by CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini women’s basketball team dropped to 2-1 Thursday evening with a home loss against SIUE, 71-62, at State Farm Center.
The Illini, were led by sophomore guard Aaliyah Nye (Gun Lake Tribe/Pottawatomi) who tallied aa game-high 17 points, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Junior guard De’Myla Brown added 11 points for the Illini, her second-consecutive game in double-figures scoring.
Sophomore forward Kendall Bostic pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, and added a career-high four blocks, but was just 1-of-6 from the field to finish with four points.
The Illini jumped out to a 17-10 lead after the first quarter, and reached their largest lead, 19-10 after a Jada Peebles jumper to open the scoring in the second period. However, SIUE (1-2) responded by scoring 17 of the game’s next 19 points, to gain an edge that would prove too much for the Illini to overcome.
After trailing by three, 29-26, at halftime, the Illini deficit reached as many as 13 points in the third quarter. Illinois mounted a furious comeback effort midway through the fourth period, cutting the Cougars’ 63-50 lead to a single possession, 63-60, with 1:59 to go. But the Cougars combined to knock down six of eight free-throw attempts in the final 1:16 to seal the win.
