WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Illinois women's basketball team battled against Purdue on Thursday (January 16) night, coming within seven at 70-63 in the fourth quarter, before falling 81-67 to the Boilermakers in Mackey Arena.
Senior Brandi Beasley paced the team (10-7, 1-5) with 18 points – including 13 in the final period as she willed the Illini back into the game, while also adding team-highs of five rebounds and three assists on the night.
Joining her in double figures were freshmen Jeanae Terry and Kennedi Myles with 10 points each, with Terry also notching five boards, three helpers and three steals and sophomore Mackenzie Blazek adding five rebounds and two steals in the contest.
After a Myles layup started the scoring in the opening quarter, the Illini kept it close as an jumper from sophomore J-Naya Ephraim at the buzzer had the visitors within 21-16 at the end of the first. Another Myles layup late in the second cut the deficit to three at 29-26, but the Boilermakers (12-6, 3-3) used an 8-0 run to head into the half with a 37-26 edge.
Purdue used a 10-2 run out of the break to build a 37-28 lead, but a 7-0 run midway through the quarter cut the score to 53-40, capped by a Terry drive and basket. Heading into the final period trailing at 57-42, the Illini continued to battle and with a steal and fast break layup from Beasley, the deficit was cut to single digits at 59-50. Back-to-back PU buckets stalled the rally until a 7-2 run – highlighted by a Beasley three with less than a minute and a half to go – brought UI with seven at 70-63. From there, the two teams traded scores with another Illini three – this time from senior Ali Andrews – again cutting the deficit to seven at 74-67 with 54 seconds left on the clock, but that would be as close as the visitors would get as Purdue went on for the 81-67 victory.
Illinois continues its two-game road swing with a trip to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State on Sunday (Jan. 19) at 1 p.m. CT in Value City Arena.
Team Notes
- Illinois moves to 10-7 on the season and 1-5 in the Big Ten on the season.
- The Illini fall to 18-60 all-time against the Boilermakers and 5-32 in Mackey Arena.
- The Illini forced 15 turnovers and converted for 15 points off those giveaways.
- On the flip side, Illinois tied a season-low with only seven turnovers on the night.
- The Illini got 22 points from their bench – led by 10 points from freshman Jeanae Terry and seven points from redshirt-senior Cierra Rice.
Individual Notes
- Senior Brandi Beasley turned in a season-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting to pace the Illini, including 13 in the fourth quarter. It was her fifth double-digit outing of the season and the 67th of her career.
- Beasley also tied for teams-highs of five rebounds – with freshman Jeanae Terry and sophomore Mackenzie Blazek – and three assists – also with Terry.
- Joining Beasley in double figures was Terry and classmate Kennedi Myles, with each posting 10 points on the night. It was Myles' 10th double figure game and Terry's second of her career.
- Redshirt-junior Petra Holešínská converted on a pair of three-pointers to move her career total to 137 and is just 12 treys away from moving into a tie with Kyley Simmons (2015-16) with 149 threes.
- More the second-straight game, sophomore Mackenzie Blazek joined Beasley, Holešínská, Myles and sophomore J-Naya Ephraim in the starting lineup.
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