After back-to-back losses, the Illinois women’s basketball team (17-8, 7-7) rebounded with a dominant 92-60 win against the University of Wisconsin (13-12, 5-9). The match gave Head Coach Shauna Green her 80th win with the Illini and her 50th at State Farm Center.
Takeaways
Illinois: After struggling with a slow start in its past two games, Illinois rebounded Wednesday night with an intense defense. Sophomore guard Aaliyah Guyton was consistent from behind the mark as she did not miss a shot. Freshman forward Cearah Parchment had control over the backboard and grabbed 15 rebounds, landing a double-double in the first 12 minutes of the game. Illinois went on a 13-point run and went into halftime with a 16-point lead.
In the second half, the Illini continued their dominance and blocked the Badgers from getting back into the game. Every Illini player on the court in the second half scored points, growing the point-gap to an over 20-point lead.
Wisconsin: The Badgers tried to slow down the Illini but quickly found themselves down by double digits in the second quarter. Wisconsin was only able to make four shots in that quarter digging itself into a 27-point hole it had to overcome.
In the second half, turnovers became the story for Wisconsin, as that gave Illinois more chances to expand its lead. The Badgers ended with 11 turnovers, allowing Illinois to get 12 extra points.
Key Stat
Guyton led the way with the best game in her collegiate career as she had a career high in points and three pointers made. She ended the night with 22 points with six three-pointers and 100% from three-point range.
Her 6-for-6 shooting goes down in program history as the best three-point shooting percentage at a minimum of six attempts. The closest anyone has gotten to 100% from long range was former Illini guard Tiffanie Guthrie, who shot seven for eight (87.5%) against Arizona in 2002.
Up Next
The Fighting Illini Women’s Basketball team will host Rutgers on Tuesday at 6 PM.