The 2021–22 Big Ten women's basketball season was expected to begin with practices in October 2021, followed by the start of the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November 2021. The regular season ended in March, 2022.

Regular season The conference schedule was released on September 8.

Records against other conferences 2021–22 records against non-conference foes as of (January 2, 2022):

Regular season Power 7 ConferencesRecordAmerican 3–0ACC 7–13Big East 5–3Big 12 2–5Pac-12 2–4SEC 2–4Power 7 Conferences total 21–29Other NCAA Division I conferencesRecordAmerica East 3–2 A-10 2–3ASUN 3–2Big Sky 0–0Big South 1–0Big West 2–0CAA 5–0C-USA 4–1Horizon 6–3Ivy League 1–0MAAC 6–0MAC 8–1MEAC 6–0MVC 10–3Mountain West 3–0NEC 7–1OVC 1–1Patriot League 2–0SoCon 1–0Southland 0–0SWAC 4–0Summit 3–0Sun Belt 1–0WAC 0–1WCC 1–0Other Division I total 80–18 Division II total 0–0NCAA Division I total 100–47

Preseason Power 7 ConferencesRecordAmerican 0–0ACC 0–0Big East 0–0Big 12 0–0Pac-12 0–0SEC 0–0Power 7 Conferences total 0–0Other NCAA Division I ConferencesRecordAmerica East 0–0 A-10 0–0ASUN 0–0Big Sky 0–0Big South 0–0Big West 0–0CAA 0–0C-USA 0–0Horizon 0–0Ivy League 0–0MAAC 0–0MAC 0–0MEAC 0–0MVC 0–0Mountain West 0–0NEC 0–0OVC 0–0Patriot League 0–0SoCon 0–0Southland 0–0SWAC 0–0Summit 0–0Sun Belt 0–0WAC 0–0WCC 0–0Other Division I total 0–0 NCAA Division I total 0–0

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 Conf.record No. 13 Kentucky No. 8 Indiana Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall ● Bloomington, IN — W 88–67 1–0 Nov 20 Minnesota Imperial Arena ● Paradise Island, Bahamas Battle 4 Atlantis L 58–88 1–1 Nov 21 No. 6 Baylor No. 3 Maryland Xfinity Center ● College Park, MD ― W 79–76 2–1 Nov 25 No. 5 NC State No. 2 Maryland † Baha Mar Convention Center ● Nassau, Bahamas Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship L 60–78 2–2 Nov 25 No. 7 Stanford No. 4 Indiana † Baha Mar Convention Center ● Nassau, Bahamas Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship L 66–69 2–3 Nov 25 Purdue † Eckerd College ● St. Petersburg, FL St. Pete Showcase L 57–65 2–4 Nov 26 No. 12 Michigan † Ocean Center ● Daytona Beach, FL Daytona Beach Invitational W 61–52 3–4 Nov 27 No. 7 Stanford No. 2 Maryland † Baha Mar Convention Center ● Nassau, Bahamas Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship L 68–86 3–5 Nov 27 No. 9 Arizona Rutgers † Sports and Fitness Center ● Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam L 44–80 3–6 Nov 27 Penn State No. 13 Iowa State † Hertz Arena ● Estero, FL Gulf Coast Showcase L 59–93 3–7 Nov 27 No. 17 Florida State Purdue † Eckerd College ● St. Petersburg, FL St. Pete Showcase W 66–61 4–7 Nov 27 No. 23 Texas A&M Northwestern † Sports and Fitness Center ● Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam L 68–77 4–8 Dec 2 No. 2т NC State No. 6 Indiana Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall ● Bloomington, IN ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge L 58–66 4–9 Dec 2 No. 12 Michigan No. 10 Louisville KFC Yum! Center ● Louisville, KY ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge L 48–70 4–10 Dec 2 No. 24 Notre Dame Michigan State Breslin Center ● East Lansing, MI ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge L 71–76 4–11 Dec 2 No. 25 Florida State Illinois State Farm Center ● Champaign, IL ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge L 58–67 4–12 Dec 8 No. 12 Iowa No. 15 Iowa State Hilton Coliseum ● Ames, IA Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series L 70–77 4–13 No. 8 Maryland Colonial Life Arena ● Columbia, SC Jimmy V Classic L 59–66 4–14 Dec 19 No. 5 Baylor No. 13 Michigan † Mohegan Sun Arena ● Uncasville, CT Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase 5–14

