Illinois Basketball: 3 observations from the Illini loss to Marquette

On Saturday, the women’s Illinois basketball team took on a tough Marquette team on the road.

This wasn’t an easy matchup for the Illini on paper. While we were ranked No. 23 in the country, the Golden Eagles aren’t a pushover by any means.

Marquette finished 2022-23 with 20 wins in the regular season and made it to the NCAA tournament as a No. 9 seed. They would fall in overtime in the first round, but this team is pretty solid.

Illinois managed to keep the game close throughout, though. Despite missing one of our best players in Makira Cook, Illinois fought tough but came up just short, 71-67.

Here are three observations from the Illinois basketball loss to Marquette

1. Camille Hobby starting to get her feet underneath her

Kendall Bostic is a monster in the paint for Illinois, but one problem we have is the depth behind Bostic. This was an issue last season, especially when Bostic would get into foul trouble or need a breather.

Illinois went into the transfer portal and was able to land Camille Hobby. She had a great career with North Carolina State, and now she is an important piece to the Illini. Hobby didn’t have a great game against Morehead State and seemed a little out of place. But, against Marquette, she seemed to get into a groove. Hobby finished the Marquette game with a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds. She also logged 26 minutes of action. If we can get this type of production out of Hobby moving forward, Illinois will be tough to beat.

2. Illinois needs Makira Cook back in the mix

People are going to see the result of the Marquette game and think that Illinois was disappointing. I don’t think that is the case at all, though. When you are missing one of your best, if not the best, player on the team, it is tough to beat a caliber of program like the Golden Eagles.

Makira Cook is a special talent. She averaged 18.3 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game last season. That production is off the court with an injury. It is hard to replace that. The fact Illinois came close to knocking off an NCAA tournament team without Cook shows you how talented the Illini are this season. Just think what this program is going to look like with Cook back on the court.

3. Sloppy game for the Illini

It would have been nice to knock off Marquette, and we came close to doing so. But, as I mentioned above, it is hard to beat a team like Marquette when Illinois is missing an 18-point-per-night scorer like Cook. It is also hard to beat a team when you have 20 turnovers.

Bostic didn’t have a great game by any means. She finished the night with 14 points and six rebounds, but Bostic also had a team-high eight turnovers on the afternoon. Illinois leaned on her a little too much, as we needed to make up the production that was missing from Cook and the lack of three-pointers going in the bucket. At least five Illinois players had two turnovers in the game as well. This could have easily been a victory if it wasn’t for the big turnover total.