Ever since Illinois entered Big Ten play this season, it is safe to say they’ve struggled to compete with some of the top teams in their conference. When the Ohio State Buckeyes took a trip down to Champaign on Monday, the result was not much different than the rest. 

Ohio State came out victorious by a score of 86-67, dishing out the Illini their seventh straight loss of the season. The Buckeyes are the 18th ranked team in the nation, and everyone around the team knew the Illini were in for a tough battle.

After a competitive second quarter, Illinois were in striking distance only down by 12 points. However, Ohio State came out firing on all cylinders during the third quarter, outscoring Illinois 33-13. Many of these scores from the Buckeyes came from Illini turnovers, as their press was suffocating the Illinois guards for the majority of the forty minutes.

Head coach Nancy Fahey said Ohio State was one of the “best pressing teams in the nation,” and the 24 turnovers the Buckeyes forced surely backs up that statement. When the second half came rolling around, Fahey was cognizant that Ohio State was going to come out even more intense than in the first two periods. 

“We told our players before the third quarter that whatever you think the press was, they’ll take it up another two notches,” Fahey said. “I called a quick timeout because when you turn the ball over in the half court, it fuels them.”

Along with their tough press, Illinois found it tough to deal with the three-headed dragon of Jacy Sheldon, Rikki Harris and Rebeka Mikulasikova. The trio combined for 53 of Ohio State’s 86 points and gave Illinois defenders problems all night.

Despite the loss to one of the top teams in the country, there were some positives to take away from Monday night’s matchup at the State Farm Center. Sophomore guard Aalyiah Nye has carried the bulk of the Illinois offense this year, as she currently is the team’s leading scorer. 

Against Ohio State, Nye turned up and dropped a career-high 25 points on 9-17 shooting for the Illini. She was pleased with her performance against the Buckeyes but remained thankful for her teammates’ efforts to put her in great scoring positions.

“I think my teammates really helped me out with setting screens and staggers,” Nye said.

The East Lansing native was not the only player to perform well for Illinois on Monday. Sophomore forward Kendall Bostic posted another double-double, amassing 12 points and 16 rebounds. The Big Ten’s leading rebounder knew before the game that her role on the boards would be vital to Illinois’ game plan.

“It’s just finding the open area really,” Bostic said. “Watching the shot go up and getting a body on somebody, which is something we’d talked about before the game. I just wanted to find my way in there and get some boards.”

Even with a break in the schedule due to COVID-19 outbreaks and weather problems, the losses have not led up for Illinois. Their last win came on January 9th against the Wisconsin Badgers, and Illinois still had a slew of tough conference opponents before the Big Ten tournament in early March.

The Illini are currently 6-15 on the year, but Bostic has liked to see the team not collectively give up when they are down big. Giving full effort until the end of the game is in the DNA of any successful college basketball team, and Bostic hopes the team can continue this effort for the rest of the year.

“Sometimes we struggle when we’re down in the fourth; we just sometimes tend to cave in,” Bostic said. “I think the last couple games we’ve been fighting until the end and have been collectively doing a better job of bringing everybody along and competing until the buzzer sounds.”

@WillPayne33

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