Illinois’ first game back at State Farm Center in nearly a month didn’t play into its favor. Going up against No. 7 Indiana, Illinois lost 93-61. 

“We didn’t play very good defense,” said head coach Nancy Fahey. “We would try and zone, we tried man and they’re (Indiana) very opportunistic team when it comes to putting the ball on the floor to score”

Freshmen guards Adalia McKenzie and Jayla Oden led the team in scoring with 14 and 13 points. 

“When you got two freshmen playing against a team like that (Indiana) and they are our two leading scorers, it’s a shout out,” Fahey said.

The youngest on the court went up against a team full of experience. Seniors Aleksa Gulbe and Grace Berger put up 18 and 13 points. While graduate student Ali Patberg was the top scorer of the night hitting 26 points, going 9-15 in field goals and nailing four of her nine attempts from the arc.

The Hoosier’s started the match from the tip with a layup from Kiandra Browne. Indiana continued on to a 6-0 run early in the night. 

Sophomore forward Kendall Bostic got the first points for the Illini at 8:15 after Jayla Oden found her in the paint to hit the layup. 

The first quarter was all Indiana, and by the 6:39 mark, the Hoosiers were in double digits off of Berger’s layup. 

Oden tried to get the Illini out of the slow start they were having, but things weren’t falling into place. 

Indiana continued their first quarter run with 26 points scored, and Gulbe nearly went into double digits with nine points. 

Illinois on the other scored a mere eight points and had some work to do to get back into the game. 

Second quarter came around, and Indiana once again started it off. Gulbe hit a triple at the 9:27, putting the Hoosiers 31-8. Then, Kaitlin Peterson hit another triple to extend the lead. 

It was full of triples early, but this time it was graduate student guard Sara Anastasieska adding to the score, getting the Illini in double digits. 

Halfway through the quarter, Illinois got themselves a 6-0 run for almost two minutes. Bostic got herself some points in the paint with a jumper, and then sophomore guard Aaliyah Nye picked up a second chance layup. 

Third quarter started off with McKenzie and Oden leading the way. The Brooklyn, Minnesota, native got four points early from a jumper and free throws. Then the Baltimore, Maryland, native got a three-point play after getting fouled by Nicole Cardano-Hillary. 

At the 6:42 mark, Nye attempted a triple off the transition, but it didn’t settle for her. Browne tipped it a couple times so the Illini couldn’t get the rebound and passed it off to Cardano-Hillary. 

Right before attempting a layup, Anastasieska came out of nowhere and hustled back to strip it away. 

Going into the fourth quarter, Illinois were still sitting just shy of 40 points at 39. This quarter saw the Illini score their highest of the day at 22, keeping the Hoosiers to 20. 

McKenzie began the quarter getting a la up, faking out Gulbe. A couple seconds on the possession switch, Berger was caught in a double team. She tried to pass it to Chloe Moore-McNeil, but McKenzie saw the ball and intercepted it for an easy layup.

Illinois will play again on Saturday against Nebraska in Champaign. 

@AngelleCortes

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