The women’s Illinois basketball team will soon have to invoke Rodney Dangerfield soon if things don’t start changing on a national level when it comes to respect.
Another game has come and gone, and the Illini tallied another mark in the win column. Moving to 11-2 on the season, Illinois managed to secure another home win over the newly minted Big Ten foe Oregon, 64-59.
A tough game throughout, Oregon was the beneficiary of some lowly Illini shooting and inconsistent play. Thankfully, Shauna Green’s squad implemented their patented lockdown defense, holding the Ducks to just 59 points on 30.8% shooting from the field.
Illinois dealt with plenty of issues in this game, too. We had a tough time making a shot from the field, as the Illini hit 26.7% from three-point range and 34.9% from the field. Adalia McKenzie missed a couple of big free throws down the stretch that could have opened the door for Oregon. And 22 turnovers are unacceptable. In the second quarter alone, I believe the Illini had seven points and seven turnovers.
Health issues are clearly still hampering a talented Illinois basketball team
Over the past month or so, Illinois has struggled in the scoring department. We have now had back-to-back games under 70 points, despite both being victories.
A part of the scoring issues has to do with health issues. They go hand-in-hand. On Saturday, Illinois got an important piece to the scoring puzzle back in action.
Gretchen Dolan saw minutes for the first time in over a month. The last game she played in was the loss against Kentucky back on November 27. Dolan looked good off the bench, and it was clear she didn’t miss a beat. She dropped 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range.
Having Dolan back secured the win over Oregon, but Illinois isn’t done in the health department. We are also missing Makira Cook. The talented shooter hasn’t played since the loss to Ohio State.
Illinois has done a great job stabilizing the season without these two key pieces. Now that Dolan is back in the fold, we should continue to see victories. Once Cook is back, then we start really becoming a threat.
Illinois basketball missing from the AP Top 25 doesn’t make much sense right now
This past week, the Illini failed to make the AP Top 25. We did receive eight votes, but let’s be honest. The only reason we aren’t inside the top 25 is due to name. The season as a whole has been pretty good.
Through 13 games, Illinois is 11-2. Our only two losses have come to an 11-1 No. 13 ranked Kentucky squad and a 12-0 No. 10 ranked Ohio State program. Illinois also has a really good win over an 11-2 Florida State team. The two losses for the Seminoles were against us and an undefeated Tennessee program.
Come Monday, look for the Illini to continue to knock on the door of the top 25. Maybe, just maybe, we will break it down once again.