[6] ILLINOIS (21-8; 10-7) vs. [11] Rutgers (11-19; 5-13)/[14] Northwestern (9-20; 2-16)
Date | Time	Thursday, March 2 2023 | ~8 p.m. CT
Location	Minneapolis, Minn. | Target Center
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Head Coach Shauna Green

Career Record: 177-83 (.681), ninth year
Division I Record: 148-58 (.718), seventh year
At Illinois: 21-8, first year
Big Ten: 11-7

Series Notes vs. Rutgers

All-Time Record: Illinois trails 3-9
Streak:  W2
Last Meeting:  W, 75-53 in Piscataway, N.J.., on Feb. 26, 2023
Green vs. Opponent: 2-0

Series Notes vs. Northwestern

All-Time Record: Illinois trails 36-49
Streak:  W2
Last Meeting:  W, 67-64 in Evanston, Ill., on Jan. 22, 2023
Green vs. Opponent: 2-1

Opening Tips

• Illinois opened its 49th season of women's basketball with a 6-0 record for just the fourth time in program history before suffering its first loss.
• Shauna Green is the first coach in program history to open her Illinois career with a 3-0 start and pushed the new mark a 6-0 start.
• The Fighting Illini secured a win in the ACC/B1G Challenge over Pitt (11/30/22) for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
• It took the 2022-23 squad just eight games to match the previous season's win total (7).
• The 2022-23 squad doubled the previous season's win total in just 16 games (14).
• Illinois won its scheduled Big Ten home opener for the first time since 2016-17 with an 80-62 victory over Rutgers on Dec. 7, 2022.
• With Illinois' home win over Rutgers, the Orange and Blue secured an 8-2 start through 10 games for just the 10th time in program history. 
• The Illini won 10 regular-season non-conference games for just the third time in program history, tying the program record.
• Illinois won its Braggin' Rights game at [RV] Missouri on Dec. 18 and now owns wins over teams from the ACC, Big Ten and SEC in the same season for the first time since 2014-15.
• Illinois won 11 games before Christmas (December 25th) for the first time ever and 10 games before then for the first time since 2006-07.
• The Illini received a vote in the WBCA Coaches Poll (12/27/22) - the first time receiving votes since 2010 from the WBCA.
• Genesis Bryant turned in the program's third triple double against Florida Atlantic and earned Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honors for her performance.
• With a win at Wisconsin on Dec. 29, Illinois improved to 2-1 in B1G play, the program's first winning record in conference since 2016-17.
• Illinois' New Year's Day upset of No. 12/10 Iowa marked the programs first win over a ranked team since 2019 and its first win of such at home since 2015.
• Illinois matched the best 20-game start in program history with a 16-4 record, marking the fourth time the program has achieved the feat.
• For the first time since 2013, Illinois Women's Basketball received votes in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 rankings (1/2/23)
• After a career-high 24 points over No. 12/10 Iowa, Genesis Bryant reeled in the awards, earning: B1G Co-Player of the Week, ESPN Player of the Week, NCAA Weekly Starting Five
• The U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) named Illinois its Team of the Week following the squad's upset of Iowa.
• Illinois began 9-0 at home this season - matching the fifth-longest home winning streak in program history - before suffering a loss to No. 6 Indiana.
• For the first time since the 2000-01 season, Illinois was ranked - debuting at No. 24 in both polls the week of Jan. 9 before climbing to No. 21 (AP) and No. 23 (USBWA) in the Week 11 poll and No. 22/22 across the Week 12 polls.
• No. 21/23 Illinois hosted No. 6/6 Indiana on Jan. 18 in the Illini's first home game as a ranked squad since Jan. 5, 2000. A crowd of 5,583 was on hand in State Farm Center for the top-25 matchup.
• Illinois' 10th home win of the season came on Jan. 29 over Michigan State in front of a crowd of 5,098 fans - the team's third home crowd of 5,000 or more this season.
• Illinois has secured the biggest one-year Big Ten win improvement in program history, sitting at 10 more wins (11) than last season's total (1). This ties the best one-year Big Ten win improvement in Big Ten Conference history.
• Illinois has currently won 14 more games (21) than last season's total of seven. The one-year overall improvement tied the largest in program history, and matches the third-largest improvement in Big Ten history.
• Illini junior transfer Makira Cook scored her 1,000th career point on Jan. 12, 2023 at Maryland on a made 3-pointer. She is the first 1,000-point scorer on the current Illini squad.
• With its 23-point thumping of Penn State on Feb. 19, Illinois secured a 20-win season for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign.
• With a 11-7 record in league play, Illinois has reached double-digit Big Ten wins for the first time since winning 11 during the 1999-00 season.
• Illinois returned to the AP Top-25 rankings on Feb. 20, marking the fourth week the team appeared in the poll this season.
• The team saw three student-athletes honored with CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District selections in Kendall Bostic, Geovana Lopes and Adalia McKenzie.
• Four Illini collected All-Big Ten conference honors including Makira Cook (1st Team), Kendall Bostic (2nd Team), Genesis Bryant (2nd Team) and Adalia McKenzie (Honorable Mention).
• Kendall Bostic was also tabbed a Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree for the second-straight season.
• Illinois has five returners on the 2022-23 squad, including: Jada Peebles, Jayla Oden, Geovana Lopes, Adalia McKenzie and Kendall Bostic.
• Shauna Green brought in eight newcomers since being hired on March 21, 2022 - four freshmen and four transfers. 
• Illinois' transfers include: Genesis Bryant (NC State), Makira Cook (Dayton), Aicha Ndour (NW Florida State College) and Brynn Shoup-Hill (Dayton) . Those three programs went a combined 85-13 last season.
• Shauna Green's trio of assistant coaches are no strangers to her or each other. Green, Calamity McEntire, DeAntoine Beasley and Ryan Gensler were on the Dayton Women's Basketball staff together for four seasons from 2017-21. With those four coaches leading from the sidelines, the Flyers posted a 79-34 overall record across four seasons.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS

