2020–21 Michigan Wolverines women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Michigan Wolverines women's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wolverines, led by head coach Kim Barnes Arico in her ninth year, played their home games at the Crisler Center. This season marked the program's 39th season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

2020–21 Michigan Wolverines women's basketball
NCAA women's tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 16
Record	16–6 (9–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Kim Barnes Arico (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Wesley Brooks Toyelle Wilson Yvonne Sanchez
Home arena	Crisler Center
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Big Ten women's basketball standings

v t e	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

This season was highlighted by the Wolverines starting the season 10–0, their best start to a season in program history. They also reached No. 11 in the AP Poll, their highest rank ever, and were ranked the No. 6 seed in the 2021 NCAA tournament, their highest seed ever. The Wolverines also advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history.^[1]

Previous season

The Wolverines finished the 2019–20 season with a 21–11 record, including 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in seventh place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten women's tournament, where they lost to Ohio State. The 2020 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Roster

2020–21 Michigan Wolverines women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown F 00 Naz Hillmon 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Gilmour Academy Cleveland, OH G 1 Amy Dilk 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Carmel Carmel, IN G 3 Maddie Nolan 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So Zionsville Zionsville, IN G 13 Meghan Fiso 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Garfield Seattle, WA G 14 Akienreh Johnson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Rogers Toledo, OH F 15 Hailey Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr The Rise Centre Academy Hamilton, Ontario G 23 Danielle Rauch 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Bishop Ludden Syracuse, NY G 24 Michelle Sidor 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So Saddle River Day Upper Saddle River, NJ F 25 Whitney Sollom 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr Hartland Hartland, MI F 30 Elise Stuck 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Charlevoix Charlevoix, MI F 32 Leigha Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr DeKalb Noblesville, IN F 33 Emily Kiser 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr Noblesville Noblesville, IN C 34 Izabel Varejão 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) So Neuse Christian Academy Vitória, Brazil F 44 Cameron Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Whitney Young Chicago, IL	Head coach Kim Barnes Arico (Montclair State) Assistant coach(es) Wesley Brooks (West Virginia) Toyelle Wilson (Manhattan) Yvonne Sanchez (Alliant) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 25, 2020* 12:30 pm, BTN Plus	No. 25	Central Michigan	W 93–75	1–0	Crisler Center (0) Ann Arbor, MI
November 27, 2020* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	No. 25	at Oakland	W 95–62	2–0	Athletics Center O'rena (0) Auburn Hills, MI
December 3, 2020* 6:00 pm, ACCN	No. 24	at Notre Dame ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge	W 76–66	3–0	Edmund P. Joyce Center (122) Notre Dame, IN
December 6, 2020* 12:30 pm, BTN Plus	No. 24	Wright State	W 82–59	4–0	Crisler Center (0) Ann Arbor, MI
December 9, 2020* 1:00 pm, BTN Plus	No. 19	Butler	W 93–54	5–0	Crisler Center (0) Ann Arbor, MI
Big Ten conference season
December 19, 2020 12:00 pm, BTN	No. 19	at Illinois	Postponed (COVID-19 pandemic)[3]		State Farm Center  Champaign, IL
December 23, 2020 12:30 pm, BTN Plus	No. 17	Penn State	Postponed (COVID-19 pandemic)[4]		Crisler Center  Ann Arbor, MI
December 31, 2020 12:30 pm, BTN Plus	No. 16	Wisconsin	W 92–49	6–0 (1–0)	Crisler Center (6) Ann Arbor, MI
January 3, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 16	at No. 15 Northwestern	W 84–63	7–0 (2–0)	Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL
January 7, 2021 6:00 pm, BTN Plus	No. 15	Nebraska	W 64–62	8–0 (3–0)	Crisler Center (29) Ann Arbor, MI
January 10, 2021 1:00 pm, BTN Plus	No. 15	Illinois	W 70–50	9–0 (4–0)	Crisler Center (50) Ann Arbor, MI
January 14, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN	No. 13	at Wisconsin	W 69–40	10–0 (5–0)	Kohl Center (0) Madison, WI
January 18, 2021 12:30 pm, BTN	No. 11	Michigan State Rivalry	Postponed (COVID-19 pandemic)[5]		Crisler Center  Ann Arbor, MI
January 21, 2021 3:00 pm, BTN	No. 11	at No. 17 Ohio State Rivalry	L 77–81	10–1 (5–1)	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
January 24, 2021 2:00 pm, BTN	No. 11	Purdue	Postponed (COVID-19 pandemic)[6]		Crisler Center  Ann Arbor, MI
January 26, 2021 7:00 pm, BTN	No. 12	at Michigan State Rivalry	Postponed (COVID-19 pandemic)		Breslin Center  East Lansing, MI
February 1, 2021	No. 13	at Rutgers	Postponed (COVID-19 pandemic)		Louis Brown Athletic Center  Piscataway, NJ
February 4, 2021 6:00 pm, BTN	No. 13	Minnesota	Postponed (COVID-19 pandemic)		Crisler Center  Ann Arbor, MI
February 7, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2	No. 13	Maryland	Postponed (COVID-19 pandemic)		Crisler Center  Ann Arbor, MI
February 11, 2021 6:00 pm, BTN	No. 12	at Purdue	W 62–49	11–1 (6–1)	Mackey Arena (161) West Lafayette, IN
February 16, 2021 4:30 pm, BTN	No. 11	Michigan State Rivalry	W 86–82	12–1 (7–1)	Crisler Center (50) Ann Arbor, MI
February 18, 2021 6:00 pm, BTN	No. 11	at No. 14 Indiana	L 65–70	12–2 (7–2)	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (0) Bloomington, IN
February 21, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 11	No. 15 Ohio State Rivalry	W 75–66	13–2 (8–2)	Crisler Center (73) Ann Arbor, MI
February 25, 2021 9:30 pm	No. 12	at Iowa	L 67–89	13–3 (8–3)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (332) Iowa City, IA
February 28, 2021 2:30 pm, BTN	No. 12	at Minnesota	Cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)[7]		Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
March 4, 2021 12:00 pm, BTN	No. 12	No. 8 Maryland	L 63–88	13–4 (8–4)	Crisler Center (36) Ann Arbor, MI
March 6, 2021 3:00 pm	No. 12	Northwestern	W 63–58	14–4 (9–4)	Crisler Center (60) Ann Arbor, MI
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 11, 2021 1:30 pm, FS2	(4) No. 13	vs. (5) Northwestern Quarterfinals	L 49–65	14–5	Bankers Life Fieldhouse (779) Indianapolis, IN
NCAA Women's Tournament
March 21, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN2	(6 RW) No. 16	vs. (11 RW) No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast First round	W 87–66	15–5	Convocation Center  San Antonio, TX
March 23, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2	(6 RW) No. 16	vs. (3 RW) No. 13 Tennessee Second round	W 70–55	16–5	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
March 27, 2021 3:00 pm, ABC	(6 RW) No. 16	vs. (2 RW) No. 6 Baylor Sweet Sixteen	L 75–78 OT	16–6	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. RW=River Walk Region. All times are in Eastern Time. Source:[8]

