EVANSTON, Ill. – Fighting Illini sophomore Brandi Beasley matched her season-high with 21 points at Northwestern on Sunday afternoon, as the Illini used a strong second-half to battle the Wildcats to the final buzzer. Illinois held Northwestern without a three-pointer in the second half, and cut Northwestern's lead to four points in the final minutes of play. Despite Illinois' gritty second-half effort, the Orange and Blue fell to Northwestern 68-61. The Illini move to 9-19 on the season and 0-14 in Big Ten play.
Junior Alex Wittinger was also among team leaders as she closed the day with 18 points and 14 boards to earn her 24th career double-double. Sophomore Cierra Rice added six points for Illinois and matched a season-best with seven rebounds on the day.
"They {Northwestern} are big and they have done a good job with their quickness," head coach Nancy Fahey said. "To me, it came down to the fact that they hit some more outside shots and we need to break through on that, but I thought, defensively, we stayed on our game plan for the most part."
It was a slow start to the game for the Illini as Northwestern held the Orange and Blue scoreless for almost six minutes in the first quarter. NU pulled ahead to a 9-0 lead in that span, but the Illini picked up momentum after the first media timeout. Sophomore Ali Andrews netted two free throws to start the Illini scoring, and Wittinger and Beasley netted buckets to cut into the Wildcat advantage.
The Illini continued to chip away at Northwestern's lead in the second quarter. UI used 6-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe to stay close to the Wildcats before halftime. Wittinger led all scorers with eight first-half points, and she also added five rebounds. The Orange and Blue forced six Northwestern turnovers before the halftime break, but the Illini trailed 35-35 heading into the third quarter.
Illinois picked up momentum out of the break, using a strong third quarter to close in on Northwestern. UI outscored the Wildcats 17-15 in the frame, led by Beasley and Wittinger who contributed six points apiece. Wittinger also added five rebounds to earn her 24th career double-double. Illinois used a 10-2 run to cut Northwestern's lead to single digits before the final quarter, capitalizing on offensive rebounds with six second chance points to start the second half.
The Illini continued to build momentum throughout the final frame, pulling within four points with just over two minutes to play. Beasley added another nine points in the fourth quarter to match her season-high points total, and also closed play with four assists.
Illinois shot 35.4-percent from the field and scored nine points off of 13 Northwestern turnovers. The Illini faced 42.6-percent shooting from Northwestern but held the Wildcats to just 25-percent shooting from distance.
Illinois will continue its road stretch at Purdue on Wednesday, taking on the Boilermakers at 6 p.m. CT. Stay tuned to FightingIllini.com for the latest on Illinois women's basketball.
