Twelve Illini saw action in Thursday’s preseason exhibition against Maryville, including two freshman starters: forward Cearah Parchment and guard Destiny Jackson.
Parchment led the team with 22 points, 13 rebounds and a steal. Jackson had a quieter scoring night, but still added nine points, five steals and four assists. Her performance showed she is ready for the responsibility of starting point guard.
“Destiny had good shots and she got to the rim, she just didn’t make some of them,” said head coach Shauna Green. “She had a good floor game and she’ll continue to get better.”
Following the exhibition match, Illinois opens its season against Southeast Missouri on Tuesday. Once again, the Illini will be without Iowa transfer sophomore guard Aaliyah Guyton, but Green is still confident in her remaining point guards’ skills.
“(Jasmine Brown-Hagger) did a good job coming in for Destiny,” Green said. “I feel good about our point guard situation right now. This is really good because it gets Destiny a ton of experience. Hopefully, once we get Aaliyah back and get Destiny further into the season, it will help her adapt.”
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Vasconcelos’ return
Green is excited to have redshirt sophomore center Lety Vasconcelos back in the team’s rotation. The center suffered an ACL tear before the 2024-25 season and has battled her way back.
“She’s been through a lot this past year in terms of surgery and her recovery,” Green said. “Having her back out there is a blessing. To see her with so much joy just being out there and how grateful she is. I’m so happy for her as a person.”
Sophomore forward Berry Wallace was also excited to see her teammate’s return on Thursday. She said that Vasconcelos’ return brings not only a lot of size on the court, but a joy to the team as well.
“We didn’t have much size in the past,” Wallace said. “So just having her down there and getting to see her back out on the court has been so much fun. Sometimes you just get so caught up in the season, and things get crazy, but just seeing how excited she is to get back on the court every day is encouraging for us.”
Green doesn’t plan on rushing Vasconcelos back. Her minutes may be limited, but the center hopes her impact won’t be.
“My goal is to be consistent and efficient with the minutes I get,” Vasconcelos said. “I want to do whatever I can and do my best to help the team win.”
She proved in her 15 minutes against Maryville that she is ready to come back and contribute to the team. She scored seven points, grabbed seven rebounds and had one block.
“I was happy to be able to be out there again,” Vasconcelos said. “I had such a rush. I was happy to be able to do what I know I can do. Happy is the word to describe me right now.”
Takeaways from Thursday
Just like Maryville, SEMO will be a tough matchup. This is the Redhawks’ first game of the season, so there aren’t many statistics to go off of, but Green anticipates their playstyle to be as aggressive as Maryville’s.
“Maryville got us in rotation too much,” Green said. “For a team like that, that’s what they thrive on, and the same thing with SEMO. They’re also really aggressive. They’re going to try to get in the paint, so we got to keep people out.”
The Redhawks return only five players from their 2024-25 team, including two who averaged double-digit points: graduate student guard Lexi McCully (11.2) and senior guard Da’Kariya Jackson (14.3). They also brought back a productive center. Sophomore Ainaya Williams averaged 9.2 PPG and had 53 blocks across her 26 games.
Last year, SEMO struggled to grab rebounds, averaging only 31 per game while allowing its opponents 38 boards. The Illini outrebounded Maryville on Thursday, 36-28, but the Redhawks have added two more players who are 6 feet or above, potentially making them more dangerous on the glass. Boxing out will be key for Illinois to grab those second-chance opportunities.
The Illini tip off their regular season at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at State Farm Center. The game is available on B1G+.
