CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – [4] Illinois never trailed en route to a dominant 79-62 win over Stony Brook in the second round of the WBIT at State Farm Center on Sunday afternoon.

Three Illini scorers finished in double figures, while 10 players saw the court in the team's final home game of the 2023-24 season.

Adalia McKenzie poured in a career-high 28 points, her second consecutive 20-point performance. Missing only one shot across the first three quarters, McKenzie went 12-for-16 from the field, marking the first game of her career with double-digit field goals. She also totaled seven rebounds, including four boards on the offensive glass, along with three assists and one steal.

Kendall Bostic secured her seventh double-double in her last eight games, totaling 19 points and 17 rebounds. Reaching the double-double mark with three minutes remaining in the second quarter, Bostic went 9-for-11 from the field after going a perfect 5-for-5 in the first half. She also amassed one assist and one steal.

Makira Cook also clinched her second double-double of the season with 14 points and a season-best 10 assists, with her double-digit helpers setting a new single-game postseason program record. She also grabbed five rebounds and made one block.

Camille Hobby amassed four points and six rebounds, while Gretchen Dolan added seven points off the bench. 

The Illini opened the game on a 6-2 run, though the Seawolves battled back to reduce their deficit to a single point four minutes into the contest. Illinois then pieced together a 5-0 run to move its advantage up to six points before McKenzie tallied her first points, which meant all five starters registered a basket within the first five-and-a-half minutes of action. Stony Brook got hot from 3-point range, making four in the span of three minutes, but Illinois closed the frame on a 10-0 run to take a double-digit lead, 27-16, through 10 minutes.

Starting the second quarter on a 5-0 run, the Illini extended their advantage up to 16 within the first three minutes of the frame. The Seawolves ended a scoreless drought of nearly six minutes soon after, though the Orange and Blue's edge ballooned up to 17 with three minutes to go in the first half. A 6-0 Illinois run brought the home side's advantage past the 20-point mark before going into the break with a 45-26 lead.

McKenzie led the way with a team-high 12 points in the first half, while Bostic secured a double-double with 10 points and a team-most 12 rebounds through the opening 20 minutes. Holding the Seawolves to just 28.2% shooting, the Illini dominated in points in the paint, 24-14, and on the glass, 29-15, across the first two quarters.

Stony Brook cut its deficit to 13 points following a 7-0 run just over two minutes into the second half. Illinois responded with a 14-2 run, which extended the home side's advantage up to 60-35. Scoring the final seven points of that run, McKenzie reached the 20-point mark for the second consecutive game and for the fourth time overall this season. The Seawolves used an 11-4 run over the next three minutes to reduce the Illini's edge to 18 points, but the Orange and Blue closed the frame with a 6-2 run, bringing the hosts' lead up to 70-48 with 10 minutes remaining.

Bostic scored the Illini's first four points of the final frame before Stony Brook went on a 9-0 run over the next 90 seconds to cut Illinois' lead down to 14. McKenzie then accounted for the Orange and Blue's next three points, which helped her clinch a career-best scoring output. The Illini closed out the win to secure a spot in the quarterfinal round.

With its 18-point win, [4] Illinois will hit the road for its WBIT quarterfinals appearance to take on [3] Tulsa away from home on Thursday.

POSTGAME NOTES

Player Notes:

• Makira Cook recorded her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 assists, the latter of which set a new program postseason record.
  • Scored in double figures for the eighth straight game and for the 16th time in her last 17 games.
  • Earned a double-double three minutes into the fourth quarter, her second of the season. 
    • Tallied the fourth overall double-double of her career, marking the second composed of points and assists.
    • Sunday's double-double marked her first in State Farm Center.
  • Cook is now seven points away from scoring 1,000 during her time at Illinois.
• Adalia McKenzie registered a career-best 28 points on 12-for-16 shooting while also grabbing seven rebounds.
  • Her 28 points are tied for the third-most in a postseason game in program history.
    • Her 28 points are also tied for the third-most in a postseason home game in program history. 
  • McKenzie posted her 18th game with double-digit scoring for the season. 
  • Tallied 20+ points in her fourth game of the season.
    • Had back-to-back 20-point games for the first time this season and for the second time in her collegiate career.
      • 22 points vs. Delaware on Nov. 26, 2022, and 25 points at Delaware on Nov. 30, 2022.
  • Shot 12-for-16, which was a career-best single-game field-goal tally.
• Kendall Bostic secured her 14th double-double of the season with 19 points and a team-high 17 rebounds.
  • Recorded her her seventh double-double in the last eight games. 
    • Secured a double-double within the last three minutes of the second quarter. 
    • Her 14 double-doubles are tied for the seventh-most in a single season.
    • Her 14 double-doubles are her most in a season in her career.
  • Totaling 10 points in the first half, Bostic marked her 24th game this season with double-digit scoring. 
  • Amassed double-digit boards for the eight consecutive game and for the 18th time overall this season.
    • Grabbed her 10th board with 5:27 remaining in the second quarter.
  • Her 17 rebounds tied the second-most in a postseason home game in program history.
  • Bostic is 21 points away from 1,o00 career points.
  • Bostic is now 46 rebounds away from 1,000 boards at Illinois.
• Gretchen Dolan finished with seven points off the bench.
  • First Illini sub off the bench, checking in at the first-quarter media timeout (3:53).
  • Added seven points off the bench, her most since also totaling seven in the Illini's regular-season finale against Nebraska on March 3.

