The Illinois women’s basketball team finally beat Iowa.

Thursday night’s matchup against No. 24 Iowa was the Illini senior class’ last chance to notch a victory over Morgan Johnson and Jaime Printy, who have gone 5-0 against the Illini in their four years against Illinois.

Illinois seniors Karisma Penn and Adrienne GodBold made the most of that opportunity, combining for 35 points and 12 rebounds in a 74-62 win. The Illini moved into a tie for third place in the Big Ten.

“It feels great,” Penn said. “All of the seniors just had a private little party to celebrate. We finally knocked them off.”

Illinois came into the game 0-3 in home conference games this season, a record that sharply contrasted with its 4-0 mark in Big Ten road games. The Illini secured their first home win in January since 2010, when Illinois’ current seniors were freshmen. Thursday’s win against Iowa was Illinois’ first since 2007.

Illinois secured the victory by finally closing out the game with a full roster.

The Illini lead the nation with 22 players fouled out on the season, but Illinois only recorded 10 fouls Thursday night.

Instead, it was Iowa that had foul trouble. The Hawkeyes committed 17 fouls and had two players, Johnson and point guard Samantha Logic foul out. Iowa’s foul trouble allowed Illinois to shoot 15 second-half free throws, while the Hawkeyes attempted none.

The free-throw advantage and tough defense allowed Illinois to finish the game on a 14-2 run to secure the win.

“We showed a lot of grit and a lot of toughness,” Illinois head coach Matt Bollant said.

Iowa started the game in a 2-3 zone that the Illini had difficulty penetrating, losing the ball every time a Hawkeye drove to the basket.

Instead, Illinois stayed in the game by hitting eight 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes to stretch its lead to 31-21 with 3:52 remaining in the first half. Iowa ended the first half on a 10-3 run, but Illinois maintained a 34-31 lead at the half.

Illinois opened the second half by stretching its lead to seven, but Iowa took a 43-41 lead with 13:17 left. The two teams exchanged leads and traded baskets until tying at 60 with 5:31 remaining.

Then the Illini went to work, finishing the game on a 14-2 run to pull ahead for the 12-point victory.

“We held them without scoring down the stretch,” Bollant said. “That’s such a change from the other games that it’s really encouraging.”

Johnson and Printy had dominated play in the matchups, but Johnson was held to six points and four rebounds in just 27 minutes before she fouled out. Printy, who has averaged over 21 points against the Illini, was limited to 13. Penn had early foul trouble causing the 6-foot-4 Johnson to be guarded by 5-foot-9 point guard Alexis Smith.

“I know everybody talks about, ‘How does a guard guard a 6-foot-4 kid?’” Bollant said.  “Well, the system works, the system has worked, and we’re getting better at it.”

Amber Moore and Ivory Crawford helped keep Illinois in the game by combining for nine 3-pointers. Illinois tied a season high with 11 3-pointers after making 11 against Minnesota on Monday. 

Illinois improved to 2-1 against top-25 teams this season. The Illini beat then-No. 6 Georgia 70-59 on Dec. 29 and lost to then-No. 14 Purdue 67-66 in overtime on Jan. 2.

Johnathan can be reached at [email protected] and @jhett93.