2015–16 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2015–16 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team represented Northwestern University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by eighth year head coach Joe McKeown, played their home games at the Welsh-Ryan Arena and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 18–17, 4–14 in Big Ten play to finish in twelfth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten women's tournament, where they lost to Maryland. They were invited to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to San Diego in the first round.

2015–16 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball
Lone Star Showcase Champions
WNIT, First Round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	18–17 (4–14 B1G)
Head coach	Joe McKeown (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Sam Dixon Carrie Banks Shauna Green
Home arena	Welsh-Ryan Arena

2015–16 Big Ten women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Maryland†	16	–	2		.889			31	–	4		.886
No. 9 Ohio State	15	–	3		.833			26	–	8		.765
No. 16 Michigan State	13	–	5		.722			25	–	9		.735
Indiana	12	–	6		.667			21	–	12		.636
Minnesota	11	–	7		.611			20	–	12		.625
Purdue	10	–	8		.556			20	–	12		.625
Michigan	9	–	9		.500			21	–	14		.600
Nebraska	9	–	9		.500			18	–	13		.581
Iowa	8	–	10		.444			19	–	14		.576
Rutgers	8	–	10		.444			19	–	15		.559
Penn State	6	–	12		.333			12	–	19		.387
Northwestern	4	–	14		.222			18	–	17		.514
Wisconsin	3	–	15		.167			7	–	22		.241
Illinois	2	–	16		.111			9	–	21		.300
† 2016 Big Ten tournament winner As of March 31, 2016 Rankings from AP poll

