Illinois women’s basketball (16-15) returned to the State Farm Center for one final time in the 2023-24 season with another postseason victory on its mind. Standing in the way, the Stony Brook Seawolves hoped to finish the Illini off en route to the quarterfinals of the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.
The Illini held a No. 4 spot on their side of the bracket while the Seawolves knocked off the No. 1 James Madison Dukes on Thursday, setting up this matchup. The Illini took down the Missouri State Lady Bears in a thrilling 74-69 victory on Thursday.
The starters for head coach Shauna Green remained the same as usual. Senior guards Genesis Bryant, Makira Cook, junior guard Adalia McKenzie, senior forward Kendall Bostic and fifth-year center Camille Hobby rounded out the starting five for the Illini. McKenzie posted a career-high 28 points as the Illini dominated their way to a 79-62 victory.
The Illini faithful showed up to support the squad, as they won the tip and Cook hit an early three-pointer to start the game. It was a tightly contested game at the under-five timeout in the first quarter, as the Illini held a 15-13 lead over the Seawolves, with every starter recording points in the first several minutes.
Illinois closed the first quarter strong, going on a 10-0 run. Stony Brook failed to score in the last three minutes of the quarter, as Illinois took advantage of its strong defense to bolster its lead to 27-16. The Illini continued their dominance in the second quarter, pushing it to a 17-2 run.
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Stony Brook got some stops, but still could not get much on the board, as Illinois led 35-20 heading into the final media timeout of the first half. Bostic led the way for the Illini, posting a first-half double-double with over 150 seconds left. The Illini closed the first half with a 45-26 advantage over the Seawolves.
“It’s a reliability thing,” Bostic said. “My teammates know that I’m going to crash and grab a rebound.”
The Illini came out of the locker room a little shaky, but they got it together, going on a 7-0 run to push the lead to 53-33, leading to a Seawolves timeout. The Illini went into the third media timeout of the afternoon with a 58-35 lead, their biggest of the day. The Illini fans were loud all game long, and Green was amused by it.
“They (Orange Krush) said something to the ref,” Green said. “I was like ‘Oh, that was good.’ They can say some things I can’t say, I like having Orange Krush right behind us.”
The Seawolves came out of the media timeout strong, outscoring the Illini 11-6 in the ensuing action and leading Green to call a timeout. The Illini rebounded, taking a 22-point lead going into the final 10 minutes of action. Stony Brook closed the gap to 14, going on a 9-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter, but a McKenzie and-one ended the run.
The Illini maintained a 16-point lead at the final media timeout and finished the game on top, advancing to the quarter-finals of the inaugural WBIT. Illinois travels to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a Thursday match-up in the quarterfinals, with a trip to Indianapolis on the line.
@arrosen76
