Illinois (14-14, 8-10) makes its way to Minneapolis for the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament as the No. 9 seed with Maryland (17-12, 9-9) standing in the way. This marks the 17th matchup between the two programs; however, it has not been close in the series.
The Illini have never beaten the Terrapins since first playing them in 1982, and the closest game between the two was earlier this year when the latter won 90-82 in College Park, Maryland.
Illinois closed its regular season with a nail-biter win on Senior Day against Nebraska. The Illini defense held the Cornhuskers to 31.8% from the field in the fourth quarter. Better yet for head coach Shauna Green, they did not allow a single field goal in the final five minutes, and the Cornhuskers were overall scoreless in the final 2:30 of the fourth quarter.
Additionally, the Illini received a few honors on Monday, as multiple players were named to All-Big Ten teams by coaches and media. Senior guard Makira Cook was named to the All-Big Ten second team. Senior forward Kendall Bostic was named a second team member as well by the media, receiving an honorable mention from coaches. Senior guard Genesis Bryant also earned an honorable mention in both polls. Lastly, freshman guard Gretchen Dolan was named to the All-Freshman Team in the coach’s poll.
Bostic also received the Sportsmanship Award for the third year in a row. Maryland had a few players named to the All-Big Ten teams as well, with three players getting the nod from the coaches and media polls.
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The Terrapins have gone through a gauntlet on their way to Minneapolis, with their strength of schedule being No. 7 in the country. Sitting at No. 35 in the NET rankings, the Terrapins pose a great threat to Green’s team, which comes in at No. 48.
Maryland scores about 77.9 points per game and allows 73.1 to its opponents. The Illini, on the other hand, score about 74.8 points per game while allowing 68.3, so something will have to give in this battle.
With the opening tip set for 11:30 a.m. CT, Illinois looks to advance to the quarterfinals where it would take on Ohio State, the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten. The good thing for the Illini is that they have won a game in the conference tournament in three successive seasons, and they look to make it four straight for the first time since 2008-11.
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