2020–21 West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball team

The 2020–21 West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball team represented West Virginia University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Mountaineers were coached by twentieth-year head coach Mike Carey, played their home games at WVU Coliseum and were members of the Big 12 Conference.^[1][2]

2020–21 West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball
South Point Thanksgiving Shootout Champions
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 24
AP	No. 17
Record	22–7 (13–5 Big 12)
Head coach	Mike Carey (20th season)
Assistant coaches	Bett Shelby Craig Carey Nitra Perry
Home arena	WVU Coliseum
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Big 12 Conference women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Baylor†	17	–	1		.944			28	–	2		.933
No. 17 West Virginia	13	–	5		.722			22	–	7		.759
Oklahoma State	13	–	5		.722			19	–	9		.679
Iowa State	12	–	6		.667			17	–	11		.607
Texas	11	–	7		.611			20	–	9		.690
Oklahoma	9	–	9		.500			12	–	12		.500
Texas Tech	5	–	13		.278			10	–	15		.400
TCU	4	–	14		.222			10	–	15		.400
Kansas State	3	–	15		.167			9	–	18		.333
Kansas	3	–	15		.167			7	–	18		.280
† 2021 Big 12 Tournament winner As of March 28, 2021 Rankings from AP poll

They finished the season 22–7, 13–5 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for second place. As the second seed in the Big 12 Tournament, they defeated Kansas State and Oklahoma State before losing to Baylor in the Final. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the four seed in the HemisFair Regional they defeated Lehigh before losing to Georgia Tech in the Second Round to end their season.

Previous season

The Mountaineers finished the season 17–12, 7–11 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for sixth place. The Big 12 Tournament, NCAA women's basketball tournament and WNIT were all cancelled before they began due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

Roster

2020–21 West Virginia Mountaineers women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 00 Jayla Hemingway 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Houston Mississippi State Collierville, TN G 2 Kysre Gondrezick 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS Sr Benton Harbor Michigan Benton Harbor, MI G 3 Kirsten Deans 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So Connections Academy Greensboro, NC G 5 Jasmine Carson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr McEachern Georgia Tech Memphis, TN F 12 Esmery Martinez 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Hamilton Heights Christian Hato Mayor del Rey, Dominican Republic F 14 Kari Niblack 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Wildwood Leesburg, FL C 22 Blessing Ejiofor 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Sr Paterson Eastside Chipola CC Ebonyi, Nigeria G 30 Madisen Smith 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Jr Greenville Senior Greenville, SC C 33 Jeanna Cunningham 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr St. Francis Prep Brentwood, NY	Head coach Mike Carey (Salem) Assistant coach(es) Bett Shelby (Greensboro) Craig Carey (West Virginia) Nitra Perry (Mississippi State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: June 1, 2021

