In the 25th and final regular season game, the Illini welcomed the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to the State Farm Center for a Sunday matinee. Despite leading for certain portions of the 40 minutes, Illinois eventually came up short when the final buzzer sounded, losing 66-56.  

Ahead of next week’s Big Ten tournament, every win against a conference foe is crucial, and the Illini missed a golden opportunity to end their season on a strong note. At halftime, Illinois led 27-25 and were up by as much as seven in the second half. However, Rutgers ended the third quarter on a 14-5 run and never looked back. 

Although a valiant effort late from Illinois made it a one-possession game on two different occasions, the Scarlet Knights always had an answer. Rutgers was led by guard Shug Dickson with 19 points, while Sayawni Lassiter chipped in 18 points off the bench. 

For the Illini, junior guard De’Myla Brown led the team with 15 points, which was her 11th game of the season in double digits. Brown was pleased with her own performance on Sunday, however, she was disappointed in the total end result.

“I feel I had a pretty solid performance tonight,” Brown said. “It doesn’t really mean anything if we didn’t get the win, but I was happy to personally bounce back.”

Toward the end of the game, Illinois were so close to regaining their lead, but they missed some key shots and defensive assignments. Head coach Nancy Fahey knows the Illini have many facets to improve on in a short period of time if they want to make a Cinderella run in the upcoming Big Ten tournament. 

“We had to hit some shots,” Fahey said. “We could not answer on a consistent basis, and at this level, you have to have four scorers on a consistent basis, and I think that is what we’re trying to find.”

Being the final game of the regular season at the State Farm Center, the program took time after the game to honor the three seniors who capped off their Illini careers. Guard Sara Anastasieska, forward/center Geovana Lopes and center Eva Rubin have all played meaningful minutes for the Illlini all throughout this season and will be missed by the Illini faithful. Fahey said all three of these seniors were “beloved” by their teammates and that they will be sorely missed in Champaign.

“It was a tough one, we were really trying to send our seniors out the right way today,” Fahey said. “We were focused, the game plan was pretty solid, but it’s onto the next game in the tournament.”

With the regular season all done and dusted, the Illini and the rest of the Big Ten are traveling down to Indianapolis for the conference tournament. Illinois enters the tournament as the No. 14 seed, as their first matchup will be versus the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers.

Illinois have split the season series with Wisconsin and are looking for some similar luck when they defeated the Badgers 68-47 in Champaign. Tipoff at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse is set for 3:30 p.m. on March 2. The matchup will be streamed live on the Big Ten Network.

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