PREVIEW
OPENING TIP: Illinois (3-17, 1-16 B1G) closes the regular season on Friday, hosting Minnesota (8-11, 7-10 B1G) on Senior Day. Tipoff between the Illini and the Golden Gophers is set for 4 p.m. CT from State Farm Center. The game will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+ with Scott Sudikoff (play-by-play) and Emone Davis (analyst). Mike Koon will call the action for the Illini on WDWS.com. Streaming audio and live stats are also available at FightingIllini.com.
SENIOR DAY: The Illini will honor Lyric Robins and Nancy Panagiotopoulou with a postgame celebration for Senior Day. The duo joined the Illini in 2017-18 head coach Nancy Fahey's first season at the helm of the Fighting Illini women's basketball program. Robins is majoring in psychology and Panagiotopoulou is working towards her degree in recreation, sport, & tourism, with both student-athletes set to graduate in May.Â
ABOUT MINNESOTA: Minnesota enters Friday's game with an 8-11 overall record, including 7-10 mark in Big Ten play. Most recently the Golden Gophers snapped a two-game losing streak - at Rutgers (83-56) and at Maryland (94-62 - with a 73-63 home win over Nebraska (Feb. 24). Sophomore G Sara Scalia, paces the Gophers' offense at 14.7 points per game. Scalia is one of four Minnesota players averaging double-figures scoring along sophomore G Jasmine Powell (14.5 ppg), redshirt-sophomore F Kadi Sissoko (12.7 ppg) and redshirt-senior G Gadiva Hubbard (11.0 ppg). Sissoko leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 boards per contest. The Gophers average 69.4 points per game, while allowing 79.4 per contest. Minnesota ranks among the top 100 in the NCAA in several categories including No. 51 in free-throw percentage (.746), No. 69 in assists per game (14.9, No. 71 in three-pointers per game (7.4) and No. 95 in three-point percentage (.328).Â
SERIES VS. MINNESOTA:Â Friday's matchup is the 69th in the series between the Illini and the Golden Gophers. Illinois leads the all-time series, 38-30, including a 23-10 advantage in games played in Champaign. The Illini fell, 83-73, in the first meeting of the season at Williams Arena, on Feb. 10. Prior to that loss, the Illini had won two consecutive games vs. the Gophers, having captured a 66-62 road upset over then-No. 12 Minnesota on Jan. 6, 2019, followed by a 74-71 win in the most recent matchup at State Farm Center on Jan. 12, 2020. Illinois is 2-2 vs. Minnesota under head coach Nancy Fahey.
LAST TIME VS. MINNESOTA:Â The Fighting Illini were unable to overcome a slow start on the road Wednesday (Feb. 10), falling 83-73 at Minnesota despite a career-high scoring night from Jada Peebles, who tallied 21 points, including five three-pointers, to go along with four rebounds. Jeanae Terry finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double with 17 points, eight boards, and a career-high 10 assists, while Solape Amusan tallied 10 points. Minnesota led 9-0 before the Illini got on the board, and the Gophers lead reached as many as 29 midway through the third before the Illini mounted a comeback effort that pulled the Orange and Blue to as close as seven points in the in the final minute of action.
UP NEXT: Â The Fighting Illini travel to Indianapolis, Ind., to compete for the tournament title at the 2021 Big Ten Conference Championship at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The tournament is scheduled for March 9-13.
FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)
