Champaign, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season Sunday, Nov. 15, defeating Ohio, 62-53 inside Parkland College. Sophomore Chatrice White led the Illini with 22 points and 13 rebounds, securing her second double-double in as many games. The Illini capitalized on 25 Ohio fouls in the contest, shooting better than 76-percent from the charity stripe.
"Coach said after the game, being able to come back after a rough start just shows how much resilience we have as a team," White said after the game. "We're not going to give up; we just keep fighting through it. We had a rough game on Friday, but for us to come in and pick back up, even from being down early today, really shows our character and who we are as a team."
The Bobcats, who returned three starters from last year's NCAA tournament team, came out strong from the first tip, taking an early lead in the game. The Orange and Blue trailed 23-11 at the end of the first quarter and Ohio led by as much as 13 early in the second quarter. Ohio shot 50-percent from the field in the first quarter, knocking in 3-of-6 from distance as well. Sophomore Chatrice White worked to chip away at the Bobcat lead, tallying a team-leading five points in the quarter.
"I kept calming them down," Bollant said of the team huddle between periods. "Offensively we looked a little sporadic. I told them to let it come to you, quit trying to drive the basketball to draw fouls. I think we were able to change that mentality and be a little more patient, which led to better shots. Ohio got going right away and was so quick off the dribble, I think it shocked us a little bit at the beginning."
The Illini picked up their intensity on defense in the second quarter, allowing only five Bobcat points. Ohio shot just 14-percent after the quarter break. Redshirt sophomore Kennedy Cattenhead accounted for seven of UI's 15 second quarter points as she was 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the period. The Illini cut into the Bobcats lead at half, trailing 28-26.
"I thought Kennedy's three was big, and her poise to calm us down a bit," Bollant said. "She really showed some poise and leadership. She helped to stem the tide a bit and get us going."
White quickly tied things up coming out of the halftime break, and the two teams went to battle. With 5:22 left in the third quarter, a jumper by Cierra Rice gave the Illini their first lead in the game. The two teams traded the lead before freshman Alex Wittinger put the Illini up 34-33. Hartwell helped the Orange and Blue pull away with another jumper of her own and Illinois would hold the lead for the remainder of the contest.
"We felt a lot of confidence going into halftime, especially with how good we looked In the zone," Bollant said. "I think we really felt we could do this, even with such a poor start."
Ohio kept things close in the fourth quarter, but the Illini remained on top. Illinois took advantage of Ohio fouls, as UI went 23-30 from the line in the game. Illinois committed just 10 fouls of its own in the contest, and also outrebounded the Bobcats, 44-33.
The Illini will have a week off before hosting UT Martin on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. The game will be held at Parkland College, with tickets available at the door for just $5.
Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest on Illinois Women's Basketball.
Notes
-Illini improve to 2-0 on the season for the second consecutive year under head coach Matt Bollant.
-Sophomore Chatrice White notched her second double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds. It is the second consecutive game that she has grabbed 13 rebounds for the Illini.
-White has tallied two double-doubles in as many games, last season she started the year with three double-doubles in the first four games.
-Redshirt sophomore Kennedy Cattenhead tallied a career-best seven points in the contest, surpassing her previous career best of five.
-The Illini went 23-for-30 from the free throw line in the game, capitalizing on Ohio's 25 fouls in the game. The Illini shot 76.7-percent from the line, good for the best outing since shooting 87.5-percent (7-of-8) against Northwestern on Feb. 8, 2015.
