Illinois women’s basketball to host Braggin’ Rights game against Missouri
Guard Adalia McKenzie runs down the court during the game against Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 5. Illinois women’s basketball will host the Braggin’ Rights game against Missouri tonight.
December 22, 2021
The Illinois women’s basketball team is back in action on Wednesday afternoon for a matchup with the Missouri Tigers. This matchup will be a part of the yearly Braggin’ Rights contest in which both sides are looking to make a statement.
Since last year’s season was cut short due to COVID-19, the last time these two sides met up was during the 2019-20 season, when Illinois was victorious 58-51 in Columbia, Missouri. Guard Petra Holešínskȧ led all scorers with 22 points and was active on the defensive end for the Illini with five steals.
Fast forward to the 2021-22 campaign. and Illinois will come into Braggin’ Rights with a 5-6 record. The Illini’s last game was a 66-51 loss at Southern Illinois in Carbondale. Despite a 14-point, six-rebound performance from Adalia McKenzie, the Illini had no answer for some of the star players on the Salukis.
If Illinois wants to come out victorious on Wednesday, it’ll need huge efforts from Kendall Bostic, Aaliyah Nye and Jada Peebles, who all struggled to get into a flow versus SIU.
On the other hand, the Missouri Tigers have been outstanding to begin the season, as they sit at 10-2 on the year. Mizzou’s success so far all starts with the play of Aijha Blackwell, who averages 16.5 points per game. Along with Blackwell, Hayley Frank (14.8) and Lauren Hansen (10.2) have both averaged double figures for the Tigers.
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During its last game versus Southern University, the Tigers were victorious by a score of 73-54. The Tigers dominated from the get-go and polished off the win shooting 77.8% from the field in the fourth quarter.
The SEC is one of the strongest conferences in women’s basketball so far this season, with the 10-2 Tigers sitting at eighth in the conference. This will surely be Illinois’ biggest test of the season so far and will be a great indicator of its potential to perform against some of the Big Ten elites.
Tipoff at State Farm Center is slated for Wednesday afternoon at 12 p.m. on BIG+. The game will be available on the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (1400 AM / 93.9 FM).
@WillPayne3
