by AST LANSING, Mich. – Despite leading by as many as eight points early in the third quarter, the Illinois women’s basketball team was unable to hold off a strong, second-half offensive surge by host Michigan State en route to a 75-60 setback in the team’s Big Ten Conference opener Thursday night at the Breslin Center.
Junior guard Jada Peebles, who recorded 10 points to finish as one of three players in double-figures scoring for the Illini (4-5, 0-1 B1G), knocked down her second triple of the game at the 7:49 mark of the third quarter to give the Illini their biggest lead of the game, 39-31. But Michigan State (7-4, 1-1 B1G) answered with a 9-0 run of their own to regain the advantage, 40-39, at the 5:47 mark of the period.
That MSU run keyed a 26-point quarter, the second-largest point total surrendered by the Illini in a single quarter this season. Illinois headed into the fourth quarter trailing, 52-51. However, MSU’s hot hand continued into the fourth period, and the Illini connected on just four field goals in the period as MSU pulled away for the come-from-behind win.
Freshman guard Adalia McKenzie led the Illini in scoring with 14 points, one off her career-high set earlier this season vs. UC Riverside. Sophomore guard Aaliyah Nye, an East Lansing native and product of nearby East Lansing High School, tallied 13 points including 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range.
Sophomore forward Kendall Bostic, the Big Ten’s leading rebounder entering the game, pulled down a game-high eight boards against her former team.
