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
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 11
APNo. 16
Record16–6 (9–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaCrisler Center
2020–21 Big Ten women's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 7 Maryland †17–1 .94426–2  .929
No. 12 Indiana16–2 .88920–5  .800
No. 21 Rutgers10–3 .76914–5  .737
No. 16 Michigan9–4 .69216–6  .727
Northwestern11–7 .61116–9  .640
Iowa11–8 .57920–9  .690
No. 22 Ohio State9–7 .56313–7  .650
Michigan State8–7 .53315–9  .625
Nebraska9–10 .47413–13  .500
Minnesota7–11 .3898–13  .381
Penn State6–13 .3169–15  .375
Purdue4–14 .2227–16  .304
Illinois2–16 .1115–18  .217
Wisconsin2–18 .1005–19  .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
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
F 00 Naz Hillmon 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) JrGilmour Academy Cleveland, OH
G 1 Amy Dilk 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) JrCarmel Carmel, IN
G 3 Maddie Nolan 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) SoZionsville Zionsville, IN
G 13 Meghan Fiso 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) FrGarfield Seattle, WA
G 14 Akienreh Johnson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) SrRogers Toledo, OH
F 15 Hailey Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) SrThe Rise Centre Academy Hamilton, Ontario
G 23 Danielle Rauch 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) JrBishop Ludden Syracuse, NY
G 24 Michelle Sidor 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) SoSaddle River Day Upper Saddle River, NJ
F 25 Whitney Sollom 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) FrHartland Hartland, MI
F 30 Elise Stuck 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) FrCharlevoix Charlevoix, MI
F 32 Leigha Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) JrDeKalb Noblesville, IN
F 33 Emily Kiser 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) JrNoblesville Noblesville, IN
C 34 Izabel Varejão 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) SoNeuse Christian Academy Vitória, Brazil
F 44 Cameron Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) FrWhitney Young Chicago, IL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

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.
PollPreWk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12Wk 13Wk 14Wk 15Wk 16Week 17Final
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. 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.
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