Illinois (1-0) started its season off strong Tuesday night. The Illini took down the Redhawks (0-1) 91-67 in a fiery match. What started off as a slow and narrow-margin game, ended in a fast-paced matchup with Illinois up 24.
Three Illini scored points in the double digits. Sophomore forward Berry Wallace and junior guards Gretchen Dolan and Maddie Webber scored 27, 16 and 16 points, respectively. Their combined 59 points accounted for over 64% of the squad’s total scoring.
Berry’s buckets
Wallace achieved her first career double-double and a career high in points. She scored 27 points and 11 rebounds in her 35 minutes of play.
“I think my teammates really helped,” Wallace said. “They were able to get a lot of assists. I think I was able to get some really good looks based off my passes from my teammates, which I think was really helpful to get some easy buckets going.”
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While Wallace noted that her teammates’ efforts, specifically their 16 combined assists, contributed to her double-double, head coach Shauna Green mentioned this has been an active goal.
“Really proud of Berry for getting 11 rebounds,” Green said. “It’s something that we’ve been really talking about and trying to get her to get on the board more.”
As Wallace continues to grow, her playing style evolves as well. She’s starting to become a more versatile player on the court while being a leader.
“Last year, my role was more so shooting threes,” Wallace said. “I think I knew I wanted to come in this year and just work on expanding my game.”
Foul trouble
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had a team that sent someone to the line 34 times,” Green said. “We obviously need to be more disciplined in our defense and not bailing people out.”
Despite minimal fouls in their exhibition win last week, the Illini showed a new side in the season opener. In the first quarter alone, the Illini committed seven fouls.
The Redhawks were even more aggressive than the Illini with nine fouls. It was clear that both teams were trying hard to get each other to stay out of the paint.
By the end of the second quarter, the Illini were up to 13 fouls. Eight out of the nine players who had minutes notched at least one foul.
As the game progressed, the fouls continued to pile up. The Illini had two players foul out of the game and another two players with four fouls.
Freshman guard Destiny Jackson and junior guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger were both one foul away from fouling out, but both of them managed to stay in the game for 33 and 27 minutes, respectively.
After a standout performance during the exhibition, freshman forward Cearah Parchment fouled out in the third quarter after playing for only 11 minutes. Green noted how it felt like Parchment played for longer.
“I don’t want Cece (Parchment) to ever be in foul trouble,” Green said. “But, it’s a good learning experience for her. Also for our team to have to step up, and who’s going to step up when something like that happens.”
Redshirt sophomore center Lety Vasconcelos is slowly making her return to the court after missing last season with an injury. She also fouled out in the win, but managed seven points and six assists in 13 minutes.
Slow and steady wins the game
The match started off slowly for the Illini. Green started off with the same lineup from last week of Wallace, Dolan, Parchment, Jackson and Brown-Hagger.
Sophomore center Hayven Smith, Vasconcelos and Webber all came off the bench at points during the first quarter and scored two, two and one point, respectively.
Illinois ended the first quarter with 19 points and a five-point lead. By the end of the second quarter, the five-point lead had ballooned to 12.
Illinois definitely picked up their speed during the second quarter. The players started to form more chemistry on the court, making more impressive plays and overall playing more cohesively.
The energy continued to pick up after halftime, especially in the third quarter.
“I think we always know we have to come out in the third quarter and give our best effort,” Wallace said. “Just knowing that the first five minutes of the third quarter are the most important for the second half. Just knowing that’s going to bring our fuel for the rest of the half.”
Not only did the Illini score more points in the second half, Green noted how the defense improved as well.
“I thought we came out and really responded with better defensive energy, better defensive intensity,” Green said. “That allowed us to get out and score a lot of points in transition in Phoenix when we’re at our best.”
With only one quarter to go, the Illini had nearly a 30-point lead against the Redhawks, 72-43. In the end, Illinois managed a 24-point margin of victory against SEMO.
Moving ahead to Sunday, Green mentioned how facing SEMO’s tough play style will benefit Illinois as it continues through its season.
“(SEMO) were a much better team than last year,” Green said. “They’re physical. I thought that was good for us. I’m glad they pressed us. It was good for us to see the press a little bit going into our next game.”
The Illini are back in State Farm Center Sunday to take on the Illinois State Redbirds (1-0). Tipoff is at noon, and the game is available to stream on B1G+.
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