Illinois women’s basketball visits Twin Cities for a face off with Minnesota
February 24, 2022
Currently sitting with a 6-17 record (1-11 in the Big Ten), the Illinois women’s basketball team has struggled to pick up victories on the road all throughout the season. On Thursday night, the Illini are taking a trip up to Minneapolis for their final road test of the season against the Golden Gophers.
Illinois are currently riding a nine-game losing streak and they have yet to win a matchup not at the State Farm Center this season. In their last game versus the Northwestern Wildcats, Illinois could not stop the fast paced offense from the visitors. During the 82-59 loss, Aaliyah Nye led all Illinois scorers with 15, while Erika Porter chipped in a career-high 13 off the bench.
As we are approaching the end of the regular season, sophomore transfer Kendall Bostic is on pace to put herself in Illini history books. She has recorded five double-doubles this year, and Bostic is looking to become the sixth player in Illinois women’s basketball history to have 300 rebounds in a season.
On the other hand, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have a 12-16 record (5-11 in the Big Ten) and have lost their last two games to Rutgers and Nebraska. Eight of Minnesota’s 11 conference losses have come to teams who were ranked or at least received top 25 votes.
The top talent for Minnesota is junior guard Sara Scalia, who averages 17 points per game. Along with Scalia, graduate transfer guard Deja Winters (11.9 ppg) plays a big role in their offense. Winters also leads the Golden Gopher defensive effort, as she has amassed a team high 28 blocks and 44 steals this year.
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Thursday’s matchup versus Minnesota is the 70th meeting between the two teams, with Illinois leading the all-time series 39-30. Illinois have won three out of the last four meetings, and this will be a great opportunity for the Illini to finally pick up that illusive road victory.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CST from the Williams Arena in the Twin Cities. The game will be streamed live on BIG+ and Mike Koon will call the game from the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (1400 AM / 93.9 FM).
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