Rankings

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

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Week 17	Final
AP	25	24	19	19	17	16	15	13	11	12	13	12	11	12	12	13	16	N/A
Coaches	24	24^	20	19	17	17	14	12	11	13	12	12	11	12	12	12	14	11

^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

Awards and honors

On March 8, 2021, the Big Ten announced its conference awards. Naz Hillmon was named Big Ten Conference Player of the Year and a unanimous All-Big Ten first team selection by both the coaches and media. Leigha Brown earned All-Big Ten second team honors by both the coaches and the media, and Akienreh Johnson was named to the All-Defensive team.^[9][10] Hillmon was also named a first-team All-American by Sports Illustrated,^[11] and second-team by Associated Press. Hillmon became the first Wolverine to be selected for All-America honors in program history.^[12]

References

1. VanMetre, Sarah (March 25, 2021). "Michigan to Face No. 2 Seed Baylor in First NCAA Sweet 16 Appearance". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
2. "NCAA cancels men's and women's basketball championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA.com. March 17, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
3. VanMetre, Sarah (December 18, 2020). "Michigan's B1G Contest at Illinois Postponed". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
4. VanMetre, Sarah (December 21, 2020). "Michigan's Home Game Against Penn State Postponed". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
5. VanMetre, Sarah (January 15, 2021). "Women's Basketball Game Against MSU Postponed". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
6. Svoboda, Kurt (January 23, 2021). "University of Michigan Athletics Enters Department-Wide Activity Pause". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
7. VanMetre, Sarah (February 28, 2021). "Women's Basketball at Minnesota Canceled, Will Not Be Rescheduled". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
8. "2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
9. "2020-21 Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced". BigTen.org. March 8, 2021. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
10. "Player of the Year Hillmon Headlines Michigan's Big Ten Honorees". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
11. "SI's College Basketball Women's 2020–21 All-America Teams". SI.com. March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
12. Feinberg, Doug (March 17, 2021). "UConn frosh Paige Bueckers leads women's AP All-America team". APNews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved March 17, 2021.