After more than a week off from competitive play, the Illini (6-6, 0-2) met their match in Bloomington during their second conference matchup. The team closed out 2023 with vigorous competition, but ultimately fell to Indiana 77-71.
The starting lineup returned to include senior guard Genesis Bryant, senior guard Makira Cook, junior guard Adalia McKenzie, junior forward Brynn Shoup-Hill and senior forward Kendall Bostic. The Illini’s previous game saw fifth-year center Camille Hobby in the starting five, but the team went back to their original group to face off against the Hoosiers.
Though tipoff was won by the Illini, the Hoosiers made a steal and scored the first points of the game. Illinois soon scored with a layup by Bostic, and she scored the next few points with a jump shot as well.
The team continued to get the ball into Bostic underneath the rim and she scored another layup to give the team a two-point lead. So far it was seeming to be a battle of the bigs, with Bostic having all of Illinois’ points, and all of Indiana’s points coming from senior forward Mackenzie Holmes.
The Hoosiers went on a 9-0 scoring run, leading 13-6 over the Illini with three minutes left in the first quarter. The scoring drought was ended with another shot by Bostic, who still had all eight points for the team. Bryant soon scored her first points of the game, and the quarter ended with Indiana leading 17-10. Cook and Bryant both had a few turnovers under their belt at this point, with Indiana being able to score nine points off these errors.
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The second quarter began with a steal by fifth-year guard Jada Peebles, who drew a shooting foul and scored two points from that. With growing frustration from multiple missed shots, head coach Shauna Green called the team’s first timeout, now down by nine points (23-14).
Cook was able to make a three-point play after drawing a foul from the layup she made. The Hoosiers had their largest lead at 12 points halfway through the second quarter, going 15-24 from the field, while the Illini shot 9-24.
Indiana slowed down their dribbles to close out the first half, but Bryant scored a three-pointer to finish out the quarter. Illinois was down 37-31, going 12-28 in field goals and 10 turnovers in total.
Illinois had possession to begin the second half, and a jump shot by McKenzie got the team going. While Illinois had been able to reduce the lead to two points for a little bit, this quickly changed as Indiana continued to finish their shots, scoring nine straight points to lead 46-35.
After making consecutive shots, Illinois decreased the lead once more, down by three with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter. A jump shot by Cook helped fuel the team’s fire, going on a 10-0 scoring run.
The quarter ended with strong energy from the Illini. Despite them being down 49-47, they were eager to keep fighting going into the fourth quarter.
Three minutes into the final quarter, the Illini tied the game 54-54, showing that they were not giving up against their tough opponent. The competitors were neck-and-neck the whole quarter, going back and forth with scoring and steals.
Cook scored her 20th point with about two minutes remaining in the game. With a minute to go, the Illini were down three, giving their all on the floor. Cook sank two free throws to cut the lead to one, and the pressure was intensifying.
Despite immense effort from the Illini, they came up short against the Hoosiers. The squad will continue their conference play back in Champaign against Wisconsin on Jan. 7.
@tess_eken
