INDIANAPOLIS – [4] Illinois led for the final 38 minutes in its 81-58 win over [1] Washington State in the WBIT semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Monday evening, giving the Illini the opportunity to play for a championship later this week.
Pouring in double figures for the 10th game in a row, Makira Cook led all scorers with a team-high 20 points, 16 of which came in the first half. Cook dished out a team-most five assists, and she grabbed one rebound and one steal.
Genesis Bryant made three 3-pointers and finished with 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Bryant also amassed two rebounds and one assist.
Adalia McKenzie, who scored 14 points on 60% shooting, has now reached the double-digit scoring mark in each of the Illini's first four WBIT games. McKenzie secured four rebounds and forced a team-high three steals.
Camille Hobby registered 12 points and eight rebounds, while she also dished out one assist and made one steal.
Kendall Bostic collected seven points and nine rebounds, and she made four assists.
Gretchen Dolan added seven points and two steals off the bench.
The Illini quickly jumped in front, as Cook opened the scoring on the Orange and Blue's first trip down the floor. The Cougars tied the game on their next possession before buckets from McKenzie and Cook gave Illinois an early 6-2 edge. Washington State halved its deficit before the Illini pieced together a 7-0 run across three minutes of action. Cook connected from beyond the arc before Bryant and Hobby tallied their first baskets of the day, giving the Illini a 13-4 edge.
Though Illinois' advantage shrunk to seven points one minute later, a 4-0 run for the Orange and Blue put the Illini in front by double digits just over seven minutes into the contest. Leading by as many as 11 in the first period of play, Illinois held a 23-14 edge through the opening 10 minutes.
Cook moved into double figures within the first 20 seconds of the second quarter, making an and-1 layup before knocking down a jumper. Her solo 5-0 run extended the Illini's advantage to 28-14 through the opening 90 seconds of the frame.
Bryant then accounted for the Illini's next five points, which included her first 3-pointer of the evening. That triple sparked a 9-3 Illinois run across the next five minutes, and Bryant's second trey marked the team's final points of the first half.
Shooting 58% from the field through the opening two quarters, the Orange and Blue went into the break with a 42-28 advantage. Cook recorded a game-high 16 points at the intermission, while Bryant also scored in double figures with 12 points before halftime.
The Illini began the second half on a 5-0 run, which featured Bostic's first field goal since the first quarter and Bryant's third 3-pointer of the night. After the Cougars got on the board via two makes from the stripe, Illinois began a 7-0 scoring spurt, which featured two layups from McKenzie and a 3-pointer from Bostic. That run moved the Illini's advantage up to 24 points, 54-30, with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Washington State ended a six-minute drought without a field goal, and the Cougars used a 13-4 run to cut their deficit down to 15 points. A layup from Hobby with five seconds remaining in the frame moved the Illini's edge to 62-45 heading into the final period of play.
A 3-pointer from Dolan, two field goals from Hobby, and four straight points from Cook sparked an 11-0 Illini run and pushed Illinois' lead back above the 20-point mark, 73-45, just over three minutes into the final frame.
The Illini's lead grew as large as 29 late in the fourth quarter, and the Orange and Blue closed out the victory to secure an opportunity to play for a trophy on Wednesday.
[4] Illinois earned the opportunity to play for the WBIT championship on Wednesday night, when the Illini will take on [1] Villanova. The Orange and Blue are looking for their first postseason tournament victory in program history. Tipoff from the Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis is slated for 6 p.m. CT, and the game will air on ESPN2.
POSTGAME NOTES
Player Notes:
- Genesis Bryant surpassed the 1,000-point mark in her collegiate career after recording 18 points, two rebounds, and one assist.
- Scored her 1,000th career point with four points in the first quarter.
- With her three 3-pointers, Bryant moved into sole possession of ninth place in the program record book in 3-point field goals (135).
- Had at least three 3-pointers for the 11th time this season.
- Tallied double-digit points for the fifth time in her last six games and for the 23rd time this season.