Roster

2015–16 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 2 Tessa Haldes 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Whitney Young Chicago, IL G 3 Ashley Deary 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Jr Flower Mound Flower Mound, TX G 5 Jordan Hankins 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Lawrence North Indianapolis, IN F 10 Nia Coffey 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Hopkins Minneapolis, MN F 11 Lauren Douglas 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Briarcrest Christian Collierville, TN G 12 Lydia Rohde 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Brookfield Central Brookfield, WI G 13 Nof Kedem 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Sr Ostrovski Olesh, Israel F 14 Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School Abuja, Nigeria G 24 Christen Inman 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Seven Lakes Katy, TX G 25 Maggie Lyon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr New Trier Wilmette, IL F/C 30 Allie Tuttle 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Jr Panther Creek Cary, NC F 32 Christen Johnson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr The Lovett School Powder Springs, GA C 33 Oceana Hamilton (I)  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Jr St. Edmund Campion Alabama Mississauga, ON F 34 Amber Jamison 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Rochester Adams Rochester Hills, MI G 35 Maya Jonas 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Whitefish Bay Whitefish Bay, WI	Head coach Joe McKeown (Mercer) Assistant coach(es) Sam Dixon (Wooster) Carrie Banks (Detroit Mercy) Shauna Green (Canisius) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/08/2015* 2:00 pm	No. 19	Seton Hill	W 103–44		Welsh-Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
Non-conference regular season
11/15/2015* 6:00 pm	No. 19	Howard	W 89–49	1–0	Welsh-Ryan Arena (623) Evanston, IL
11/19/2015* 7:00 pm	No. 20	Idaho State	W 72–36	2–0	Welsh-Ryan Arena (420) Evanston, IL
11/22/2015* 2:00 pm	No. 20	Western Michigan	W 86–62	3–0	Welsh-Ryan Arena (652) Evanston, IL
11/26/2015* 5:00 pm	No. 19	vs. Eastern Washington Lone Star Showcase	W 74–70	4–0	Cedar Park Center  Cedar Park, TX
11/27/2015* 7:30 pm	No. 19	vs. Creighton Lone Star Showcase	W 75–52	5–0	Cedar Park Center (687) Cedar Park, TX
11/28/2015* 7:30 pm	No. 19	vs. East Carolina Lone Star Showcase	W 78–75	6–0	Cedar Park Center (379) Cedar Park, TX
12/02/2015* 5:00 pm, ESPN3	No. 15	at North Carolina ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge	W 85–72	7–0	Carmichael Auditorium (1,664) Chapel Hill, NC
12/06/2015* 2:00 pm	No. 15	Milwaukee	W 69–44	8–0	Welsh-Ryan Arena (812) Evanston, IL
12/13/2015* 2:00 pm	No. 12	at Loyola–Chicago	W 81–72	9–0	Joseph J. Gentile Arena (411) Chicago, IL
12/15/2015* 11:00 am	No. 12	Alcorn State	W 91–47	10–0	Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,246) Evanston, IL
12/19/2015* 5:00 pm	No. 12	No. 16 DePaul	L 64–77	10–1	Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,744) Evanston, IL
12/22/2015* 1:00 pm	No. 15	UMKC	W 80–38	11–1	Welsh-Ryan Arena (625) Evanston, IL
Big Ten regular season
12/31/2015 1:00 pm	No. 14	at Penn State	L 72–79	11–2 (0–1)	Bryce Jordan Center (2,956) University Park, PA
01/03/2016 1:00 pm, BTN	No. 14	Nebraska	W 85–62	12–2 (1–1)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,249) Evanston, IL
01/07/2016 7:00 pm	No. 16	Purdue	L 71–85	12–3 (1–2)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (714) Evanston, IL
01/10/2016 1:00 pm, BTN	No. 16	at No. 23 Michigan State	L 51–74	12–4 (1–3)	Breslin Center (6,272) East Lansing, MI
01/14/2016 7:00 pm, BTN		No. 5 Ohio State	W 86–82	13–4 (2–3)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (852) Evanston, IL
01/17/2016 11:00 am, BTN		at No. 8 Maryland	L 62–80	13–5 (2–4)	Xfinity Center (6,037) College Park, MD
01/20/2016 7:00 pm		at Minnesota	L 92–95	13–6 (2–5)	Williams Arena (2,549) Minneapolis, MN
01/24/2016 4:00 pm, BTN		Indiana	L 84–91	13–7 (2–6)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,642) Evanston, IL
01/28/2016 6:00 pm, BTN		at No. 7 Ohio State	L 73–76	13–8 (2–7)	Value City Arena (4,606) Columbus, OH
01/31/2016 2:00 pm		Iowa	L 64–79	13–9 (2–8)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (2,016) Evanston, IL
02/04/2016 7:00 pm		Illinois	W 69–59	14–9 (3–8)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,331) Evanston, IL
02/07/2016 2:00 pm, BTN		Minnesota	L 106–112 2OT	14–10 (3–9)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,223) Evanston, IL
02/10/2016 6:00 pm		at Rutgers	L 59–61	14–11 (3–10)	Louis Brown Athletic Center (3,177) Piscataway, NJ
02/14/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN2		No. 5 Maryland	L 70–79	14–12 (3–11)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,792) Evanston, IL
02/17/2016 7:00 pm		Penn State	L 54–73	14–13 (3–12)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (796) Evanston, IL
02/20/2016 1:00 pm, BTN		at Wisconsin	W 71–53	15–13 (4–12)	Kohl Center (3,942) Madison, WI
02/23/2016 5:30 pm, BTN		Michigan	L 65–70	15–14 (4–13)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,140) Evanston, IL
02/28/2016 3:00 pm, BTN		at Nebraska	L 67–76	15–15 (4–14)	Pinnacle Bank Arena (6,596) Lincoln, NE
Big Ten Women's Tournament
03/02/2016 12:30 pm, BTN		vs. Wisconsin First Round	W 76–72 OT	16–15	Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
03/03/2016 1:30 pm, BTN		vs. Minnesota Second Round	W 84–74	17–15	Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
03/04/2016 1:30 pm, BTN		vs. Indiana Quarterfinals	W 79–73	18–15	Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
03/05/2016 2:00 pm, BTN		vs. No. 5 Maryland Semifinals	L 62–83	18–16	Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
WNIT
03/17/2016* 7:00 pm		San Diego First Round	L 65–69	18–17	Welsh-Ryan Arena (416) Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2015–16 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	19	20	19	15	12	12	15	14	16	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	N/A
Coaches	24	22	19	16	14	13	15	15	17	24	20	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes

See also

2015–16 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team