Heading into the second round of the WNIT, the Illinois women’s basketball team will have to accomplish something it hasn’t done all season: win against an in-state opponent at home.
After defeating Miami (Ohio) in the first round of the WNIT on Thursday, Illinois will face its fourth in-state opponent, Eastern Illinois, in the second round of the WNIT on Monday.
Illinois is 0-3 against in-state opponents at Assembly Hall this season. Bradley was the first to knock off the Illini, winning by a score of 83-77 on Nov. 15. Illinois State left Champaign with a 69-68 victory on Dec. 21, while Northwestern squeezed out a 62-58 win on January 20. Eastern Illinois heads to Assembly Hall from Charleston, Ill. which is only about an hour away from Champaign.
The Panthers of the Ohio Valley Conference advanced to the second round of the WNIT behind a jumper with 19 seconds left by senior guard Ta’Kenya Nixon in a 60-58 win over Missouri in Columbia, Mo., on Wednesday. The victory was the school’s first postseason win in program history. Nixon, who scored 27 points, will be a focus of the Illini defense.
“The point guard was unbelievable last night (on Wednesday),” Bollant said of Nixon. “She shot 13-of-17 from the court, hit the game winner, and obviously we gotta limit her.”
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Senior forward Mariah King is Eastern Illinois’ other double-digit scorer, averaging 13.9 points per game on the season. She is also one of four Panther’s to average 5.8 rebounds or better. Eastern Illinois is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, averaging 43.0 rebounds per game compared with only 33.0 from Illinois. The Panthers also own a rebound margin of +6.5, which is top 30 in the country, whereas Illinois is outrebounded by its opponent by 4.7 on average.
Illinois will attempt to combat its rebounding woes with its advantage in the turnover department. Coming off a game in which Illinois forced 26 turnovers, Illinois improved its turnover margin to +6.7, which is among the leaders in the nation. Eastern Illinois, meanwhile, turns it over as often as its opponent, holding a +0.1 margin. Although turnovers have been a strength of Illinois throughout the season, Bollant thinks the Illini can improve their effectiveness on offense after forcing a turnover.
“That hasn’t been a strength of ours, taking advantage when we get turnovers, but it’s something we can grow and get better at,” Bollant said.
Junior guard Amber Moore will try to build on her first round performance against Miami where she scored a season high 25 points and five 3-pointers. Moore also hit numerous timely shots to fend off a Miami run.
“I was just in rhythm,” Moore said after her performance on Thursday. “My teammates found me in the right spots in the offense and I was just in rhythm.”
To boost attendance for Monday’s game, the Courtsiders booster club is buying tickets for the first 100 students. The tickets can be claimed at the Assembly Hall ticket office anytime on Monday.
“Really thrilled to be playing at home, big advantage to be playing at home,” Bollant said. “We’re thrilled we get to play at home. Hopefully Monday we’ll get some more fans out, and we need that.”
The winner of Monday’s game will face Toledo, who won 61-43 against Youngstown State on Saturday.
Michael can be reached at [email protected].