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

† denotes game was played on neutral site

Head coaches Coaching changes prior to the season Purdue On March 26, 2021; Purdue announced the 2021–22 season will be the last year of the "Versyp Era" at Purdue, with Katie Gearlds joining the Lady Boilers' staff and then succeeding Versyp as the head coach after the 2021–22 season. The Journal & Courier reported on August 18, 2021 that Purdue University was investigating allegations that Versyp created a "toxic and hostile environment," including verbally attacking players and bullying a member of her coaching staff. It was announced on September 16, 2021 that Versyp would be retiring and replaced by Gearlds a year earlier than originally planned.

Wisconsin On March 9, 2021, the Badgers fired Jonathan Tsipis after five years as head coach. On March 25, 2021, Marisa Moseley was named the eighth head coach in Badgers history.

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) 5 35–79 6–64 0 0 0 0 0Indiana Teri Moren Indiana State 8 148–79 72–50 0 0 3 0 0Iowa Lisa Bluder Drake 22 436–232 219–138 1 2 15 0 0Maryland Brenda Frese Minnesota 20 512–131 109–13 6 5 17 3 1Michigan Kim Barnes Arico St. John's (Asst.) 10 193–102 86–64 0 0 4 0 0Michigan State Suzy Merchant Eastern Michigan 15 296–157 144–93 2 0 10 0 0Minnesota Lindsay Whalen Minnesota Lynx (Player) 4 44–37 20–31 0 0 0 0 0Nebraska Amy Williams South Dakota 6 72–75 39–48 0 0 1 0 0Northwestern Joe McKeown George Washington 14 223–186 94–128 0 0 2 0 0Ohio State Kevin McGuff Washington 9 169–84 91–45 2 1 4 0 0Penn State Carolyn Kieger Marquette 3 16–38 7–30 0 0 0 0 0Purdue Katie Gearlds Marian 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0 0Rutgers C. Vivian Stringer Iowa 27 535–291 63–52 0 0 17 2 0Wisconsin Marisa Moseley Boston University 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0 0 0 Notes: All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Year at school includes 2021–22 season. Overall and Big Ten records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the season.

Preseason national polls

Postseason

Big Ten tournament

Iowa won the conference tournament from March 2 to March 6, 2022, at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana. All 14 teams from the conference play at the tournament. The top 10 teams receive a first-round bye and the top four teams receive a double bye. Teams were seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by record of all Division I opponents, after coin toss if necessary.

Bracket All times are Eastern.

* denotes overtime period

NCAA tournament

Six teams from the conference were selected to participate: Iowa (as Big Ten tournament champion), and five others at-large bids: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio State.

Seed Region School First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship No. 2 Greensboro Regional Iowa –––– No. 3 Bridgeport Regional Indiana ––– No. 3 Wichita Regional Michigan –– No. 4 Spokane Regional Maryland ––– No. 6 Spokane Regional Ohio State ––– No. 8 Wichita Regional Nebraska –––––6 BidsW-L (%):TOTAL:

National Invitation Tournament Two teams from the conference were selected to participate: Minnesota and Purdue. The Big Ten conference rejected their automatic berth, the two teams qualify from at-large bids.

Bracket School First round Second round Third round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Region 3 Minnesota defeated Green Bay 73−65 lost to South Dakota State 57−78–––– Region 4 Purdue defeated Southern Illinois 82−60 lost to Marquette 62−77––––2 Bids TOTAL:

Index to colors and formattingBig Ten member wonBig Ten member lost

References