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Tough observations from Illinois basketball falling short against Vanderbilt

The Illinois basketball team was looking to play spoiler in the second round of the NCAA tournament, but ended up being no match for Mikayla Blakes and the Vanderbilt Commodores.
ByKellen Sherman|
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Illinois guard Maddie Webber (34) looks for a path past Vanderbilt guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda (15) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
Illinois guard Maddie Webber (34) looks for a path past Vanderbilt guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda (15) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026. | ANDREW NELLES / THE TENNESSEAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The women's Illinois basketball season has officially come to an end with a 75-57 loss to the No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

This was a daunting task from the beginning for the Illini, and it ultimately proved too much for the squad in the end.

Sadly, this means that an otherwise impressive season for Illinois has officially come to an end. Shauna Green put the college basketball world on notice as she brought one of the youngest teams in the country to the Big Dance. But before we make our way into the offseason, what are some key observations from this game that we should be dissecting?

Mikayla Blake is not human

It is hard to guard a star like Mikayla Blakes, especially when she is a threat to put up 25-30 points on a nightly basis. The two-time AP All-American is a special talent for the Commodores, and proved just that on Monday night against the Illini.

Blakes played in all but two minutes of game time, and she recorded a game-high of 25 points and 10 rebounds on 45% shooting from the field. She was almost surgical in this game, as she became a key cog in Vanderbilt's second half run to put the game away.

The Illini did all they could to stop her and put up a pretty good fight in the process. They held Blakes to only one point through the first five minutes of the first quarter. But unfortunately, superstars do superstar things, and she ended up taking control of this game in a big way.

The missed shots just didn't stop for Illinois in the first half

The Illini needed to get out to a strong start on Monday night to make up for what Vanderbilt is capable of offensively. They needed to find a way to split through the Commodores' intense defense and carve out some kind of offense early.

Sadly, that did not happen for Illinois, as the Orange and Blue only shot 25% from the field in the first half, including a stretch where they missed 14 straight shots. They could not get anything to fall against head coach Shea Ralph's squad, and Vanderbilt took full advantage of it.

It was a puzzling experience, to say the least. It looked like Illinois was doing all of the right things, especially when it came to their work on the offensive glass. But they just could not sustain any sort of rhythm, and it unfortunately carried over to the second half.

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