INDIANAPOLIS – Fighting Illini women's basketball topped the Nebraska Huskers, 79-70, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Illini netted a Big Ten Tournament record 14 three-pointers on Wednesday afternoon, led by freshman Ali Andrews. Andrews led Illinois with a career-high 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting from three-point range. Freshmen Brandi Beasley and Petra Holešínská were also among team leaders with 20 and 21 points, respectively, as the UI freshmen contributed 71 of Illinois' 79 points.
"I am really happy for those three freshmen," head coach Matt Bollant said. "The poise that they played with, their fearlessness and their confidence. Those guys have all been in the gym: Courtney {Joens}, Ali {Andrews}, Brandi {Beasley}, Petra {Holesinska} and all of our freshmen have been in the gym a lot. I thought Jaelyne {Kirkpatrick} did a great job with eight assists and no turnovers. We only had five turnovers for the game which is a huge number in the postseason, especially when you're so young. I'm really proud of the way we took care of the ball today. We made some wrinkles offensively, obviously, those things showed up. It was good to see us execute what we have worked on for the last couple of days and it was really effective."
The Huskers started strong on Wednesday, pulling ahead to an 8-0 lead early on. The Illini pushed back, ending the quarter on an 18-3 run for the 22-14 lead heading into the second quarter. Andrews was hot from distance right from the start, netting 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, while Courtney Joens and Petra Holešínská also added triples in the opening frame. Illinois forced five Nebraska turnovers, capitalizing with seven points off of those miscues.
The Illini continued their run into the second quarter with eight consecutive points, holding the Huskers without a field goal for a total of almost seven minutes of play. Nebraska turned it back on, using a 13-0 run to chip away at the Illini lead. A Joens three-pointer helped the Orange and Blue to keep their distance, but Nebraska continued to fight. The Huskers outscored the Illini, 18-14, in the second quarter, but Illinois took a 36-32 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Illini netted five first-half treys on 43.8-percent shooting from three-point range. Andrews swiped three steals before the halftime break to match her career-high, and her 10 first-half points mark her sixth time in double-figures this season. Holešínská led Illinois with 13 points at the half, while Kirkpatrick contributed four of Illinois' eight assists.
After tallying just four points in the first half, Beasley came out hot after the break posting 10 of Illinois 20 third-quarter points. However, Huskers used six three-pointers in the third quarter to pull ahead. The Huskers shot 73-percent from the floor in the third quarter to take a 61-56 advantage.
The Illini weren't finished, as Andrews knocked down consecutive treys to combine with Beasley for an 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter and regain the lead. Nebraska used back-to-back buckets to take the lead once more in the final frame, but the Orange and Blue outscored Nebraska 15-4 to close the quarter and advance to the second round. As a team, Illinois netted four of its treys in the final period, with three of those coming from Andrews.
Illinois shot 39.3-percent on the day as the Huskers closed the game on 47.4-percent shooting. Illinois tallied 10 second chance points off of eight offensive boards and forced 17 Huskers turnovers.
"It was very exciting," Beasley said of her first appearance in the Big Ten Tournament. "I was looking forward to it. I think we came out and we played great. We played with a lot of heart and energy and it was fun."
The Illini will take on the No. 5 seed Purdue tomorrow at approximately 1:30 p.m. CT. Stay tuned to FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illinois women's basketball.
Notes
-The Fighting Illini improved to 9-21 on the season with Wednesday's 79-70 victory over No. 13 seeded Nebraska. The Illini improve to 2-0 over Nebraska this season.
-Wednesday's victory marks Illinois' first Big Ten Tournament victory since the 2010-11 season when the Illini advanced to the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
-Illinois improves to 18-22 all-time in Big Ten Tournament play.
-The Illini knocked down 14 three-pointers as a team to set a new Big Ten Tournament record. The number marks a season-high for the Illini as well.
-The 14 three-pointers are the second-most for Illinois in a single game in program history.
-The freshman class contributed 71 of Illinois' 79 points on the day (90%), led by Ali Andrews who finished with 24.
-Three freshmen tallied 20 or more points in the game, marking the first time that Illinois has had three 20+-point scorers in a Big Ten Tournament game in program history.
-The Illini committed a season-low five turnovers on the day.
-The five turnovers for Illinois is tied for the fewest in a game in Big Ten Tournament history. First time since March 3, 2006 that a team had five turnovers in a game (Illinois vs. Purdue)
Individual Notes
-Freshman Ali Andrews scored a career-high 24 points on 6-for-10 shooting from three-point range.
-Andrews made a career-high six three-point field goals. The total is the most for an Illini in a Big Ten Tournament game.
- The seven made field goal attempts is the most this season by Andrews.
-Andrews had a career-high four steals.
-Sophomore Jaelyne Kirkpatrick matched her career-high with eight assists, also matching Illinois' Big Ten Tournament single-game record which she set last season.
-Freshman Brandi Beasley notched her sixth game of the season scoring 20 or more points as she finished with 20 points on 50-percent shooting including going 3-of-3 from distance. Beasley is a combined 4-for-4 from distance against Nebraska this season.
-Beasley played all 40 minutes in the game for the fifth time this season.
