INDIANAPOLIS – Fighting Illini women's basketball fell to the No. 5-seeded Purdue Boilermakers on Thursday, 72-58, in Big Ten Tournament play. Three Illini scored in double-figures, led by redshirt junior Kennedy Cattenhead who tallied 15 points and four rebounds. Freshman Brandi Beasley added 14 points for Illinois as well, also grabbing six rebounds and dishing five assists.
"I thought we showed a lot of fight," head coach Matt Bollant said. "I was disappointed in the first quarter, we didn't fight and we didn't make shots. But I thought after that we really fought and did the right things. I thought Kennedy {Cattenhead} played a really great game and did some good things, and Brandi {Beasley} was great as well. I thought Ali {Andrews} was really good in the second half; she stepped up and made plays. We just didn't make enough shots in the first quarter and we didn't have enough gas at the end."
The Boilermakers took an early lead on Thursday afternoon, holding Illinois to just eight first-quarter points. The Illini were led by Cattenhead and Beasley who posted four points each. The Boilermakers shot 50-percent from the floor to open the game, holding Illinois scoreless from three-point range in the first quarter.
Cattenhead quickly changed that, netting a triple for the Illini to start the second quarter as the Illini defense held Purdue without a field goal for more than three minutes. Illinois used a 13-3 run to cut into the Boilermaker lead during the period, tying the game at 25 with just over a minute left in the half. The Boilermakers closed the half with back-to-back buckets to take a 30-25 lead into the locker room.
Cattenhead led Illinois with seven points at the halftime break, while Beasley and freshman Petra Holešínská contributed six each. The Illini outscored Purdue 17-10 in the second quarter, capitalizing with eight points off of three Boilermaker turnovers. The Illini were leading the battle of the boards at halftime, 18-16, and the Orange and Blue assisted on six of nine made field goals.
Illinois chipped away at the Purdue lead out of the half, using a 7-0 run to again tie the game. Purdue took back the lead, but a Beasley jumper once again tied things up. The Illini and the Boilermakers traded baskets throughout the period, but Purdue took a five-point lead into the final frame. Beasley was leading all scorers with 14 points at the end of the third quarter. The Illini netted three treys in the third quarter while shooting 41-percent from the floor.
Purdue knocked down consecutive shots to start the fourth quarter and extend their lead to 10 but the Illini responded with back-to-back field goals of their own before going on a 9-3 run. The Boilermakers, however, outscored Illinois 24-15 in the final frame to earn a 72-58 victory and advance to the next round of tournament play. Illinois shot 46-percent from the field in the fourth quarter, but the Boilermakers shot 63 percent to close the game.
Freshman Ali Andrews also finished in double-digits for the second consecutive game adding 10 of her own. The Illini assisted 59-percent of their field goals on Thursday, led by Beasley who carded five dimes. The Illini outrebounded Purdue, 34-30, on the day as well. The Illini close the season with a 9-22 overall record.
"I'm proud of the growth of this team," Bollant said. "Obviously we weren't the team we wanted to be in the nonconference, but we got better throughout. Obviously we're going to miss Ashley {McConnell}, she has an incredible heart. But to have 71 of our points yesterday come from freshmen, and Kennedy stepping up today and playing the way she did, that makes it really exciting. We've got an incredible class coming in, and with the returners we have, there's a really exciting future."
Stay tuned to FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illinois women's basketball.
TEAM NOTES
-Fighting Illini women's basketball fell to 9-22 on the season with a 72-58 loss to Purdue in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
-The Illini move to 18-55 all-time against Purdue
- The Illini are now 18-23 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and 47-53 in postseason play.
- Three Illini scored in double-figures on Thursday. Illinois has had two or more scorers in double-figures in all but two games this season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
-Freshman Ali Andrews dished a career-high three assists on Thursday afternoon
-Andrews also posted a career-high two blocks
-Andrews scored in double-figures for the second consecutive matchup and the seventh time this season.
-Redshirt junior Kennedy Cattenhead led Illinois in scoring for the second time this season, posting her 10th double-digit scoring effort of the year.
