Illinois Basketball: Illini women start season on the right track with win

Hopefully, the men’s Illinois basketball team will follow in the footsteps of the women’s team to start the 2018-2019 campaign.

The women’s team welcomed in Alabama A&M for a day game at the State Farm Center in Champaign on Wednesday. This was the first game of the young season, and the Illini took care of business beating the Bulldogs 88-60.

Illinois really stepped up on defense. They held Alabama A&M to only 60 points and they shot 33.3-percent from the field. The Bulldogs also only hit 26.1-percent of their three-point shots as well. While the Illini defense was great, their offense was even better.

The Illini shot 47.5-percent from the field and 50-percent from three-point land. This three-point percentage also included an 8-of-11 showing in the second half to lay the hammer down on the Bulldogs. Illinois was led by Ali Andrews in scoring as she dropped 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from deep.

The scoring for Illinois was balanced throughout much of the game, though. There were four Illini players who had 10 points, which included Alex Wittinger, Cierra Rice, Jaelyn Kirkpatrick and Arieal Scott. If the Illini can continue scoring at this pace, the season could turn out better than most had expected.

Illinois is now 1-0 on the season and their next game is against Valparaiso at home next Wednesday. Seeing the Illini get off to a solid start is great. The Illini struggled last season, so having a good year is important. They only won nine games in 2017-2018 and none of those wins were in the Big Ten. That needs to change this year because there are some big-time recruits who are looking at the program as a potential landing spot.

The Illini are young, so there will be some bumps in the road. But, this first win of the season is a step in the right direction. Let’s continue to carry this momentum throughout the rest of the non-conference.