Slow starts have been the talk of the Illinois (17-8, 7-7) locker room for over a week now. Both coaches and players have been trying to get to the root of the issue, and it seems they’ve found the solution.
“We were just playing very together, very unselfish, and we were always talking to each other on the court,” said junior guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger. “That just kind of helped us know that our team needs to have our back. If someone made a mistake, we were talking it out right there in the moment, dealing with it right then and there. That’s why we were able to have those quick turnarounds after a little bit of adversity.”
This connection stretched from the starters to the bench, as all healthy Illini took the court tonight. With three minutes to go and up by 40, head coach Shauna Green put in sophomore center Hayven Smith, graduate student forward Gisela Segura, sophomore guard Mia Zenere and sophomore forward Irene Noya Catoira alongside starting sophomore guard Aaliyah Guyton. The lineup got a standing ovation from the energetic crowd.
Every single player brought their A-game against Wisconsin (13-11, 5-8). From defense to scoring, the Illini didn’t give the Badgers an inch. For a team that usually shoots 35.7% from three and averages nine made threes, the Illini held them to five 3-pointers on 21.7%. Conversely, the Illini hit a season-best 64.7% from beyond the arc.
“A total, balanced game of six people in double-figures,” Green said. “I’m just really proud of our execution level and our response from a tough one on Sunday.”
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
Off to a good start
For the first few minutes of the game, it seemed like Illinois might be off to another hesitant start. Every shot the Illini hit, the Badgers had a response. It wasn’t until Guyton hit her second and third threes of the night to put the Illini up 6 that they started to settle into the game.
Guyton wasn’t the only one pushing the Illini ahead on the offensive end. Freshman forward Cearah Parchment was doing her part. She scored the first points of the game, grabbing an offensive rebound and converting the putback.
This first basket foreshadowed her dominant first-quarter performance. She was 1 point and one rebound off a double-double in one quarter.
“I’m gonna be honest, it kinda just felt like the ball was falling into my hands in the first quarter,” Parchment said. “It didn’t really feel like I was going after it. I was just getting on the boards.”
It seemed like Parchment was flying into every missed basket on both ends of the floor all game. The team is much stronger when she is active on the glass. The freshman grabbed all four of her o-boards of the game in the first quarter, which directly led to 6 points. Four of those second-chance points were her own.
Defense got the Illini going
The scoring was strong, but what really gave Illinois the boost it needed for a strong start was its defense. It limited Wisconsin to only six attempts from the 3-point line in the first quarter, leading to only two makes. The Badgers finished only 5 for 23. The early 3-point defense set the tone for the Illini not to give up anything easy.
“It all starts with our defense,” Green said. “We came out, and we defended at an elite level, and we rebounded. We can hang our hat on the intensity of our defense. That is who we are.”
Redshirt sophomore center Lety Vasconcelos was huge on defense during all her minutes on the floor. She was relentless on defense and with her rebounding from the moment she was first subbed in. She had an immediate impact, assisting Parchment’s sixth point and then scoring her own basket on the following play.
One area that Green wanted Vasconcelos to improve on was going up strong to the basket.
“Stay strong, Lety!” Green said when Vasconcelos missed an easy look against Wisconsin’s freshman center Dorja Zaja near the end of the quarter.
From then on, every layup and rebound the Brazilian went up for, she wouldn’t be denied. The Badgers couldn’t shut her down, and she grabbed the team’s second-most rebounds.
Players of the game: Parchment, Guyton, Webber
All 12 Illini who took the floor had some of their strongest performances to date. But three especially stood out.
First, Parchment recorded her ninth double-double of the season. This marks her third stretch this season where she has had back-to-back double-double performances. She also topped her season-best in rebounding, grabbing 15.
“I was having my energy towards other things rather than scoring tonight,” Parchment said.
While her numbers are impressive on any night, her strong offensive rebounding and hard work on scoring in the first half set her team up for success.
The second Illini who undeniably secured the blowout was Guyton. The Iowa transfer’s early threes were crucial in Illinois distancing itself from Wisconsin. She now holds the Illinois programs’ best 3-point accuracy with a minimum of six attempts, shooting a perfect 100% from beyond the arc. Three of those came during the first quarter.
“I definitely did not feel it coming,” Guyton said about her career night. “I was just grateful for the opportunity, just knowing the preparation and things that I do behind the scenes. Not just me, but my teammates. So it’s really not even a surprise when great things happen to us. I feel like we deserve it.”
Guyton also recorded her first career 20-point night. She finished with 22 points, far ahead of her season-best of 13 and career-best of 15, which she hit with Iowa. She topped her season best in assists as well, dishing out six. To top it all off, she attempted her most field goals, shooting 13 times. This is only her second game attempting more than 10 shots.
Green has mentioned how practicing more brings out confidence. Now that Guyton seems to have gotten over her injuries and been with the team more consistently, her playing time, production and confidence have all grown.
“She’s having joy playing the game,” Green said. “You see her smiling a lot, and that matters. I keep telling her the last few weeks ‘Just keep shooting. Shoot, shoot, shoot.’ And tonight she did, you guys all saw it.”
The last Illini who played a big role in the team’s victory was junior guard Maddie Webber. Webber shot her most efficient game of the season, going 7 for 9. Through three quarters, she was perfect from the floor, hitting all five of her shots, including a 4 for 4 streak in the second quarter.
“If we can have Maddie do that and be that efficient, that’s when we’re at our best,” Green said. “I’m like, ‘You guys got to be relentless getting in the paint,’ and I thought she did a great job at that. Her pull up in the paint, you can’t guard it. She has the turnaround, and that’s something she does at a high level. Then, she got to the rim a lot, so I thought she was great tonight.”
Illinois as a whole had a strong response after dropping two tough losses to Oregon (18-8, 6-7) and USC (15-9, 7-6). If the Illini can carry this momentum into the last games of the season, they will go a long way in growing their confidence for postseason play.
@briedirl
