Illinois women’s basketball falls to Purdue in West Lafayette 70-54
Photo courtesy of Farrell Shine/Illini Athletics
Guard Adalia McKenzie dribbles down the court during the game against Purdue on Thursday. McKenzie was the top scorer for the team, but the Illini lose against the Boilermakers 70-54.
February 17, 2022
Head coach Nancy Fahey and her team battled it out against Purdue but were unable to win, losing 70-54.
First quarter started off slow going back and forth with a total of six turnovers by the 8:20 mark. The first scorer of the game was sophomore guard Aaliyah Nye at 7:58 off freshman guard Adalia McKenzie’s steal.
The Illini kept the scoring with help from redshirt senior center Eva Rubin and Nye to go up 6-0 about halfway through the first quarter. The Boilermakers finally got on the board after Rickie Woltman got a second chance point off a jumper.
The remainder of the first quarter saw Illinois continue its scoring and hold the lead 11-7 by the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Illinois still kept the lead, but Purdue got out of its slow start and began to catch up. A quick 5-0 run from the Boilermakers got them within one point of Illinois just halfway until the break.
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Purdue pushed its way through and with the help of Jeanae Terry’s and-one plus Abby Ellis’ two free throws, the Boilermakers got them tied.
Sophomore forward Erika Porter still didn’t let Purdue take the lead as she racked up three points. Just 1:15 to go until the break, Cassidy Hardin hit a triple, Madison Layden got some points in the paint and McKenzie got a lay up. At halftime, Purdue was up just one point, taking the advantage into the last two quarters.
Out of the half, Illinois didn’t have a solid 10 minutes. The Boilermakers went on an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 10. Shots weren’t falling for the Illini once again, and as the half went on, the Boilermakers kept the lead.
Illinois managed only to score just seven points, while Purdue racked up 18.
Four quarter Purdue’s lead went to almost 20 points. Illinois did find the net but couldn’t get some consistent scoring runs to catch up to Purdue or at least break the double-digit lead to single numbers.
McKenzie ended the night as the top scorer for Illinois and the only player of the team to hit double digits. Sophomore forward Kendall Bostic also recorded 15th game with double digits in rebounds.
Illinois move to 1-10 in conference and have three games left in the season. Coming up the Illini will host in-state rivals the Wildcats in Champaign.
@AngelleCortes
