2021–22 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by fifteenth year head coach Suzy Merchant, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.

2021–22 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	15–15 (8–9 Big Ten)
Head coach	Suzy Merchant (15th season)
Assistant coaches	Dean Lockwood Maria Fantanarosa Kristin Haynie
Home arena	Breslin Center

2021–22 Big Ten women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 14 Ohio State	14	–	4		.778			25	–	7		.781
No. 8 Iowa †	14	–	4		.778			24	–	8		.750
No. 12 Michigan	13	–	4		.765			25	–	7		.781
No. 13 Maryland	13	–	4		.765			23	–	9		.719
No. 11 Indiana	11	–	5		.688			24	–	9		.727
Nebraska	11	–	7		.611			24	–	9		.727
Northwestern	8	–	8		.500			17	–	12		.586
Michigan State	8	–	9		.471			15	–	15		.500
Purdue	7	–	11		.389			17	–	15		.531
Minnesota	7	–	11		.389			15	–	18		.455
Penn State	5	–	13		.278			11	–	18		.379
Wisconsin	5	–	13		.278			8	–	21		.276
Rutgers	3	–	14		.176			11	–	20		.355
Illinois	1	–	13		.071			7	–	20		.259
† 2022 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

They finished the season 15–15, 8–9 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. As the seventh seed in the Big Ten tournament they defeated Purdue in the Second Round and Indiana in the Quarterfinals before losing to Iowa in the Semifinals. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT.

Previous season

The Spartans finished the season 15–9, 8–7 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. As the eighth seed in the Big Ten tournament they defeated Purdue in the Second Round before losing to Ohio State in the Quarterfinals. 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.

Roster

2021–22 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 DeeDee Hagemann 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr Detroit Edison Detroit, IL G/F 1 Tory Ozment 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Buford Buford, GA F 2 Tamara Farquhar 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) GS Dawson College Purdue Pierrefonds, Quebec F 4 Alisia Smith 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) GS Waverly Penn State Lansing, MI G 5 Claire Hendrickson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Jr Wyoming Wyoming, MI F 10 Lauren Walker 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Marietta Marietta, GA G/F 11 Matilda Ekh 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Riksbasketgymnasiet Luleå Västerås, Sweden F 12 Isaline Alexander 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Bill Crothers Secondary School Keswick, Ontario F 14 Taiyier Parks 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr North Royalton Cleveland, OH F 20 Jayla James 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Riverdale Baptist Penn State Upper Marlboro, MD G 21 Laurel Jacqmain 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) GS Nouvel Catholic Saginaw, MI G 22 Moira Joiner 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Heritage Saginaw, MI C 23 Brooklyn Rewers 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr Lake City Coeur d'Alene, ID G 24 Nia Clouden 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr St. Frances Owings Mills, MD G 40 Julia Ayrault 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Grosse Pointe North Grosse Pointe Woods, MI	Head coach Suzy Merchant (Central Michigan) Assistant coach(es) Dean Lockwood (Spring Arbor) Maria Fantanarosa (Miami (OH)) Kristin Haynie (Michigan State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: May 4, 2022

Schedule and results

Source:

