CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's basketball dropped a hard-fought contest on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Boilermakers, 72-64. Illinois freshmen Brandi Beasley and Petra Holešínská led the Orange and Blue, combining for 41 of Illinois' points. Beasley has scored 20 or more points in her last three games, while Holešínská's 21 points match her season-high number. Sophomore Alex Wittinger also tallied double-digit scoring numbers as she finished with 14 points and a team-leading seven rebounds. Wittinger posted five rejections on the night, moving into ninth all-time for her 58 blocked shots this season. With Sunday's setback, the Illini fall to 8-16 overall and 3-8 in Big Ten play.
"I am disappointed for our team," head coach Matt Bollant said. "I felt like, going in, we were ready to go; we were ready to get it done today. I felt like in the first half, we didn't do a very good job of finding the shooters. Purdue usually makes four three-pointers in a game and they made nine in the first half. I thought in the second half, we battled and fought enough, but then didn't get defensive rebounds when we had to have them. I thought these two {Brandi Beasley and Petra Holešínská} were really good and Alex {Wittinger} made some good shots. I am proud of these two, I thought we fought in the second half, but we didn't make enough plays to get it done."
Illinois got off to a quick start on Sunday afternoon, trading buckets and the lead with the Boilermakers to start the game. Wittinger, Beasley and Holešínská combined for a three-point Illini lead, but Purdue responded with a 13-2 run to close the first quarter with a 22-15 advantage.
The Illini forced four Purdue turnovers to start the second quarter, also knocking down two buckets in a row to close the gap. Purdue continued to respond, however, as the Boilermakers were hot from distance in the second frame. Despite nine turnovers in the second quarter, Purdue made 5-of-6 shots from deep to maintain its 41-32 lead at the half. Beasley crossed into double-figures in the period, leading Illinois with 12 points at the half. Wittinger posted two steals in the second quarter, as did redshirt junior Kennedy Cattenhead, but the Boilermakers outrebounded the Illini, 15-9, before the halftime break. Illinois shot almost 52-percent in the first half, but made just 2-of-8 shots from three-point range.
The Orange and Blue used a 13-4 third-quarter run to cut into the deficit coming out of the halftime break. The Illini combined for three treys in the third quarter, holding Purdue to just one make from distance. Holešínská knocked down two of those threes for Illinois, while senior Ashley McConnell also added a triple. The Boilermakers pushed back, holding the Illini without a field goal for more than four minutes before the fourth quarter.
Wittinger ended the Illini drought, netting a jumper to start the fourth quarter. The Boilermakers played tough defense to open the final frame, but the Illini pushed back to outscore Purdue 17-14 to close the game. Illinois shot 60-percent from the field, led by Holešínská, who did not miss a shot to end the game. She tallied seven points in the fourth quarter to match the career-best scoring mark she originally set against Rutgers. Illinois held Purdue without a three-pointer in the fourth quarter, and forced seven Boilermaker turnovers.
Holešínská also contributed a career-high four assists and a steal on Sunday afternoon. Beasley posted four assists as well, also adding three steals to her tally. Illinois assisted on almost 50-percent of its field goals and forced 19 Boilermaker turnovers in the game.
The Illini will take on No. 3 Maryland for the second time this season, this time heading to College Park for a Thursday evening contest. The game will tipoff at 6 p.m. CT and will be live streamed on BTN Plus.
Stay tuned to FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illinois women's basketball.
Team Notes:
- The Illini fell to 8-16 overall and 3-8 in Big Ten play with a 72-64 loss against the Purdue Boilermakers. Illinois falls to 8-16 overall and 3-8 in Big Ten play.
- Three Illini scored in double-figures on Sunday afternoon. Illinois has had two or more players in double-figures in all but two games this season.
Individual Notes:
- Freshman Petra Holesinska tied her career-high with 21 points. The scoring effort was good for her 12th double-digit scoring game this season.
- Holesinska dished a career-high four assists in the in the contest.
- Holesinska matched a career high with both seven field goals and five three-point field goals.
- Holesinska saw a career-high 38 minutes of action.
- Freshman Brandi Beasley finished with 20 points, marking her third consecutive game scoring 20 points or more, her fifth consecutive game in double-digits and 16th game in double-digits this season.
- Senior Ashley McConnell knocked down her first three-point field goal in a conference game this season.
- Sophomore Alex Wittinger contributed 14 points in the game. That's Wittinger's 16th consecutive double-digit scoring effort and 22nd such game this season.
- Wittinger also had five blocks in the game, good for her second game with five or more blocks this season.
- Wittinger also two steals in the game, which marks her sixth game of the season with multiple blocks and steals.