- Ended the evening with a team-best +32 in the plus/minus.
- Makira Cook scored a team-high 20 points and also tallied five assists, one rebound, and one steal.
- Recorded double-digit points for the 10th consecutive game and for the 26th time overall this season.
- Reached the 10-point mark with 9:44 remaining in the second quarter.
- With her 20 points, Cook eclipsed 1,600 career points (now at 1,601).
- Has 5+ assists in five of her last seven appearances.
- Adalia McKenzie scored 14 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, and made three steals.
- Reached the double-digit scoring mark for the fourth consecutive contest and for the 20th time this season.
- Has multiple offensive rebounds in six of the Illini's last seven games.
- Has tallied at least three steals in 12 games this season.
- Recorded three assists in two of the last three games.
- Camille Hobby amassed 12 points, eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
- Secured her first double-digit scoring effort of the Illini's WBIT run.Â
- Has 19 games with multiple offensive games this season.
- Registered 8+ rebounds in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
- Kendall Bostic finished with seven points and nine rebounds along with four assists.
- Bostic's four assists were one shy of her season-best tally.
- Had 4+ assists in consecutive games for the first time this season.
- Has hauled in multiple offensive boards in each of the Illini's six postseason games thus far.
- Bostic's 59 rebounds across the Illini's four WBIT games are a new program single-tournament record.
- Gretchen Dolan added seven points, two steals, and one rebound off the bench.
- Entered the game off the bench at the first-quarter media timeout.
- Has scored seven points in two of thee Illini's last three games.
- Forced multiple steals for the third time this season.
Team Notes:
- Washington State won the tip, and the Illini opened the scoring on their first possession with a layup from Cook.
- The Illini had four players score in double figures (Bryant, Cook, Hobby, McKenzie).
- Illinois used a 13-4 run from 6:40 to 2:32 remaining in the first quarter to take a double-digit lead, 19-8.
- Illinois went on a 13-0 run, which began with 5 seconds left in the third quarter and spanned through 6:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.
- Illinois made 34 field goals in the win, the second-highest tally on the season. The Illini finished with a 54 percent field goal percentage – the team's best shooting mark since 54.4 at Penn State on Feb. 15.
- Illinois outscored Washington State in all four quarters.
- The Fighting Illini forced 18 turnovers and committed just 9. UI scored 22 points off turnovers to WSU's 9.
- UI dominated the battle of the paint, 34-12.
- Illinois did not allow a second-chance score in the game for the second time of the season (Northern Kentucky).
- The Illinois squad pushed its largest lead to a 29-point margin midway through the first quarter – the Illini's largest lead of the entire WBIT run.
Misc. Notes:
- Starters: Makira Cook, Genesis Bryant, Adalia McKenzie, Kendall Bostic, Camille Hobby
- This lineup is now 13-8 on the season.
- Shauna Green is now:
- 40-25 at Illinois
- 4-1 in postseason play at Illinois (NCAA & WBIT)
- 167-75 as a Division-I coach
- 196-100 overall
- The Illini are now 2-0 all-time when playing at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
- Illinois vs. Washington State: 1-0 (first meeting)
- The Illini secured their first back-to-back .500 seasons for the first time since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 campaigns.
- Green is the first Illini head coach in program history to finish over .500 in each of their first two seasons at the helm.
- Illinois' contest against Washington State marked the team's first-ever game played in April.
- The Illini's 40 overall wins in Green's first two seasons are the program's most over a two-year span since the 1999-2000 and 2o00-01 campaigns, when Illinois also recorded 40 combined victories under Hall of Fame coach Theresa Grentz.
- The Illini moved to 54-60 in postseason play in program history.
- The Illini are now 4-0 in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament.
- The Illini have held opponents at/below 15 points in 60 of 132 regulation periods.
- Illinois is now 6-5 when wearing blue uniforms this season.
- The Illini are now 5-11 in games starting before 5 p.m. CT this season.
- The Illini are now 1-0 in April.
