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Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Notre Dame

By Rees Woodcock

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 02: Genesis Bryant #1 of the Illinois Fighting Illini dribbles the ball against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the second half of the game in the second round of the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament at Target Center on March 2, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Fighting Illini defeated the Scarlet Knights 81-55. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 02: Genesis Bryant #1 of the Illinois Fighting Illini dribbles the ball against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the second half of the game in the second round of the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament at Target Center on March 2, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Fighting Illini defeated the Scarlet Knights 81-55. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) /
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PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 06: Maddy Westbeld of Notre Dame looks on during the Aflac Oui Play match between South Carolina and Notre Dame at Halle Georges Carpentier on November 06, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 06: Maddy Westbeld of Notre Dame looks on during the Aflac Oui Play match between South Carolina and Notre Dame at Halle Georges Carpentier on November 06, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images) /

4. Notre Dame’s size gave Illinois trouble

I don’t say this often, but Kendall Bostic struggled on Saturday. Notre Dame brought out their big guns and just shut down our best paint player for the entire game.

Bostic just had a big game against St. Peter’s. She logged another double-double, and I was hoping she would carry that momentum into the Notre Dame matchup. But that didn’t happen.

The Irish paint players were just too much for Bostic. Maddy Westbeld is a great player for Notre Dame. At 6-foot-3, she is bigger than Bostic, and when Illinois would put other players like Camille Hobby on Westbeld, she would be quicker than those Illinois paint players.

Westbeld was able to rebound well, as she finished with eight rebounds for the game. But it wasn’t the rebounding that blew my mind. She was able to pull Illinois paint players out with her three-point shooting. She is a center who can step out and shoot the three-point shot. Illinois had trouble with this all game long.

For the game, Notre Dame had 36 rebounds compared to Illinois who had just 25 rebounds for the game. The Irish had the size to dominate the Illini, and that is exactly what they did on the glass. This was a crash course in how Illinois can defend that type of size moving forward. At least we know what to correct now.

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