Schedule

Source:^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 27, 2020* 1:00 p.m.		vs. Fresno State South Point Thanksgiving Shootout	W 83–62	1–0	South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa (0) Enterprise, NV
November 28, 2020* 5:45 p.m.		vs. LSU South Point Thanksgiving Shootout	W 62–42	2–0	South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa (0) Enterprise, NV
December 3, 2020* 7:00 p.m.		North Alabama	W 80–51	3–0	WVU Coliseum (138) Morgantown, WV
December 6, 2020* 2:00 p.m.		Tennessee Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge	W 79–73 ^OT	4–0	WVU Coliseum (142) Morgantown, WV
December 10, 2020 6:00 p.m.		No. 7 Baylor	L 45–65	4–1 (0–1)	WVU Coliseum (121) Morgantown, WV
December 13, 2020* 6:00 p.m.		James Madison	W 85–54	5–1	WVU Coliseum (117) Morgantown, WV
December 18, 2020 6:30 p.m.		at Oklahoma State	L 73–78	5–2 (0–2)	Gallagher-Iba Arena (867) Stillwater, OK
December 21, 2020* 2:00 p.m.		Ohio	W 88–79	6–2	WVU Coliseum (112) Morgantown, WV
December 22, 2020*		Coppin State	Canceled		WVU Coliseum  Morgantown, WV
January 2, 2021		at Kansas	Postponed		Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
January 3, 2020 2:00 p.m.		at Oklahoma	W 90–72	7–2 (1–2)	Lloyd Noble Center (417) Norman, OK
January 5, 2021		at Kansas State	Postponed		Bramlage Coliseum  Manhattan, KS
January 9, 2021 6:00 p.m.		No. 17 Texas	W 92–58	8–2 (2–2)	WVU Coliseum (131) Morgantown, WV
January 13, 2021 7:00 p.m.		Texas Tech	W 83–78	9–2 (3–2)	WVU Coliseum (107) Morgantown, WV
January 16, 2021 2:00 p.m.		Oklahoma State	W 67–59	10–2 (4–2)	WVU Coliseum (109) Morgantown, WV
January 20, 2021 7:00 p.m.		Kansas State	W 65–56	11–2 (5–2)	WVU Coliseum (113) Morgantown, WV
January 27, 2021 6:00 p.m.	No. 24	at Texas Tech	W 73–53	12–2 (6–2)	United Supermarkets Arena (1,989) Lubbock, TX
January 30, 2021 1:00 p.m.	No. 24	at TCU	W 79–70	13–2 (7–2)	Schollmaier Arena (904) Fort Worth, TX
February 3, 2021 7:00 p.m.	No. 21	Iowa State	W 65–56	14–2 (8–2)	WVU Coliseum (514) Morgantown, WV
February 6, 2021 7:00 p.m.	No. 21	at Texas	W 81–75	15–2 (9–2)	Frank Erwin Center (997) Austin, TX
February 10, 2021 7:00 p.m.	No. 19	Kansas	W 69–61	16–2 (10–2)	WVU Coliseum (648) Morgantown, WV
February 13, 2021 7:00 p.m.	No. 19	Oklahoma	L 71–72	16–3 (10–3)	WVU Coliseum (1,112) Morgantown, WV
February 17, 2021	No. 19	at No. 7 Baylor	Postponed		Ferrell Center  Waco, TX
February 20, 2021 2:00 p.m.	No. 19	TCU	W 81–78	17–3 (11–3)	WVU Coliseum (1,236) Morgantown, WV
February 24, 2021 6:30 p.m.	No. 18	at Iowa State	L 68–85	18–4 (11–4)	Hilton Coliseum (822) Ames, IA
February 27, 2021 1:00 p.m.	No. 18	at Kansas	W 72–68	18–4 (12–4)	Allen Fieldhouse (0) Lawrence, KS
March 3, 2021 6:30 p.m.	No. 20	at Kansas State	W 72–64	19–4 (13–4)	Bramlage Coliseum (603) Manhattan, KS
March 8, 2021 7:00 p.m.	No. 17	at No. 6 Baylor	L 73–96	19–5 (13–5)	Ferrell Center (2,260) Waco, TX
Big 12 Women's Tournament
March 12, 2021 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	(2) No. 17	vs. (10) Kansas State Quarterfinals	W 58–56	20–5	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, MO
March 13, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	(2) No. 17	vs. (3) Oklahoma State Semifinals	W 59–50	21–5	Municipal Auditorium (848) Kansas City, Missouri
March 14, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN2	(2) No. 17	vs. (1) No. 6 Baylor Final	L 50–76	21–6	Municipal Auditorium (720) Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA tournament
March 21, 2021 8:00 p.m.	(4 H) No. 17	vs. (13 H) Lehigh First Round	W 77–53	22–6	Bill Greehey Arena  San Antonio, TX
March 23, 2021 5:30 p.m., ESPNU	(4 H) No. 17	vs. Georgia Tech Second Round	L 56–73	22–7	UTSA Convocation Center  San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. H=HemisFair. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

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

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	RV	RV	—	—	—	RV	RV	24	21	19	19т	18	20	17	17
Coaches	—	RV	RV	RV	—	—	RV	RV	RV	24	21	24	22	23	20	20	24

References

1. "West Virginia Mountaineers Women's Basketball - Mountaineers News, Scores, Stats, Rumors & More". ESPN. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
2. West Virginia Mountaineers. "West Virginia Mountaineers on Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
3. "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
4. "2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule". wvusports.com. University of West Virginia Athletics. Retrieved April 9, 2020.