Illinois broke its winning drought on the first day of the Big Ten tournament. The Illini faced the Badgers and took the 75-66 win to move onto the second round. 

“Coach (Nancy Fahey) always talked about anything that can happen once March hits,” said sophomore forward Kendall Bostic. “Everybody’s an underdog. So I think we kind of came in with the mentality, like we really have an opportunity here.” 

On the court, Illinois were full of confidence, and it showed in a stellar second half performance.

“If you look at the five starters, all in double figures, that’s an indication of great ball movement, people stepping up at different times,” Fahey said. 

Sophomore guard Aaliyah Nye started the scoring in typical fashion with a 3-pointer. Illinois continued the scoring with a team effort, and at the first timeout, the team was up 14-6. However, coming out of the timeout, Wisconsin took over the scoring with a 10-2 run and tied the game with 1:55 to go. 

At 1:08, Katie Nelson hit a layup from right under the basket to bump the Badgers into the lead. Wisconsin ended the first quarter with some confidence after a slow start. 

Second quarter saw Wisconsin trying to edge out its lead even more, but Illinois wouldn’t let that happen. 

Sophomore forward Erika Porter played her best in Indianapolis on both sides of the ball. The sophomore forward put up a career-high 15 points. Porter in the paint with jumpers were crucial for the win, but she was just getting started. 

Nearing halftime Illinois were down a five-point deficit. Nelson earned herself two points with a jumper, making the score 33-28. 

The Illini were in sole possession of the ball and took it up right until the shot clock to close the gap. Freshman guard Jayla Oden attempted a jumper, but Bostic grabbed the offensive board and put it back up to give Wisconsin just a 3-point lead going into the break. 

The third quarter is usually when things go south for Illinois. However, the complete opposite happened, and instead of trailing the opposition, the Illini were ahead. 

The third quarter also saw Nye and junior guard Jada Peebles light up the court with raining threes. The two split four shots from the arc, giving them six points apiece in the quarter. 

“Everybody was making their shots,” Nye said. “So it just made me more confident in shooting my threes and making my shots.” 

The starting five all tallied double digits on the day; Porter recorded a career high and Bostic reached 300 rebounds. 

Out of the break, Illinois was unstoppable. With the help of Bostic, Nye and Porter, the Illini were up. By the seventh minute mark, they  found their stride and just coasted to a double-figure lead going into the last quarter. 

The lead dwindled for the Illini, but they were strong and held the Badgers to only a four-point margin at some points. 

Julie Pospisilova, Halle Douglass and Nelson were a huge threat in the last minutes of the game as they were trying to get the comeback win. Kicking out to Pospisilova at the arc got them some points on the board, but it just wasn’t enough. 

Wisconsin went to a full court press trying to force turnovers to get some easy points, but in turn, they ended up fouling Illinois and giving them possession. 

In the closing minutes of the game, Peebles hopped off the court in the middle of a play. She immediately went down on the sideline in what looked like to be something on her left leg. Peebles was carried to bench for treatment and remained out. Her status against Nebraska is unknown.

Fahey said the team played a true 40 minutes rather than the 25-30 minutes they’ve played in the past.  

Illinois move onto the second round Thursday night against 6-seed Nebraska. The game will be on Big Ten Network and will approximately begin at 7:30 p.m. Central Time. 

@AngelleCortes

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