2020–21 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by fourteenth year head coach Suzy Merchant, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.

2020–21 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball
NCAA tournament, first round
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record15–9 (8–7 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaBreslin 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

They finished the season 15–9, 8–7 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. As the seventh seed in the Big Ten tournament they defeated Penn State in the Second Round and Indiana in the Quarterfinals before losing to Iowa in the Semifinals. They received and at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the ten seed in the Mercado Regional. They lost in the first round to seven seed Iowa State to end their season.

Previous season

The Spartans finished the season 16–14, 9–9 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. In the Big Ten tournament they lost to Purdue in the first round. They did not get a chance for further post season play, as the NCAA women's basketball tournament and WNIT were cancelled before they began due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Roster
2020–21 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G/F 1 Tory Ozment 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) JrBuford Buford, GA
F 2 Mardrekia Cook 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) RS SrMuskegon Muskegon, MI
G 3 Alyza Winston 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) SoMuskegon Muskegon, MI
F 4 Alisia Smith 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) SrWaverly
Penn State		 Lansing, MI
G 5 Claire Hendrickson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS JrWyoming Wyoming, MI
C 12 Lauren Rewers 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) GSLake City
Hawaii		 Coeur d'Alene, ID
F 14 Taiyier Parks 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) SoNorth Royalton Cleveland, OH
F 20 Jayla James 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS SoRiverdale Baptist
Penn State		 Upper Marlboro, MD
G 21 Laurel Jacqmain 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS SrNouvel Catholic Saginaw, MI
G 22 Moira Joiner 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) SoHeritage Saginaw, MI
G 23 Janai Crooms 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) JrSt. Andrew's
Ohio State		 Cranston, RI
G 24 Nia Clouden 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) JrSt. Frances Owings Mills, MD
G 40 Julia Ayrault 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) SoGrosse Pointe North Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
F 44 Kendall Bostic 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) FrNorthwestern Kokomo, IN
C 50 Cyndi Dodd 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) SoWarren Central Indianapolis, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: June 24, 2021

Schedule and results

Source:[2]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 27, 2020*
3:00 p.m., BTN+		 Saint Francis W 77–44  1–0
 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
December 2, 2020*
7:00 p.m., BTN+		 Detroit Mercy W 82–45  2–0
 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
December 9, 2020
9:00 p.m., BTN		 at Minnesota W 81–68  3–0
(1–0)		 Williams Arena (0)
Minneapolis, MN
December 12, 2020
4:00 p.m., BTN+		 Iowa W 86–82  4–0
(2–0)		 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
December 18, 2020*
5:00 p.m., BTN+		 Central Michigan W 79–70  5–0
 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
December 20, 2020*
3:00 p.m., BTN+		 Northern Illinois W 82–70  6–0
 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
December 22, 2020*
Noon, BTN+		 No. 25 Oakland W 94–56  7–0
 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
December 31, 2020
Noon, BTN		 No. 25 at No. 17 Ohio State Canceled Value City Arena 
Columbus, OH
January 3, 2021
2:00 p.m., BTN+		 No. 25 at Purdue W 71–64  8–0
(3–0)		 Mackey Arena (152)
West Lafayette, IN
January 7, 2021
5:00 p.m., BTN		 No. 23 No. 12 Maryland L 87–93  8–1
(3–1)		 Breslin Center (50)
East Lansing, MI
January 10, 2021
3:00 p.m., BTN+		 No. 23 Nebraska L 64–68  8–2
(3–2)		 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
January 14, 2021
7:00 p.m., BTN+		 at Illinois Postponed State Farm Center 
Champaign, IL
January 21, 2021
6:00 p.m., BTN		 No. 16 Indiana Postponed Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
January 24, 2021
4:00 p.m., BTN		 at Wisconsin W 94–62  9–2
(4–2)		 Kohl Center (0)
Madison, WI
January 26, 2021
7:00 p.m., BTN		 No. 12 Michigan
Rivalry		 Postponed Breslin Center 
East Lansing, MI
January 28, 2021
4:00 p.m., BTN		 at No. 7 Maryland L 52–92  9–3
(4–3)		 Xfinity Center (0)
College Park, MD
January 28, 2021
7:00 p.m., BTN+		 at No. 12 Michigan
Rivalry		 Postponed Crisler Center 
Ann Arbor, MI
January 31, 2021
4:30 p.m., BTN		 at No. 16 Indiana L 67–79  9–4
(4–4)		 Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (0)
Bloomington, IN
February 4, 2021
8:00 p.m., BTN		 Illinois W 81–60  10–4
(5–4)		 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
February 7, 2021
3:00 p.m., BTN+		 No. 22 Northwestern L 60–63  10–5
(5–5)		 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
February 13, 2021
Noon, BTN		 at Penn State W 78–65  11–5
(6–5)		 Bryce Jordan Center (209)
University Park
February 16, 2021
4:30 p.m., BTN		 at No. 11 Michigan
Rivalry		 L 82–86  11–6
(6–6)		 Crisler Center (50)
Ann Arbor, MI
February 21, 2021
11:30 a.m., FS1		 Purdue W 76–73  12–6
(7–6)		 Breslin Center (51)
East Lansing, MI
February 24, 2021
3:00 p.m., BTN		 No. 25 Rutgers L 53–63  12–7
(7–7)		 Breslin Center (36)
East Lansing, MI
February 27, 2021
2:00 p.m., BTN+		 at Nebraska Canceled Pinnacle Bank Arena 
Lincoln, NE
March 6, 2021
2:00 p.m., BTN+		 Wisconsin W 67–54  13–7
(8–7)		 Breslin Center (0)
East Lansing, MI
Big Ten tournament
March 10, 2021
6:30 p.m., FS2		 (7) vs. (10) Penn State
Second Round		 W 75–66  14–7
 Bankers Life Fieldhouse (1,064)
Indianapolis, IN
March 11, 2021
6:30 p.m., FS2		 (7) vs. (2) No. 9 Indiana
Quarterfinals		 W 69–61  15–7
 Bankers Life Fieldhouse (0)
Indianapolis, IN
March 12, 2021
4:30 p.m., FS2		 (7) vs. (6) Iowa
Semifinals		 L 72–87  15–8
 Bankers Life Fieldhouse (0)
Indianapolis, IN
NCAA tournament
March 22, 2021*
6:00 p.m., ESPN		 (10 M) vs. (7 M) Iowa State
First Round		 L 75–79  15–9
 Alamodome (0)
San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
M=Mercado Region.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings
Main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Regular Season Polls
PollPre-
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		Final
AP RV 25 25 23 RV
Coaches RV RV RV 24 RV RV RV RV RV RV
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes
(NR)   Not Ranked and Did not receive votes

The Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll and the AP Poll did not release a poll after the NCAA Tournament.

See also

2020–21 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

References
  1. "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns". NCAA.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  2. "2020-21 W. Basketball Schedule". msuspartans.com. Michigan State Athletics. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
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