by CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– The Fighting Illini women’s basketball team used a stellar second half to capitalize on a record shooting performance by sophomore guard Aaliyah Nye (Gun Lake Tribe/Potawattomi) in a 68-47 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday afternoon at State Farm Center.
Nye scored 21 points – all from three-point range – to match the Illini record for triples in a Big Ten game with seven. She was one of three players to tally double-figures scoring for the Illini along with senior guard Jada Peebles (16 points) and freshman guard Adalia McKenzie (10).
Sophomore forward Kendall Bostic, the Big Ten’s top rebounder, led the Illini to 45-30 rebounding edge, pulling down a game-high 14 boards. Nye matched her career-high with seven rebounds, while sophomore post Erika Porter added seven of her own to establish a new career-best mark. Porter’s four blocks also marked a career high.
Playing in front of a season-best home crowd of 2,066 fans, the Illini (6-8, 1-2 B1G) jumped out to a 23-13 lead after the first quarter after Nye connected on four of her first six three-point attempts to in the opening period. Wisconsin (3-11, 0-4 B1G) countered in the second quarter, outscoring the Illini 19-11. But McKenzie’s drive and finish just before the buzzer sent Illinois into the locker room with a 34-32 lead.
Coming out of halftime Peebles poured in 12 of her 16 points in the third period to help the Illini push their lead back to double-digits, 55-41 However, it was the Illini defense that made the difference as the Orange and Blue held UW to just nine points in the third quarter and four points in the fourth, extending the lead that resulted in the team’s largest Big Ten regular-season victory since the 2016-17 season.
