Illinois Hits the Road for McBride Homes Braggin' Rights on Wednesday

Illinois heads to Missouri for Braggin' Rights
Date | Time	Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025 | 6 p.m. CT
Location	Columbia, Mo. | Mizzou Arena (15,061)
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Head Coach Shauna Green

Career Record: 227-111 (.672), 12th season
Division I Record: 198-86 (.697), 10th season
At Illinois: 71-36 (.664), Fourth season
Big Ten Record: 31-24 (.564), Fourth season

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

Missouri is off to a 9-2 start on the 2025-26 season has won its last five games. The Tigers are 5-1 at home, suffering a loss to Troy in Mizzou Arena (Nov. 20). Missouri and Illinois both faced Maryville in exhibitions but do not have any common opponents at this point in the season. The Tigers are under the guidance of first-year head coach Kelli Harper. Former Fighting Illini assistant coach Liza Fruendt joined Harper's squad prior to the 2025-26. Harper was Fruendt's college coach at Missouri State.

HISTORY VS. MISSOURI

Wednesday's game will mark the 18th all-time meeting between Illinois and Missouri. Illinois leads the series 10-7 overall. The Illini are 5-2 against the Tigers when playing in Columbia. Illinois has claimed the last two meetings in Missouri. The Illini are 1-1 against Missouri under Shauna Green.

BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK 2.0

Cearah Parchment's superb Week 5 play helped the Fighting Illini extend their winning streak to six-straight games and pick up the program's first Big Ten-opening win since the 2016-17 season.

The Canadian rookie averaged a monster double-double with 15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds (5 off. rebs/game), 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals, and 24.3 minutes per game. Parchment combined to shoot 44.4% (12-for-27) from the field, 50% (2-for-4) from 3-point range, and a perfect 100% (5-for-5) from the free-throw line.

Playing just 21 minutes in Illinois' 90-41 blowout win over Bellarmine, Parchment still racked up 16 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Four days later, in the first Big Ten conference game of her career, the rookie registered a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double; her third-straight double-double and fourth of the season. In her B1G opener, Parchment was stellar, in addition to the points and rebounds, she added two assists and a steal in 27 minutes of action. Parchment shot 40% from the field (6-for-15), 100% from 3-point range (2-for-2), and 100% from the free throw line (1-for-1).

HANDLING THE HOOSIERS

Trailing for only 37 seconds, Illinois cruised to a 78-57 win over Indiana in the Big Ten's first conference game of the 2025-26 campaign. The win marked Illinois' first Big Ten-opening win since the 2016-17 campaign. Illinois' 21-point win marked its largest margin of victory in a Big Ten opener in program history.

The Fighting Illini (8-1, 1-0 B1G) had four players score in double figures, led by a 16-point effort from Gretchen Dolan, who also dished out four assists. Maddie Webber posted 16 points off the bench. Cearah Parchment added her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Berry Wallace poured in 14 points and corralled eight rebounds.

Leading by as many as 36 in the contest, Illinois did an excellent job taking care of the basketball, dishing out 23 assists while forcing 20 Indiana turnovers. Destiny Jackson's six assists paced the Fighting Illini, while three other Illini logged at least four. Jackson added 10 rebounds as well.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL

Since the arrival of Shauna Green, Illinois has taken care of the basketball at an elite clip, turning in three straight seasons ranked with the second fewest turnovers. The staff's goal is 13 turnovers or less per game and the Orange and Blue have averaged below that all three seasons completed seasons.

EFFICIENCY FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE

Green's Illini have been incredibly efficient from the free throw line. Illinois has led the Big Ten in free throw shooting the last two completed seasons and is doing so once again in 2025-26. The Illini's numbers from 2023-24 and 2024-25 are the two best complete single-season free throw percentages in program history.

GREEN CLIMBS PROGRAM'S ALL-TIME WINS LIST

Fourth-year head coach Shauna Green continued to move up the program's all-time wins list. Illinois' latest win saw Green post her 71st win at the helm of the program, the fifth-most victories by an Illinois women's basketball head coach.

COMPLETE TEAM WIN VS BELLARMINE

For the second straight game, all 13 available Fighting Illini saw action as Illinois climbed to 7-1 on the season following a 90-41 win over Bellarmine. Four Illini scored in double figures led by Cearah Parchment's 16 points and 12 rebounds. As a team, the Orange and Blue racked up 64 rebounds, the most during the NCAA Era of the program (1981-present). Additionally, Illinois tallied 27 offensive rebounds, tied for the seventh-most in program history and most since the 1997-98 campaign. Illinois won the second chance points battle, 28-0 and outscored the Knights 21-0 in fastbreak points.

