Illinois women’s basketball took home its first Big Ten win of the season against Wisconsin 68-47. Aaliyah Nye led the scoring overall with 21 points and hit a career high of seven 3-pointers. 

Followed by Nye in scoring was Jada Peebles hitting 16 points, Adalia McKenzie earned 10 points. Kendall Bostic, known for her rebounds, tallied 14 on the day. 

Wisconsin was without one of their topscorers Sydney Hilliard due to a lower-leg injury, which turned out to be a struggle for the Badgers. 

De’Myla Brown started the scoring of the day from the line twice after being fouled going up for a jumper. A couple minutes later, Nye began her hot streak of the day hitting back-to-back triples for an 8-0 run. 

The Badger defense failed to contain Nye from the arc, allowing her to hit another three putting the Illini 11-2 with just four minutes into the game. Illinois dominated the first quarter and going into the first break were up 23-13. 

In the second quarter, Wisconsin found their footing and outscored Illinois 19-11. Julie Pospisilova led the Badgers scoring eight points, helping close the gap on the Illini. 

With 30 seconds left before halftime, Halle Douglass hit a layup, which tied the game up at 32-32. 

The Illini made one last drive, and McKenzie hit a jumper with one second to go, going into the break up by just two points. 

By the third quarter, Illinois shook off the latter half of the first half performance and got back into scoring ways. It was a quarter full of Peebles taking over the shooting, hitting 12 points including two 3-pointers. 

Wisconsin was struggling to keep up and contain Illinois with its shooting. The Illini went on a 9-0 run, which included back-to-back threes from Nye and Peebles. 

At the end of the quarter, Illinois had run away with its highest lead of the game with 14 points at 55-41. 

In the last 10 minutes of the game, the Illini weren’t as hot in their scoring as the first and third quarter, but it didn’t matter. 

The Badgers could only score six points all quarter, and Nye was still not done with her scoring as she nailed in two triples, putting her total at seven — a career high for her. 

Erika Porter didn’t score as much as Nye or Peebles, but she had a strong performance of her own especially defensively. The sophomore totaled four blocks and seven rebounds plus added five points to the Illinois score. 

Illinois move to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten as they have a short stint at home facing in-state rivals Northwestern on Thursday. 

@AngelleCortes

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