 67–53 65–60 82–58 72–68 81–72 83–53 59–48 – 80–5771–67 – 88–7174–55 64–61 (OT)vs. Syracuse 70–8375–92 86–77 (OT) – 67–52 76–63 67–54 58–6964–99 92–6876–88 68–61 69–81 57–8067–71 – – 76–68 78–85vs. Virginia – 71–55 – 69–51 – – – – – – – – – – –vs. Virginia Tech – 64–70 – 73–63 56–54 71–67 55–75 54–6669–7368–63 89–8771–83 (OT) 84–7865–60 71–8855–74 68–76 – – 67–64vs. Wake Forest 48–68 69–6665–72 – 59–7359–51 73–4452–61 65–63 60–6369–67 54–5777–74 (OT) 79–6566–47 79–72 61–64 (OT) 85–78 – 64–67 –Total 2–11 5–12 0–1 9–7 12–6 14–2 8–10 8–9 12–2 8–7 3–12 9–7 0–2 8–8 8–10

Player of the week Throughout the conference regular season, the Atlantic Coast Conference offices named a Player(s) of the week and a Rookie(s) of the week.

Week Player of the week Freshman of the week Reference Week 1 – Nov 30 Taylor Soule – Boston College Hailey Van Lith – Louisville Week 2 – Dec 7 Kayla Jones – NC State Maddy Westbeld – Notre Dame Week 3 – Dec 14 Lotta-Maj Lahtinen – Georgia Tech Loyal McQueen – Georgia Tech Week 4 – Dec 21 Janelle Bailey – North Carolina Gabby Elliott – Clemson Week 5 – Jan 4 Jada Boyd – NC State Maddy Westbeld (2) – Notre Dame Week 6 – Jan 11 Ivana Raca – Wake Forest Hailey Van Lith (2) – Louisville Week 7 – Jan 18 Elizabeth Kitley – Virginia Tech Priscilla Williams – Syracuse Gina Conti – Wake Forest Week 8 – Jan 25 Dana Evans – Louisville Kamilla Cardoso – Syracuse Week 9 – Feb 1 Aisha Sheppard – Virginia Tech Kamilla Cardoso (2) – Syracuse Week 10 – Feb 8 Dana Evans (2) – Louisville Kamilla Cardoso (3) – Syracuse Week 11 – Feb 15 Gina Conti (2) – Wake Forest Georgia Amoore – Virginia Tech Week 12 – Feb 22 Jakia Brown-Turner – NC State Deja Kelly – North Carolina Week 13 – Mar 1 Destiny Harden – Miami Deja Kelly (2) – North Carolina

Postseason

ACC tournament

NCAA tournament