Illinois racked up 25 assists, just the third time during the Shauna Green Era the team has hit that mark. Eleven different Illini scored in the win while no one played more than 25 minutes.

FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS

Illinois climbed to 6-1 on the season with a 100-28 onslaught over Le Moyne to close November action. Six Fighting Illini scored in double figures including Cearah Parchment (17), Berry Wallace (17), Maddie Webber (15), Gretchen Dolan (11), Aaliyah Guyton (10), and Destiny Jackson (10). The 72-point margin of victory is the largest under Shauna Green and the third-widest margin in program history. Mia Zenere's first bucket of the season put the Illini into triple digits for the third time under Green.

BERRY WALLACE'S SOPHOMORE SURGE

Through nine games of the 2025-26 campaign, Fighting Illini sophomore Berry Wallace is averaging 17.8 points per game. That mark ranks top-60 in the NCAA through Dec. 8 games.

Along with her 17.8 points, Wallace is averaging 6.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.1 blocks across 32.1 minutes per game. The Pickerington, Ohio, native opened the season with four consecutive 20-point outings, including the first double-double of her career in the Orange and Blue's season opener. Wallace is shooting a scorching 51.4% FG, 33.3% 3FG, and 90.2 FT% through nine games.

Wallace's four straight 20-point games to open the season made her the only player in a P5 conference to do so. Additionally, she is the only player in the country with 4+ 20-point games against all D1 teams to start the season.

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN

Fighting Illini rookies Destiny Jackson and Cearah Parchment have started all nine games for Illinois and are averaging a combined 19.5 points, 12.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 3.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. Parchment was one of two Big Ten freshman to record a double-double in the first three weeks of the season (Layla Hays, Iowa) while Jackson's six assists in her collegiate debut (SEMO) is a program record for a freshman in a season opener. 

Parchment added a points-steals double-double with 17 points and 10 steals vs. Bellarmine on Nov. 30. Parchment's showing was just the second of the sort in Illinois program history while also tying the single-game record with 10 steals. Parchment was just the fifth player - and first freshman - in the NCAA to record a points-steals double-double this season.

Both Illini rookies were recognized as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week within the first five weeks of the season. As of Dec. 8, Illinois is the only program to have two different players recognized with the award.

FRESHMAN STANDOUTS

Destiny Jackson is one of 4 freshmen averaging at least 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game in the NCAA and leads that group with the fewest turnovers per game (2.0). Jackson is averaging 29.0 minutes per game, the second-fewest minutes among the group.

TAKING OVER TALLAHASSEE

An all-around team effort led Illinois to a 86-63 win at Florida State on Nov. 23. Four Illini scored double figures led by Gretchen Dolan's 25. Illinois shot 52.9% from 3-point range and 50% from the field while committing just eight turnovers.

Florida State got out to a 21-9 lead before Illinois closed the first half on a 17-3 run for a 42-34 halftime lead. The  12-point comeback ties the largest deficit overcome by a Shauna Green-coached team.

The Illini ultimately flipped the script with a 35-point swing for a 23-point victory. The margin was the program's largest non-conference road win since achieving the same margin at Cal Poly in 2018.

GO OFF GRETCHEN DOLAN

In Illinois' 23-point win at Florida State, Gretchen Dolan went off for a career-day, tallying a career-high 25 points (the first 20-point game of her career), 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in just 27 minutes of play, scoring nearly a point a minute. Dolan shot 11-for-19 (57.9%) from the field, 1-for-3 (33.3%) from deep, and 2-for-2 (100%) from the free throw line.

Twenty of Dolan's 25 points came in the second quarter on as the Fighting Illini turned that 12-point deficit (tied for the largest comeback under Shauna Green) into a 23-point win.

LETY VASCONCELOS' CAREER DAY

Lety Vasconcelos turned in a career day of her own at Florida State. The 6'7" center recorded new bests in six different categories including: field goals made (4), steals (2), blocks (5), points (8), rebounds (9), and minutes (24). Vasconcelos' five rejections were the most by an Illini since Kendall Bostic's five at Butler on Dec. 11, 2022. The redshirt-sophomore put on this performance in just her fifth game back after going 611 days between game action.

TOP ILLINOIS TALENT

With the addition of Destiny Jackson and Aaliyah Guyton for the 2025-26 campaign, Illinois basketball now has the top-ranked Illinois recruits from the classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025. 