Team Notes:

• Illinois won the tip, and the Illini opened the scoring with a Cook 3-pointer, which was assisted by McKenzie.
• All 5 Illini starters scored by the first media timeout of the game.
• The Illini closed the final 2:49 of the first quarter with a 10-0 run, which helped Illinois take a 27-16 advantage through the opening 10 minutes.
  • That run eventually moved to 15-0 after the Illini accounted for the first five points of the second quarter.
  • The Illini held the Seawolves scoreless for nearly six minutes and took advantage by opening up a 16-point lead with 7:21 left in the second frame.
  • Illinois' largest first half lead was 21 points at 45-24 with 1:03 left in the second quarter.
• After Illinois began the second half with a made free throw, Stony Brook went on a 7-0 run to pull within 13 points at 46-33 but UI responded with a 9-0 run from there.
• The Illini's largest lead of the game was 25 points, which came with 4:44 left in the third quarter. Stony Brook never led in the game.
• The Illini had three scorers in double figures (McKenzie, Cook, Bostic).
• UI won the battle of the paint 40-28, marking the 10th time this season the squad scored 40 or more.
• Two Illinois players recorded a double-double in the game for the third time this season. Kendall Bostic registered 19 points and 17 rebounds while Makira Cook notched 14 points and 10 assists.
  • The last time Illinois had two players record double-doubles in a win was 8 occurrences ago in a 74-69 win vs. Central Michigan on December 12, 2015.
    • Chatrice White (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Alex Whittinger (14 points, 12 rebounds)

Misc. Notes:

• Starters: Makira Cook, Genesis Bryant, Adalia McKenzie, Kendall Bostic, Camille Hobby
  • This lineup is now 11-8 on the season.
• Shauna Green is now:
  • 38-25 at Illinois
  • 2-1 in postseason play at Illinois
  • 165-75 as a Division-I coach
  • 194-100 overall
• Illinois vs. Stony Brook: 1-0 (first meeting)
  • Shauna Green coaching record vs. Stony Brook: 1-0
• The Illini's 37 overall wins in Green's first two seasons are the program's most over a two-year span since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 campaigns, when Illinois recorded 39 combined victories.
• The Illini moved to 52-60 in postseason play in program history.
  • Illinois is now 18-5 in postseason home games.
  • The Illini are now 2-0 in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament.
• Illinois has now won eight consecutive postseason home games.
• The Illini have held opponents at/below 15 points in 55 of 124 regulation periods.
• Illinois is now 11-5 when wearing white uniforms this season.
• UI is now 12-5 in State Farm Center this season and is 24-8 combined in SFC over the last two campaigns.
• The Illini are now 8-11 in games starting before 5 p.m. CT this season.
• The Illini are now 3-1 in March.

QUOTES

Head coach Shauna Green

Opening statement:

"I thought tonight, we came out from the start. Especially after Missouri State, we came out slow, so we wanted to come out strong in that first battle and in the first quarter. We wanted to win that, and we did. We won it, 27-16, so I'm just really, really happy with how we started the game and really into the second, too. It was 18-10 in the second quarter.

"We knew transition defense was going to be the number one key, and rebounding. We killed them on the boards, beating them by 19, which was a critical piece to this because then we were able to get out and play really fast. I told these guys, 'That's the best pace we've had in a long time.' We were really getting out and playing at the tempo that we wanted to play, but that was a direct result of our defense and our rebounding.

"I'm just really, really proud of our overall team effort in order to get this win, and we continue to survive and then play another game. Now, we move on to a really good Tulsa team."

On the team's accomplishments in her first two seasons at the helm:

"I don't think about that. I'm probably more pissed that we only have 16 wins than anything this year. I wish we had 20, and we probably should have had that.

"Those are things when I have to take steps back to look at the big picture, which I'm not usually that good at, but there are moments when I have to. In the last presser after the game, since it was two years since I had gotten the job, I said if any of you guys said you'd go to back-to-back postseasons with an NCAA tournament and WBIT on the day that I was doing my press conference, I would've said, 'Yeah, I'll take that deal.' I didn't know the order of anything else.

"Right now, yeah, we wanted to be in the NCAA Tournament this year, but that's really, really hard, as you see from the program not being there for 20 years until last year. It's really, really hard to win at this level or any level.

"I'm happy with where we're at in this moment, but we're going to continue to strive to be better."

Kendall Bostic

On how her rebounding impacts the team after securing her 1,000th career board on Thursday:

"It's really cool. That's been a goal of mine since I got here and took on rebounding as my role. I was super stoked that I got it, especially in the four-year thing with all the fifth-years and all that, so I was pretty excited about that. I think it is just a reliability thing. I think my teammates know that I'm going to crash. I'm going to fight for the rebound. If and when I get it, I'm able to outlet it out pretty quick.

"I think it is a reliability piece, and they have trusted me that there's a high probability I'm gonna be able to get it."

On how a tougher Big Ten schedule helps prepare the team for the postseason:

"It prepares us really well, being able to handle some of the top guards in the country, some of the top bigs in the country, and playing them night in and night out and not having a night off.

"Any team can beat anybody in the Big Ten, so I think that really helped us with some of these teams: not knowing a whole lot about them, but coming out and punching them like they are a Big Ten team."

Adalia McKenzie

On her performances and productivity over the last two WBIT games:

"I just want to give all glory to Jesus Christ, my Savior, and I just wanna thank my teammates. I love the team I'm on. They push me to be my best, and that's what helps me and fuels me.

"Also, the fans, too. Thank you to all the fans who come. The energy and the environment that they create, it helps us."

On the opportunity to play in the WBIT:

"It means a lot. A lot of teams, their season is over, but ours isn't. We get another opportunity to play, and it feels great. We just have more opportunities to reach our goals as a team."