IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Illinois women's basketball team dropped a 108-72 decision to Iowa in its first Big Ten Conference road trip of the season on Tuesday (December 31) in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Freshman Kennedi Myles led the Illini (9-4, 0-2 B1G) with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and a team-high five rebounds, while classmate Jada Peebles turned in her fourth-career double digit scoring effort with 14 points – including a 3-for-4 mark at the free throw line. Redshirt-junior Petra Holešínská added 11 points for the Illini and drained three three-pointers to tie senior Ali Andrews for seventh place all-time with 130 career treys.
Peebles, sophomore J-Naya Ephraim and freshman Jeanae Terry each grabbed four boards in the setback.
After the Hawkeyes (10-3, 1-1) jumped out to an early advantage, a jumper from junior Lyric Robins cut the deficit to nine at 40-31 midway through the second quarter, but Iowa then closed the half with a 17-7 run to take a 57-38 lead at the break. From there, the Hawkeyes continued to use strong shooting in the second half to earn their first conference victory.
Illinois is off for six days before traveling to Bloomington, Ind., for a 6 p.m. CT game against Indiana on Monday (January 6) in Assembly Hall.
Team Notes
- Illinois moves to 9-4 on the season and 0-2 in the Big Ten on the season and goes to 19-57 all-time against Iowa.
- The Illini had their second-lowest number of turnovers with nine on the day.
- The Illini outrebounded the Hawkeyes on the offensive end with 12 boards to Iowa's 10.
Individual Notes
- With three three-pointers, redshirt-junior Petra Holešínská moved into a tie with senior Ali Andrews to rank seventh all-time with 130 career three-pointers.
- Holešínská's three three-pointers mark the ninth game that the guard has hit three or more treys in a game.
- Holešínská set a career-high with five assists.
- Freshman Kennedi Myles recorded her eighth career double digit scoring performance and paced the Illini in scoring for the third time this season.
- For the seventh-straight game, Myles led the Illini in rebounding with a team-high five boards.
- Freshman Jada Peebles notched her fourth-career double-digit scoring effort with 14 points against the Hawkeyes.