• Rutgers enters the tournament with an 11-19 overall record which includes a 5-13 reading in Big Ten play. 
• The Scarlet Knights have competed all season with a roster of eight student-athletes. 
• Northwestern went 9-20 this season with a 2-16 mark in Big Ten play. 
• Illinois went a combined 4-0 during the regular season against Rutgers and Northwestern. 

THE ILLINI TURNAROUND

Illinois has secured the biggest one-year Big Ten win improvement in program history, finishing at 10 more wins (10) than last season's total (1). This ties the best one-year Big Ten win improvement in Big Ten Conference history. Illinois has currently won 14 more games (21) than last season's total of seven. The one-year overall improvement ties the largest in program history, and matches the third-largest improvement in Big Ten history. 

YEAR TWO WITH KENDALL BOSTIC

In game one of her second season as an Illini - and her first showing with the new coaching staff in place - Kendall Bostic delivered a career-high 16 points to go along with 11 rebounds for the seventh double double of her career. Bostic averaged 6.7 PPG and 11.4 RPG as a sophomore. The Kokomo, Indiana, native led the Big Ten in rebounding in 2021-22 and set the Illinois single-season record with her 11.4 mark.

Through 29 games of her junior campaign, Bostic already has 11 double doubles after tallying just six across her sophomore campaign and none as a freshman at Michigan State. She's added 17 double-digit rebounding efforts in her junior campaign. 

RETURN TO THE RANKINGS

For the first time since Nov. 27, 2000, Illinois Women's Basketball was ranked in the Associated Press (AP) Top-25 Rankings on Jan. 9, 2023. After 8,072 days, the Fighting Illini returned to the AP Poll at No. 24. A week later, the Orange and Blue climbed to No. 21 in the poll followed by No. 22 in the Week 12 poll. After falling out of the rankings in the Week 13 poll, Illinois found its way back in by Week 16, coming in tied for 25th.

Illinois is 21-8 under first year head coach Shauna Green, one of the best marks in program history. 

The Fighting Illini program has appeared in 67 AP Polls total across nine different seasons now. Shauna Green joins Theresa Grentz, Laura Golden and Jane Schroeder as Illini coaches to lead a ranked Illinois squad. Green is the lone coach to achieve a Top-25 ranking in her first year leading the program.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT

Illinois women's basketball head coach Shauna Green has been the architect of one of the biggest one-year turnarounds across the NCAA this season and has been named to the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List. Green is one of 15 head coaches on the list and the only to be in their first season at a school. 

With the regular season in the books, Green and the Fighting Illini own a 21-8 overall record and went 11-7 in Big Ten play. The 14-win improvement from last season's 7-20 campaign ties the best turnaround in program history (14, 1980-81) and third-best in Big Ten history. In league play, Illinois tallied 10 more wins that last season's mark, the best turnaround in program history, which tied for the best all-time in the Big Ten. 

ILLINOIS IN THE NET RANKINGS

• With a 7-2 start, Illinois came in at No. 19 in the first NET rankings of 2022-23 and is currently No. 41. 
• In the same rankings a year prior, the Illini were No. 193 - marking a 174-spot difference in the first poll of the season.
• Big Ten Conference led all Division I conferences with five teams in the top 20 and 10 schools among the top 50 in the first report.

  • Current B1G NET rankings are: No. 4 Indiana, No. 8 Iowa, No. 13 Maryland, No. 16 Ohio State, No. 22 Michigan, No. 41 Illinois, No. 42 Nebraska, No. 47 Purdue, No. 48 Michigan State, No. 93 Penn State, No. 102 Minnesota, No. 111 Wisconsin, No. 125 Northwestern, and No. 163 Rutgers. 

• The NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) is the primary sorting tool used for determining NCAA Tournament teams.

NAME OF THE GAME IS DEFENSE

Illinois women's basketball has instilled the goal of holding opponents to 10 points or less per quarter. Through 29 games, Illinois has limited opposition to 10 or less points 17 times. Opponents have been held at/below 15 points in 61 of 116 periods.  

FIRST SEASONS AT A NEW SCHOOL

Shauna Green has quickly taken Illinois women's basketball out to a refreshing start and has sustained that success better than anyone. Green is one of 38 head coaches in their first season at a new school this season. Additionally, Green's 6-0 start put her in elite company. The following are teams that have secured a better start than Illinois - just two. Green's Illinois squad is one of just five programs under a new coach this season to have secured 20 or more wins.