2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

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
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.