Jasmine Brown-Hagger was the state's No. 1 player in the class of 2023, and the no. 54 prospect in the nation, according to espnW HoopGurlz. In her senior season at Example Academy, she averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 3.2 steals. While she played her freshman season at Mississippi State, she came home to Illinois the following year.

Illinois' No. 1 in the class of 2024, Aaliyah Guyton is originally from Peoria, Illinois. She enters her first season at Illinois after transferring from Iowa over the offseason.

After earning the titles of Illinois Ms. Basketball and Illinois Gatorade Player of the year in 2025, Destiny Jackson comes from Chicago as a five-star recruit, ranked sixth nationally at her position. The top-ranked player in Illinois, Jackson played at Whitney Young Magnet H.S. while playing club for Example Sports GUAA.

YOUNGEST TEAM

Green's fourth Illini squad is by far her youngest, with an average age of 19.91 years as of the start of the 2025-26 campaign. This places Illinois in the top-five for youngest rosters in Power 5 Women's Basketball.

Only two players — Gretchan Dolan and Gisela Segura — are above the age of 21. Segura is the team's oldest, with her 23rd birthday approaching in December. 

Meanwhile Cearah Parchment is the youngest player on the team, at 18 years and four months. She was born on July 4, 2007, just five days after the launch of the iPhone.

THE SHAUNA GREEN EFFECT

Illinois' 63 wins through Green's first three seasons match the program record in that span while also marking the most by a head coach in their first three years with the Orange and Blue. Across that period, Illinois is 38-11 at home under Green, and the program has secured double-digit wins in three straight seasons for the first time in program history. The Illini won 11 consecutive games from March 21-Nov. 26, 2024, a new program record and the longest active win streak in the country at the time. Additionally, Illinois strung together a program-record eight-game Big Ten winning streak en route to an 11-7 record in league play.

LAND OF LINCOLN

Entering the 2025-26 season, five Illini proudly representing the Orange and Blue hail from their home state of Illinois. 

Native to Shorewood, Ill, junior Jasmine Brown-Hagger started her high school career with two years at Joliet Catholic Academy, followed by two seasons of prep ball at Example Academy, in Frankfort, Ill. 

Aaliyah Guyton represented the Peoria Lions throughout her high school career and earned two Big-12 Player of the Year awards in the process. She was ranked as the top player in the state in 2024.

Chicago's Destiny Jackson comes to Illinois directly after being named Illinois Ms. Basketball and Gatorade Player of the Year in her senior year at Whitney Young Magnet High School. Averaging 21.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.8 steals, in her senior season, Jackson was nationally-ranked No. 28 in her class by 247Sports.

6'6" Hayven Smith hails from Frankfort, Ill, where she represented Lincoln-Way East for four years. In her senior season, Smith led the school to its first regional championship in seven years.

Mokena, Ill. native Mia Zenere notched one year at Lincoln-Way Central before heading to Example Academy for her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. 

INTERNATIONAL TIES

Going into Green's fourth year at Illinois, the Illini have six international athletes listed on their roster.

6'3" forward Manuella Alves is home to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She played her freshman and sophomore high school seasons in Brazil before playing the other two at Florida's IMG Academy.

Irene Noya Catoira hails from Vilagarcía de Arousa, Pontevedra, Spain. She Played for Segle XXI in the Spain-LF2 league from 2022-24 helping the team win the Group B regular season championship both seasons.

Freshman Erica Finney journeys to Champaign from Sydney, Australia, where she played high school ball at Cammeraygal High School. Finney represented Australia in the FIBA U17 2024 World Cup.

Cearah Parchment is from Whitby, Ontario, Canada. She attended Fort Erie International Academy and represented her country twice in FIBA World Cups.

Graduate student Gisela Segura hails from Cervera, Spain, where she graduated from Institut Joaquim Blume. She comes to Illinois after three years at Division II Franklin Pierce and one season at LIU.

Despite playing four high school seasons in the United States, Lety Vasconcelos is native to Miguel Calmon, Bahia, Brazil. She was a three-time member of the Brazilian national team, winning the South American Championship in 2020.

TALLEST PLAYER IN PROGRAM HISTORY

Listed at 6'7", Lety Vasconcelos is the tallest player in program history. While the Illini have had various student-athletes at 6'6" in the past — including Aicha Ndour from 2022-2024 — the extra inch makes Vasconcelos the tallest Illini ever. 

While she's the tallest Illini, Vasconcelos is tied for tallest in the conference, as Purdue's Avery Gordon and UCLA's Lauren Betts are also listed at the same height.