2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

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]

2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	5–18 (2–16 Big Ten)
Head coach	Nancy Fahey (4th season)
Assistant coaches	John Patterson Scott Merritt Vernette Skeete
Home arena	State Farm 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

Previous season

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

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 Nancy Fahey (Wisconsin) Assistant coach(es) John Patterson (Fontbonne) Scott Merritt (Marquette) Vernette Skeete (Alcorn State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: March 23, 2021

Schedule and results

• 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

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

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

• 2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

References

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. 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.