CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois women's basketball continued its hot start to the Shauna Green era with a 93-54 win over Evansville on Saturday from State Farm Center. The Illini have scored at least 90 points in three-straight games for the first time in program history. Five players in the orange and blue would finish in double figure scoring in the 39-point win.
Fighting Illini women's basketball improved to 4-0 on the young season with Saturday's victory, marking Illinois' first undefeated start through four games since 2018-19. Evansville moves to 2-2 on the campaign with its second loss to a Big Ten school.
Illinois struck first for the fourth-straight game, opening up an 8-0 lead before Evansville would get on the board with a layup. The Illini used a 10-0 run late in the frame to push their lead to 20-4 before Evansville ended a scoring drought that lasted more than three minutes. Jayla Oden registered seven points to lead the Illini in the frame as the Orange and Blue owned a 24-6 advantage.
Jada Peebles went 3-for-3 from deep in the second quarter, tallying 11 points in the period as Illinois pushed its lead to 39 at halftime. The Fighting Illini recorded their third-straight 50-point first half – the first time Illinois has done so since at least 1999-2000. The Orange and Blue led 50-21 at the midway point.
Third quarter action saw the Illini put up 26 more points, spread between seven players. A Makira Cook bucket with 53 seconds remaining pushed Illinois' lead to 40 points at 74-34 and after the benches traded layups, the score read 76-36.
Illinois' largest lead of the game came with 7:49 remaining in the contest – a 43-point margin. Evansville would outscore UI by one, 18-17 in the frame as all 13 Illini logged minutes. Camille Jackson's layup with 1:24 on the clock pushed Illinois into 90 points for the third-straight game before Genesis Bryant put the final touches on with a made jumper with 15 ticks left for the 93-54 victory.
Five Illinois players finished with double-digit points for the third time this season while no Illini tallied more than 26 minutes of action.
Bryant led the way with a career-high 19 points while Cook tallied 17. Peebles would tie her season high with 14 points while Adalia McKenzie (13) and Jayla Oden (12) rounded out the Illini in double figures.
Kendall Bostic led the Illini effort on the glass with 10 rebounds. Illinois owned a 51-28 advantage on the boards. Bryant added eight rebounds while Brynn Shoup-Hill grabbed seven.
Illinois won the battle in the paint, 50-28, and got 39 points off the bench to Evansville's nine.
Illinois closes its season-opening homestand on Monday, with a 7 p.m. CT game against Oakland. Action will be streamed on B1G+. Following the five-game homestand, the Orange and Blue are headed for four tilts on the road.
POST-GAME NOTES
Player Notes:
- The win marked the fourth-straight double-digit game for Adalia McKenzie this season. McKenzie has tallied six-straight double-digit efforts dating back to Wisconsin on March 2, 2022.
- Jada Peebles matched her season high with 14 points in the first half and would finish with 14 in the game on 4-for-4 shooting from deep.
- Genesis Bryant delivered a career-high 19 points with her fourth-straight double-digit scoring game as an Illini.
- Makira Cook registered 17 points in the win - her second highest output on the season. She's now scored in double figures in all four games as an Illini.
- Jayla Oden scored 12 points for back-to-back games in double digits.
- Kendall Bostic tallied 10 rebounds - her third double-digit rebounding output of the season. Bostic added a career-high 6 blocks.
Team Notes:
- First basket was a layup by Kendall Bostic 31 seconds into the contest.
- Illinois recorded its third-straight 50-point first half against Evansville, marking the first time the Illini have done so since at least the 1999-2000 season.
- Five players finished in double digit scoring, including: Genesis Bryant (19), Makira Cook (17), Jada Peebles (14), Adalia McKenzie (13) and Jayla Oden (12).
- The Illini recorded 10 blocks as a team for the first time since January 23, 2018.
- All 13 Illini recorded minutes in the win.
- Illinois women's basketball has scored 90 or more points in three straight games for the first time in program history.
Misc Notes:
- Starters: Makira Cook, Jayla Oden, Adalia McKenzie, Brynn Shoup-Hill, Kendall Bostic. Illinois is now 4-0 with this unit.
- Shauna Green is now:
- 4-0 at Illinois
- 131-50 as a Division I coach
- 160-75 overall
- Illinois has held opponents to 10 points or less in 8-of-16 quarters this season.
- Against Evansville record: 3-0
- Illinois women's basketball record in State Farm Center: 299-221
- Uniforms: Home whites, 4-0
- Illinois women's basketball has now started a season 4-0 or better eight times in program history. The last time Illinois started 4-0 in a season was the 2018-19 campaign.
- Illinois is 3-0 in day games
