CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's basketball fell to the No. 3 Maryland Terrapins on Thursday evening, 94-49. Sophomore Alex Wittinger led the Illini with 21 points, also adding seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Wittinger's two blocks on the night pushed her to the century mark as she has now tallied 100 career rejections. Freshman Brandi Beasley joined Wittinger in double-figures, finishing with 14 points. The Illini fall to 8-13 overall and 3-5 in Big Ten play.
"I give Maryland a lot of credit," head coach Matt Bollant said. "They were a lot better than us tonight; they showed that in every aspect. I thought the game plan in the first half, defensively, worked pretty well, expect for the ability to get a rebound. I thought, offensively in the first half, we were poor in our ability to take good shots and be patient. We took a lot of tough, quick shots. They {Maryland} are really tough defensively."
The Terps capitalized from the free throw line right off the bat on Thursday, making 6-of-7 from the charity stripe in the opening quarter. Maryland forced five Illini turnovers in the first period, scoring six points off those miscues. Beasley, Wittinger and freshman Petra Holešínska scored for the Illini to start the game, and the UI defense held Maryland to just 14-percent shooting from distance.
Maryland continued to put the pressure on through the second quarter, taking a 44-22 lead into the locker room at halftime. Illinois, once again, allowed just one triple from the Terps in the quarter. Wittinger led the Illini with nine first-half points, followed by Beasley who contributed eight points before the break. Sophomore Jaelyne Kirkpatrick added a bucket for Illinois in the half, also tallying two steals.
Illinois and Maryland traded baskets out of the break, but the Terps continued to maintain their lead as they shot 60-percent in the third quarter. The Illini capitalized from the foul line during the period, knocking down 6-of-6 free throws. Wittinger made four from the line for the Illini, leading the squad with six points in the period. She earned her 19th double-figure scoring game of the season.
Beasley was a burst of energy for the Illini in the fourth quarter. She netted consecutive jumpers to cut into Maryland's lead, scoring six of her 14 points in the final period. Wittinger also added six points of her own and swatted both of her rejections in the final frame. The Terps held Illinois to 29-percent shooting on the night and scored 19 points off of 16 Illini turnovers.
"I think in the second half we were better defensively," Bollant said. "I liked the shots we got in the second half better, even though we struggled to make them in the third quarter. I thought these two (Alex Wittinger and Brandi Beasley) and really fought and didn't play to the score. We needed others to step up and play better. I thought Petra (Holešínská) and Jaelyne (Kirkpatrick) did a good job on the defensive boards, but we need some more production from our bench."
Illinois is set for another road trip this weekend, heading to Penn State for a Sunday matchup against the Nittany Lions. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be live streamed on BTN Plus.
GAME NOTES
Team Notes:
-The Illini fell to 8-13 overall and 3-5 in Big Ten play with a 94-49 loss against the Maryland Terrapins.
-The No. 3 Terrapins are the highest ranked opponent that the Illini have faced at the State Farm Center since welcoming No. 3 Ohio State in 2005 (Jan. 30, 2005; Ohio State 69, Illinois 55). Prior to that, the Illini hosted on No. 1 Connecticut on Dec. 10, 2000 (UConn 97, Illini 55)
Individual Notes:
-Sophomore Alex Wittinger reached 100 career blocks with two against Maryland. Wittinger becomes just the eighth player in Illinois program history to surpass the milestone.
-Wittinger scored 21 points in the contest. This marks her 13th consecutive game in double-digits and 19th such game this season. The sophomore has scored 20-plus points in five games this season and seven games in her career.
-Wittinger contributed multiple blocks and steals in the contest. This is her fifth game doing so for the Illini this season.
- Freshman Brandi Beasley's 14 points mark her 13th double-digit scoring effort this season.
- Freshman Courtney Joens had a career-high two blocks.
