PREVIEW
Illinois concludes the 2019-20 regular-season, traveling north to Evanston, Ill., for a road contest against Big Ten co-leader and No. 14-ranked Northwestern. Tipoff between the Fighting Illini and Wildcats is set for 1 p.m. CT on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 29) from NU's Welsh-Ryan Arena, and the game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network (Jordan Bernfield, play-by-play; Tyra Buss, analyst).
The Illini own an 11-17 overall record on the season after finishing off the nonconference portion of their schedule with a 9-2 record, marking the best 11-game start for Illinois since the 2006-07 season. In their last outing on Wednesday (Feb. 26), the Fighting Illini closed out their home schedule against Michigan State, falling 72-58, despite double-figures scoring from senior forward Ali Andrews (16) and freshman guard Jeanae Terry (10), and a nine-point, 10-rebound effort from freshman forward Kennedi Myles. After MSU posted a pair of early 7-0 runs, the Illini stormed back to take a 22-21 with 7:41 left before halftime on a reverse layup by redshirt junior guard Petra Holešínská. But a 10-0 MSU run to close out the half turned their 26-25 lead into an 11-point deficit that Illinois could not overcome. Andrews also recorded seven rebounds in her final game, and Terry pulled down six. Holešínská finished with nine points.
No. 14-ranked Northwestern enters Saturday's matchup with a 25-3 record in a tie atop the Big Ten standings at 15-2. and have won eight straight including their last outting at Ohio State (69-55) on Tuesday. The Wildcats feature four players averaging double-digit points, led by Lindsey Pulliam at 19.2 per game. Abbie Wolf ranks as NU's top rebounder, pulling down 6.5 boards per contest. As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 71.1 points per game on a .440 shooting percentage, while holding opponents to 56.7 points per contest.
UP NEXT
Illinois will head to Indianapolis, Ind., for the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament (March 4-8) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
NOTES
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Take It To The Holešínská: Redshirt junior Petra Holešínská leads Illinois and ranks 15th in the Big Ten in scoring at 13.4 points per game, thanks in part to a .417 three-point shooting percentage that sits third in the Big Ten and 31st in the NCAA. She also sits in a tie for second in the conference knocking down 2.5 three-pointers per game. She returned with a bang in the 2019-20 season opener, leading the team with a career-high 29 points on 9-for-16 shooting and five three-pointers. Her five treys matched her previous career-best, and her nine field goals set a new career mark as well. Holešínská's 29 points are the most for an Illini in a season opener in the 21st century.
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"Myles" Beyond: Illini freshman Kennedi Myles ranks fifth in the Big Ten pulling down 8.6 rebounds per game, seventh among all Division I freshmen, while also sitting fifth in the conference with 2.04 steals per game. She has recorded seven double-doubles on the season to set an Illinois freshman record which she established with a 10-point, 12-rebound showing at Nebraska (Feb. 22). The rookie also set an Illinois freshman record with 20 rebounds in a win over Evansville, passing a mark that had stood since 1976.
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Dialing Long Distance: Redshirt junior guard Petra Holešínská, and senior forward Ali Andrews have steadily climbed the Illini's career three-point charts this season. Holešínská' has knocked down 70 three-pointers this season (second in the conference at 2.5 per game) and her 160 career treys rank fifth all-time in program history just behind Mandy Cunningham (1990-94) who hit 168 in her Illini career. Andrews' 152 career three-pointers sit just behind Holešínská in sixth-place, after she broke a tie with former Illini Kyley Simmons (2015-16) with a trio of three-pointers in her last outing vs. Michigan State.
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Beasley's Marks: Senior guard Brandi Beasley ranks among the Illinois career leaders in both scoring (1,359; 17th) and assists (433; 4th). At her current scoring average of 8.3 ppg, and with at least two games remaining on the Illini schedule, she is on pace to finish just ahead of Kris Dupps (1,373 from 1991-95) in 16th, and needs 19 more assists to pass Lacey Simpson (451; 2005-10) for third on the career charts.
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Terry Takin' Care: Freshman guard Jeanae Terry leads the Illini with 87 assists (3.1 per game). With only 46 turnovers, she also paces the team with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.89, sixth in the Big Ten and 74th nationally. Her assist-to-turnover ratio also ranks sixth in the nation among freshmen.
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Freshmen Making an Impact: Illinois welcomed three true freshmen to the 2019-20 squad in Kennedi Myles, Jada Peebles, and Jeanae Terry. The trio has made an impact, accounting for 31% of the Illini's points, 37% of their rebounds, 44% of the team's assists, 49% of steals and 49% of blocks.
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Persistence of Panagiotopoulou: After battling through injury for her first 2+ seasons at Illinois, redshirt-sophomore forward Nancy Panagiotopoulou made her Illini debut against No. 20 Maryland on Jan. 23, posting four points on 2-of-2 shooting and four rebounds in 10 minutes of action. Panagiotopoulou has seen action in action in six of 10 games since her debut and has knocked down 4-of-5 FG attempts.
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Hot Start in 2019-20: Illinois finished off the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 9-2 record, marking the best 11-game start for Illinois since the 2006-07 season. The non-conference was capped by a 58-51 Braggin' Rights win on December 20 in Columbia, marking the first win over the Tigers since the 2008 season.
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One of the Greats: Illinois head coach Nancy Fahey is in the midst of quite the storied career. She has accumulated 767 career victories, a number that ranks among the top totals in the NCAA. Her win total currently checks in at No. 20 among all NCAA head coaches, a category that's led by Pat Summitt (1098). Fahey's 767 career victories also rank ninth among current active NCAA Division I head coaches and 12th among all active NCAA head coaches. She has racked up the third-most career victories among active Big Ten head coaches as well. Of active head coaches with more than 700 victories, Fahey's .812 winning percentage entering this season ranked second only to Geno Auriemma (.884) and tied Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer who boasted a 1067-247 career record heading into the 2019-20 campaign.
THE FAHEY ERA CONTINUES
The Illini are in their third season under the direction of head coach Nancy Fahey. In her first season at Illinois, Fahey coached the Orange and Blue to a 9-5 nonconference record in 2018-19, which marked the best start to the season since Illinois also earned nine non-conference victories in the 2014-15 campaign (9-3). Illinois won four of its last five games leading up to league play, with the streak marking the most consecutive victories for the Orange and Blue since the start of the 2015-16 season. Under Fahey's guidance, Illini junior Alex Wittinger garnered All-Big Ten Second Team honors, and also matched the school record for single-season offensive rebounds (125). Wittinger earned the program's second-ever triple double during the 2017-18 campaign, and set a new single-game record for blocked shots (11).
In her second season at the helm of the Illini, Fahey's squad opened the year with a 7-0 record on Lou Henson Court for the first time since the 2006-07 season. The Orange and Blue opened the 2018-19 campaign with an 8-3 start in nonconference play, marking a .727 nonconference winning percentage. That number is the highest for an Illini squad since starting the 2014-15 campaign with a 9-5 nonconference record (.750). Fahey's squad has improved statistically in several categories under her leadership. The Orange and Blue averaged seven more points per game last season than in 2017-18, and improved their field goal percentage by more than four percent.