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 31, 2021* 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Northwood	W 95–49	–	Breslin Center (2,331) East Lansing, MI
Regular season
November 9, 2021* 6:00 p.m., BTN+		Morehead State	W 93–31	1–0	Breslin Center (3,203) East Lansing, MI
November 14, 2021* 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Niagara	W 89–65	2–0	Breslin Center (3,422) East Lansing, MI
November 16, 2021* 7:00 p.m., BTN+		Valparaiso	W 73–62	3–0	Breslin Center (3,524) East Lansing, MI
November 19, 2021* Noon, BTN+		Bryant	W 100–60	4–0	Breslin Center (2,533) East Lansing, MI
November 21, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Fordham	L 68–71	4–1	Rose Hill Gymnasium (425) Bronx, NY
November 23, 2021* 2:00 p.m.		at St. Francis Brooklyn	L 63–66	4–2	The Pope (213) Brooklyn, NY
November 26, 2021* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Oakland	W 84–71	5–2	Athletics Center O'rena (1,219) Rochester, MI
November 28, 2021* 2:00 p.m., BTN		Marshall	W 85–75	6–2	Breslin Center (3,938) East Lansing, MI
December 2, 2021* 6:00 p.m., BTN		No. 24 Notre Dame ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge	L 71–76	6–3	Breslin Center (4,581) East Lansing, MI
December 5, 2021 4:00 p.m., BTN		at No. 9 Iowa	L 61–88	6–4 (0–1)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,942) Iowa City, IA
December 9, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN+		Illinois	W 75–60	7–4 (1–1)	Breslin Center (3,213) East Lansing, MI
December 20, 2021* 11:00 a.m., FloHoops		vs. Florida Gulf Coast West Palm Beach Invitational	L 84–85 2OT	7–5	Massimino Court (0) West Palm Beach, FL
December 20, 2021* 11:00 a.m., FloHoops		vs. West Virginia West Palm Beach Invitational	L 54–74	7–6	Massimino Court (0) West Palm Beach, FL
December 30, 2021 3:00 p.m., BTN		Nebraska	W 72–69	8–6 (2–1)	Breslin Center (4,122) East Lansing, MI
January 3, 2022 8:00 p.m., BTN+		at Northwestern	Canceled		Welsh–Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
January 9, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Purdue	L 59–69	8–7 (2–2)	Breslin Center (4,220) East Lansing, MI
January 12, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+		at Ohio State	L 83–89	8–8 (2–3)	Value City Arena (2,917) Columbus, OH
January 16, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Northwestern	W 65–46	9–8 (3–3)	Breslin Center (3,241) East Lansing, MI
January 19, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+		at No. 6 Indiana	Postponed to February 12		Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
January 23, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+		Minnesota	W 74–71	10–8 (4–3)	Breslin Center (2,899) East Lansing, MI
January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., BTN+		at Penn State	W 79–58	11–8 (5–3)	Bryce Jordan Center (1,551) University Park
January 30, 2022 2:00 p.m., BTN+		at Rutgers	W 61–45	12–8 (6–3)	Jersey Mike's Arena (1,335) Piscataway, NJ
February 3, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN		No. 17 Maryland	L 62–67	12–9 (6–4)	Breslin Center (2,563) East Lansing, MI
February 6, 2022 3:00 p.m., BTN+		at Minnesota	L 60–71	12–10 (6–5)	Williams Arena (3,150) Minneapolis, MN
February 10, 2022 6:30 p.m., BTN		No. 4 Michigan Rivalry	W 63–57	13–10 (7–5)	Breslin Center (4,764) East Lansing, MI
February 12, 2022 3:00 p.m., BTN+		at No. 7 Indiana Rescheduled from January 19	L 58–76	13–11 (7–6)	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (5,560) Bloomington, IN
February 16, 2022 7:30 p.m., BTN+		at Wisconsin	W 74–67	14–11 (8–6)	Kohl Center (2,166) Madison, WI
February 21, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN		Penn State	L 71–79	14–12 (8–7)	Breslin Center (2,985) East Lansing, MI
February 24, 2022 6:00 p.m., BTN		at No. 6 Michigan Rivalry	L 51–62	14–13 (8–8)	Crisler Center (5,460) Ann Arbor, MI
February 27, 2022 2:30 p.m., BTN		No. 17 Ohio State	L 55–61	14–14 (8–9)	Breslin Center (7,124) East Lansing, MI
Big Ten tournament
March 3, 2022 11:30 a.m., BTN	(8)	vs. (9) Purdue Second Round	W 73–69	15–14	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN
March 4, 2022 11:30 a.m., BTN	(8)	vs. (1) No. 13 Ohio State Quarterfinals	L 58–74	15–15	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked and Did not receive votes
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

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