Nearly five thousand fans gathered in the State Farm Center to watch Illinois take on Minnesota in a heated competition on National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Despite some trials and tribulations at first, the Illini made an immense effort to fight back and get their much-needed ninth win over the now 14-6 Gophers.
Head coach Shauna Green began the game with a starting five of senior guard Genesis Bryant, senior guard Makira Cook, junior guard Adalia McKenzie, fifth-year center Camille Hobby and senior forward Kendall Bostic.
Minnesota started off quickly with a jump shot to get the game going, and Illinois turned the ball over on its first possession. The team soon recovered with a jump shot by Hobby, but Minnesota’s defense came in hot.
Illinois took its first lead of the game with four minutes remaining in the first quarter (8-7) but struggled to finish layups, an issue that also popped up in its last game against Ohio State, where it went 18-40 in the paint. This began to change slightly when Coach Green subbed in freshman guard Gretchen Dolan. She scored back-to-back points in the paint, but Minnesota closed out the quarter with a three-pointer and only trailed by one going into the second quarter (15-14).
The Illini started showing more force in the second quarter, driving to the hoop and getting the ball to Hobby and Bostic underneath the rim for easy shots. Another three-pointer from the Gophers tied the game up at 23, but Cook quickly responded with a three-pointer of her own to get the crowd loud again.
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With two minutes left in the half, Minnesota was up by six (34-28), and its ball movement was swift and effective, helping them get the upper hand over Illinois. Minnesota closed out the half with a three-pointer, which brought the lead to 11 (39-28). Both teams shot just over 40% from the field, but a few more three-pointers and offensive rebounds put the game in Minnesota’s hands.
Cook started off the second half with a floater, and she led the team in scoring with 12 points to her name. She soon sank another three-pointer, but Minnesota responded once more, steadying its lead at 10.
Illinois desperately needed an energy boost at at the end of the third quarter, and a three-pointer by Bryant and a jump shot by Cook helped the team get active and ready for the final 10 minutes. Two free throws from Cook and a defensive stop from the team concluded the third quarter, and Illinois trailed by just four points (54-50).
The crowd grew loud after Bryant sank a three-pointer to cut the lead to two points with five and a half minutes to go. Then, a shot by Hobby to tie the game got the fans on their feet, hoping to see a win come out of the State Farm Center.
“It’s been so hard and challenging to see us come up short,” Green noted in the postgame press conference. “They just never stop believing, and a lot of teams could …We finally made shots and made plays, and I’m just so happy for them. How they’ve approached the last two months, even the last couple weeks, has made me really proud because it’s what we want our program to be built on.”
The Illini took the lead for the first time since the starting quarter with a layup by Hobby (64-62). Things got even more intense with another three-pointer by Bryant, which led Minnesota to call a timeout at the 2:46 mark.
Illinois slowed things down in the last minute of the matchup. Illinois fouled Minnesota to make a three-point play, and Illinois was only leading by one with 37 seconds to go (69-68). Hobby scored another layup to bring their lead to three, and two free throws from Cook helped secure the win for Illinois, 73-68.
“We’ve been talking about finishing and really just saying, ‘We’re gonna win this game,’” Green said. “These guys did that. They had the confidence, and they had the execution, and they had the effort, and it was really a fun thing to watch. It’s what we’re capable of doing, and I know we’re just going to continue like everything, win or lose, we just continue to look at it and get better, and keep on moving … I could not be more proud of their fight tonight.”
