CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's basketball opened the 2016-17 season on Friday morning, falling to Marshall 55-53. Sophomore Alex Wittinger led Illinois with 15 points and eight rebounds, while redshirt junior Kennedy Cattenhead also finished in double-figures for the Orange and Blue. Illinois falls to 0-1 on the season and 25-18 all-time in season openers.
"I was proud of the way we started the game; I thought the focus and energy we played with in the first quarter was really good. We built a good lead," head coach Matt Bollant said. "Then I thought we started to play to the score, we didn't have that same energy and didn't do as good a job of getting our shot. We didn't share the ball as well, and we started to take some tougher shots."
The Illini used a young lineup to start the season, as freshmen Brandi Beasley and Ali Andrews earned their first career starts against the Thundering Herd. They were joined by sophomores Cierra Rice, Jaelyne Kirkpatrick and Wittinger. The young group got off to a hot start, outscoring Marshall 17-4 in the first period. Cattenhead led the Illini off the bench in the first quarter, putting up seven points and grabbing three rebounds.
Marshall quickly turned up the heat in the second quarter, outscoring the Illini 23-10 to tie the game at 27 heading into the half.
The Illini regained the lead in the third quarter, holding on to the advantage for most of the period. Marshall, however, tied the game at 41 with just over a minute left in the quarter, before taking a 43-41 lead heading into the final period. Freshman Petra Holešínská put up four points in the third quarter, as she tallied six points in her first outing for the Orange and Blue. She also grabbed four rebounds and tallied one rejection on the day.
The Illini worked to cut at the Marshall lead in the fourth quarter, as Kirkpatrick and Wittinger combined to take back the advantage. Marshall fought back, however, and took a six-point lead midway through the final period. Wittinger and Beasley put the Illini back on top thanks to a 7-0 Illini run, but Marshall again took back its lead making three consecutive shots from the free throw line. Wittinger scored nine of Illinois' 12 fourth-quarter points, also grabbing three rebounds and a block to end the contest.
The Illini held Marshall to 29-percent shooting on the day and forced 21 turnovers, but were outrebounded 42-39. Five Illini saw their first action for the Orange and Blue on Friday as Sarah Overcash and Courtney Joens joined freshmen Beasley, Andrews and Holešínská on the floor for Illinois. Beasley tallied eight points, seven rebounds, an assist and a steal in her Illini debut, while Andrews finished with four points, three rebounds, one block and one steal.
"We will learn, we were better today than we were last week," Bollant said. "We just have to keep growing and be a better team on Sunday than we were today. I thought we grew a lot in practice this week, and we just have to keep growing and getting better."
The Illini will host Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday at noon and selected players will sign autographs following the contest.
Stay tuned to FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illinois women's basketball.
Notes
-Illinois opened its 43rd season of women's basketball on Friday, Nov. 11
-The Illini are 25-18 all-time in season openers
-Freshmen Brandi Beasley and Ali Andrews earned their first career starts for the Orange and Blue
-Beasley, Andrews, Sarah Overcash, Petra Holešínská, and Courtney Joens all made their first appearances at the State Farm Center
-Sophomore Cierra Rice played a career-high 40 minutes on Friday
-Sophomore Alex Wittinger earned her 14th career double-figure scoring game with 15 points on the day
-Kennedy Cattenhead's 10 points mark her 10th-career game scoring in double-digits
