Dec. 28—CHAMPAIGN — A 64-59 win for her Illinois women’s basketball team against Oregon on Saturday afternoon at State Farm Center had a feeling of satisfaction to it for third-year coach Shauna Green.
But it was more than just one victory in the course of a five-month long regular season. One made into more of a grind amid a new 18-team Big Ten that is among the elite conferences in the country. Likely only the SEC is the Big Ten’s equal.
Still, the Illini’s five-point win against the Ducks — with home Big Ten victories holding their weight in gold, according to Green — had even more significance to it. Mostly because it’s the kind of game that got away from Illinois far too often last winter when the Illini posted a disappointing Big Ten regular-season finish.
Sure, a WBIT championship took some of the sting away, but Illinois had its sights set on bigger things. Specifically a second straight NCAA tournament appearance.
That didn’t happen. But wins like Saturday could be worth circling back to if the Illini again see their name show up on Selection Sunday as an NCAA tournament team come March.
“That’s why this game I’m just really, really proud and happy for this group,” Green said. “Again, we’ve been through a lot. People in and out (of the lineup with injuries) and people having to play different positions, play maybe more minutes here. It’s just when you face adversity throughout the season and they’re able to just stay focused. We had two great days of prep, so I felt good coming in. But I just feel like this was a really big game for us and our confidence and knowing what we’re capable of doing.
“It wasn’t pretty the whole game. You know, I think, we went on an eight-minute scoring drought in the second (quarter). I mean, 22 turnovers. There’s so much we need to clean up, but to find a way and even when it’s ugly you find a way to win and our defense and our rebounding will always keep us in a position to win, and that’s the difference in the maturity that we’ve talked about from last year.”
Winning the rebounding battle? Check. The Illini (11-2, 1-1 Big Ten) held a 45-32 advantage on the boards against Oregon (9-4, 0-2).
Handling ball-screen coverage on defense and keeping Ducks star guard Deja Kelly off her spots? Absolutely. They both played a key role in Oregon shooting only 30.8 percent for the game and Kelly taking 15 shot attempts to score 14 points.
The most consequential aspect of Saturday’s Big Ten matchup, however? That Illinois got to the free-throw line 38 times, scoring nearly half of its points there with the Illini draining 30 free throws.
Fifth-year senior guard Genesis Bryant led that effort for Illinois with Bryant scoring a game-high 23 points largely due to free throws (16 of 17) despite her shooting struggles (3 of 12 from the floor).
“I mean we knew there were going to pressure us, and the way you beat pressure is with pressure,” Bryant said. “So, just attacking the rim, not shying away from contact. That’s something I did early in the year. So, just trying to be strong and play off two (feet) and with all those fouls, like I said, I did a good job of that.”
That mindset the Illini had on Saturday, Oregon coach Kelly Graves, admitted afterward was missing from his team. It didn’t show up really until the fourth quarter when the Ducks actually led by four points, at 47-43, with eight minutes, five seconds left in the game after Peyton Scott’s two made free throws.
“We knew they loved that right block and we were just late there a lot of times and unfortunately and give them credit they’re aggressive,” Graves said of Illinois. “They go in. How many shots did we miss, layups? They go in and get fouled, and that’s what we just have to do a better job of is being more aggressive like them.”
That aforementioned four-point lead Oregon established early in the fourth quarter — which came after the Illini had been ahead for 25 straight minutes — didn’t faze Illinois, however.
Gretchen Dolan, who returned from a left knee injury that kept the sophomore guard out for about a month, connected for a pair of clutch three-pointers in the fourth quarter. That scoring jolt helped. As did the fact Illinois continued to combine defensive stops at one end with opportunistic offense at the other.
A put-back bucket from Brynn Shoup-Hill off a missed layup from Adalia McKenzie was the final lead change, as the Illini grabbed a 52-51 lead and remained in front for the final five-plus minutes.
That Oregon had to work hard for its offense on Saturday — the fourth quarter was the lone exception — allowed Illinois to seal a much-needed Big Ten victory.
“This was one of our better defensive games,” Green said. “We haven’t iced really all year and we went to ice and executed. We have done it the past two days at practice at a high level. With that, we were able to take Deja (Kelly) out of her sweet spots, which is that Big Ten logo. We were really trying to keep her on one side of the floor and you know we started (Adalia) on her and then we went (Jasmine Brown-Hagger) on her and we were kind of back and forth (on who guarded the Ducks’ best player). We made her work for everything. … Really proud of our guys for really locking in on the scout and execution level defensively I thought was at a high level.”
