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2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

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2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record5–18 (2–16 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • John Patterson
  • Scott Merritt
  • Vernette Skeete
Home arenaState Farm Center
Seasons
2020–21 Big Ten women's basketball standings
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

The 2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team represented the University of Illinois during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Illini, led by fourth-year head coach Nancy Fahey, played their home games at State Farm Center as members of the Big Ten Conference. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, they played fewer non-conference games than in previous seasons; three games were originally postponed and later canceled due to the pandemic. They finished the season 5–18, 2–16 in Big Ten play to finish in thirteenth place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament to Northwestern. Their first round win against Wisconsin was the first Big Ten tournament victory in coach Fahey's tenure at Illinois.[1]

Previous season

[edit]

The Illini finished the 2019–20 season 11–19, 2–16 in Big Ten play to finish in 13th (of 14) place. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten women's tournament to Wisconsin.

Roster

[edit]
2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 J-Naya Ephraim 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Southern Durham Saint Croix, USVI
F 1 Nancy Panagiotopoulou Andritsopoulou 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS Jr American Community Schools of Athens Athens, Greece
F 2 Lyric Robins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Sr Plano West Plano, TX
F 3 Solape Amusan 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Woodbury Woodbury, MN
G 10 Jeanae Terry 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Wayne Memorial Detroit, MI
G 11 Jada Peebles 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Wakefield Raleigh, NC
G 13 Tara O'Malley 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) GS Mother McAuley Chicago, IL
F/C 14 Geovana Lopes 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr Odessa College Bataguassu, Brazil
F 20 Erika Porter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Notre Dame H.S. West Windsor, NJ
G 21 Aaliyah McQueen 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Carman-Ainsworth Flint, MI
C 22 Eva Rubin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) RS Jr Homewood-Flossmoor Flossmoor, IL
G 32 Aaliyah Nye 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr East Lansing East Lansing, MI
F 44 Kennedi Myles 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Walnut Hills Cincinnati, OH
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: March 23, 2021

Schedule and results

[edit]
  • Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, games were played without an audience, or with very limited attendance.[2]
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 25, 2020*
7:00 p.m., BTN
Indiana State W 68–49  1–0
State Farm Center (103)
Champaign, IL
December 2, 2020*
5:00 p.m., BTN
Valparaiso L 59–62  1–1
State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
December 6, 2020*
2:00 p.m., BTN
Omaha W 53–50  2–1
State Farm Center (106)
Champaign, IL
December 22, 2020*
2:00 p.m., BTN
Southern Illinois Canceled due to COVID-19 within the Southern Illinois program[3] State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten conference season
December 10, 2020
7:00 p.m., BTN
at Nebraska L 72–78  2–2
(0–1)
Pinnacle Bank Arena (0)
Lincoln, NE
December 19, 2020
11:00 a.m., BTN
No. 19 Michigan Canceled due to COVID-19 within the Michigan program[4] State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
December 31, 2020
11:00 p.m., BTN
at No. 20 Indiana L 56–79  2–3
(0–2)
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (0)
Bloomington, IN
January 3, 2021
1:00 p.m., BTN
Iowa L 68–107  2–4
(0–3)
State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
January 7, 2021
6:00 p.m., BTN
No. 16 Ohio State L 55–78  2–5
(0–4)
State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
January 10, 2021
12:00 p.m., BTN
at No. 15 Michigan L 50–70  2–6
(0–5)
Crisler Center (50)
Ann Arbor, MI
January 14, 2021
6:00 p.m., BTN
Michigan State Canceled due to COVID-19 within the Michigan State program[5] State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
January 21, 2021
6:00 p.m., BTN
at No. 21 Northwestern L 54–73  2–7
(0–6)
Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
January 25, 2021
7:00 p.m., BTN
Nebraska L 53–57  2–8
(0–7)
State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
January 28, 2021
6:00 p.m., BTN
Penn State L 76–80  2–9
(0–8)
State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
January 31, 2021
2:00 p.m., BTN
at Wisconsin L 57–69  2–10
(0–9)
Kohl Center (0)
Madison, WI
February 4, 2021
7:00 p.m., BTN
at Michigan State L 60–81  2–11
(0–10)
Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
February 7, 2021
2:00 p.m., BTN
Purdue W 54–49  3–11
(1–10)
State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
February 10, 2021
6:00 p.m., BTN
at Minnesota L 73–83  3–12
(1–11)
Williams Arena (0)
Minneapolis, MN
February 14, 2021
2:00 p.m., BTN
No. 15 Indiana L 50–58  3–13
(1–12)
State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
February 17, 2021
12:00 p.m., BTN
at No. 9 Maryland L 58–103  3–14
(1–13)
Xfinity Center (0)
College Park, MD
February 20, 2021
11:00 a.m., BTN
at Rutgers L 46–75  3–15
(1–14)
Rutgers Athletic Center (0)
Piscataway, NJ
February 24, 2021
6:00 p.m., BTN
Northwestern L 61–67  3–15
(1–15)
State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
February 28, 2021
1:00 p.m., BTN
at Purdue L 66–70  3–17
(1–16)
Mackey Arena (130)
West Lafayette, IN
March 5, 2021
4:00 p.m., BTN
Minnesota W 72–64  4–17
(2–16)
State Farm Center (0)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 9, 2021
4:00 p.m., BTN
(12) vs. (13) Wisconsin
First Round
W 67–42  5–17
Bankers Life Fieldhouse (460)
Indianapolis, IN
March 10, 2021
12:30 p.m., BTN
(12) vs. (5) Northwestern
Second Round
L 42–67  5–18
Bankers Life Fieldhouse (716)
Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

[edit]
Regular Season Polls
Poll Pre-
Season
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13
Week
14
Week
15
Week
16
Week
17
Week
18
Week
19
Final
AP N/A
Coaches
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Vozzelli Jr., Joe (March 10, 2021). "Illini blitz Badgers early, deliver convincing first round knockout". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  2. ^ "2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Illinois Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. n.d. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  3. ^ Richey, Scott (December 22, 2020). "Second postponement for Illini women's basketball". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  4. ^ Richey, Scott (December 18, 2020). "UI women's basketball game postponed". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  5. ^ Vozzelli Jr., Joe (January 13, 2021). "Thursday's game against Michigan State postponed for Illini women's basketball". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved March 24, 2021.