CHAMPAIGN – Fighting Illini women's basketball earned a 74-62 victory over the Bradley Braves on Saturday, as four Illini scored in double-figures. Sophomore Brandi Beasley led Illinois with 16 points and seven assists, and sophomore Petra Holešínská earned her second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. With the victory, the Illini improve to 3-1 on the season.
"We've been working so much on trying to grit through things, and I felt like that was my frustration against Chicago State," head coach Nancy Fahey said, "We won, but I didn't feel the same energy. This is the first time I feel like they understood what it means to grit through things and play hard, and I thought they did that."
The Braves struck first on Saturday, knocking down the first bucket of the game, but Illinois quickly pulled ahead to a 10-point lead in the first quarter. Holešínská put five quick points on the board for Illinois, while redshirt senior Kennedy Cattenhead added six points of her own in the opening period. Despite holding an early lead in the contest, the Illini and the Braves headed into the second quarter tied up at 22, as Bradley used a 14-0 run to close in on the Orange and Blue.
The Illini took back the lead to start the second quarter as Wittinger and Beasley combined for back-to-back buckets. Cattenhead added seven more points in the second frame, earning her first double-figure scoring game of the season. The two teams went back-and-forth for much of the period, but an 8-0 Illini run kept the Orange and Blue on top before the break, 40-34. Cattenhead led all scorers with 13 points in the first half as she went a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor, including 2-for-2 from three-point range.
UI held Bradley without a three-pointer in the second quarter after the Braves went 4-for-5 from distance to open the game, and Illinois forced nine Bradley turnovers in the first half.
The Illini continued to fight after the break as Bradley put the pressure on in the third quarter. Bradley used three treys in the period to keep the score close, but the Illini held on to take a 54-53 lead into the final quarter.
Illinois held Bradley to just nine fourth-quarter points, helping to secure Saturday's win. The Orange and Blue defense held the Braves without a point for more than five minutes to close out the game, going on a 13-0 run during that span.
"We keep referring to energy and playing with some emotion; playing like they practice," Fahey said. "We hadn't really transferred it for people to see on this court. I knew that these guys have been working really hard, but that feeling you saw today is what we're trying to build on, and sometimes you just have to play games to make that happen.
The Illini capitalized on 80-percent free throw shooting Saturday afternoon, and carded 19 second-chance points off of 11 offensive boards. The Orange and Blue also tallied 23 points off of 16 Bradley turnovers.
Next up, Illinois will host Western Illinois on Tuesday, November 21, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. The game will mark the beginning of Illinois' Toy Drive, as the Illini join with the Blue Crew to collect donations for the Toys for Tots organization.
TEAM NOTES
-Illinois improves to 11-4 in the all-time series against Bradley. The Illini are 6-2 all-time against the Braves in Champaign.
-The Illini are now 3-1 on the season and under head coach Nancy Fahey.
-Illinois scored a season-high 23 points off of Bradley turnovers
-Four Illini scored in double-figures for the first time since February 9, 2017 (#3 Maryland 84, Illinois 59).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
-Sophomore G Petra Holešínská carded her first double-double of the season and the second in her career (11 pts, 10 rbs)
-Junior Alex Wittinger scored in double-digits for the third consecutive game. She finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
-Redshirt senior Kennedy Cattenhead posted a season-high 13 points and matched her season-high with five boards.
