Illinois women’s basketball will play against Evansville at State Farm Center on Saturday at 2 p.m. to continue on its regular season.

Illinois women’s basketball opened its 49th season with a 3-0 record for the 14th time in program history. Illinois head coach Shauna Green is also the first coach in program history to open her Illinois career with a 3-0 start.

Evansville is led by head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells and enters Saturday’s game with a 2-1 record this season, owning wins over Eastern Kentucky and Chicago State while losing to No. 4 Iowa. Evansville went 8-22 overall last season. 

Coach Green, junior Genesis Bryant and sophomore Jayla Oden attended a press conference last Wednesday following their win over McNeese State. Coach Green expresses how the team’s number one focus for future games is rebounding.

“You’re gonna keep hearing me say it, but our rebounding is gonna just continue to be the biggest thing for us and how we can get better at our box outs,” Green said. 

Coach Green also gives credit to her players and gives all of them the “green light” to shoot. Green’s philosophy is that “bad shots is bad coaching,” so she humbly recognizes it’s a whole team effort to improve and win.

Fans can look forward to Saturday’s game against Evansville. Another win for Illinois women’s basketball would be huge for confidence as the Illini prepare for tougher matches ahead.

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