Big Ten title streak ends for Illinois men's golf

Apr. 29—COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jackson Buchanan nearly became the first Illinois men's golfer to win an individual Big Ten title since Adrien Dumont de Chassart in 2019.

But even if Buchanan had caught up to Daniel Svard on Sunday at the Scioto Country Club, the Illini would have still fallen short of their ultimate goal: win ning another Big Ten trophy.

Illinois placed second at the 14-team tournament that concluded Sunday afternoon, ending a string of eight consecutive Big Ten titles for Mike Small's program. Northwestern, paced by Svard, snapped the run of Illinois success by compiling a three-day score of 23-over par 863. The Illini finished 15 strokes back of the Wildcats with a 38-over 878.

Buchanan wound up second, carding an even-par 70 during his final round on Sunday. But after back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes allowed Buchanan to tie the leaders, a bogey on the 16th hole cost him as he finished the tournament at 2-over 212.

Svard posted the individual win with a 1-over 211, highlighted by rounds of 68 on both Friday and Sunday.

Max Herendeen (13-over 223) tied for 16th, Piercen Hunt (15-over 225) tied for 19th, Ryan Voois (16-over 226) tied for 26th and Ethan Wilson (17-over 227) tied for 30th to round out the scores by the Illini. Wilson had the second-best round for Illinois on Sunday with a 73.

Illinois will now wait to find out its NCAA Regional destination, with that announcement set for 1 p.m. Wednesday. The six regional sites are in Austin Texas, Baton Rouge, La., Chapel Hill, N.C., Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Stanford, Calif., and West Lafayette, Ind.

In women's basketball

Green adds post player. Shauna Green coached Tenin Magassa during Magassa's first two seasons in college.

Now, the Illini coach will reunite with one of her former players at Dayton during the 2024-25 season. Illinois announced the addition of Magassa to next season's roster on Sunday, giving the Illini a welcome addition to the frontcourt in the form of the 6-foot-6 Magassa.

Illinois is the third school for Magassa, who played the past two seasons at Rhode Island after transferring from Dayton once Green left for Illinois.

Magassa averaged 7.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and a team-high 2.1 blocks last season at Rhode Island, playing in 28 games for the Rams and making 12 starts. Rhode Island finished 21-14 and advanced to the Atlantic-10 tournament championship game.

In her two seasons playing for Green at Dayton, Magassa averaged 7.3 points and 6.6 rebounds to go along with 113 blocks. Those 113 blocks had her fifth all-time in Dayton history.

A native of Morsang-Sur-Orge, France, Magassa will have one season of eligibility left with the Illini.

"I am so happy that Tenin is back in our family," Green said in a statement. "Having coached for her for two years, I know she can help us right away. T is a big that can run in our pace, protect the rim defensively and has the ability to score with her back to the basket. She knows our system and our standards."

Magassa will likely fill the role Camille Hobby had this past season at Illinois, with the 6-3 Hobby averaging 9.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in her lone season at Illinois as a graduate transfer.

"I feel overjoyed rejoining people that feel like home," Magassa said. "This is a full circle moment for me."

In baseball

Terps take series. After losing 9-8 at Maryland on Saturday, the host Terrapins never trailed Illinois in Sunday's series finale and earned an 11-7 win in front of 1,239 fans at Bob 'Turtle' Smith Stadium in College Park, Md.

The Illini (25-15, 11-4) faced a 7-1 deficit after three innings, used five pitchers against the Terrapins (28-17, 8-10) and couldn't catch up. Vytas Valincius went 2 for 4 with a home run and five RBI, while Champaign Central graduate Connor Milton hit a solo home run — his fifth of the season — for Illinois.

In softball

Malott, Ryono spark comeback. Illinois avoided a series sweep at Ohio State on Sunday, rallying to beat the host Buckeyes 11-6 in front of 1,733 fans at Buckeye Field in Columbus, Ohio.

After tying the game at 6 in the top of the sixth, Sydney Malott gave Illinois (20-28, 6-13) the lead in the seventh with an RBI single to score Abby Ryniec and put Illinois ahead 7-6. Kelly Ryono came through later in the inning with a bases-clearing double to cap the comeback against the Buckeyes (29-18, 10-10), who won 13-5 on Saturday.

Abby Ryniec led Illinois (20-28, 6-13) by going 3 for 4 with a double and two RBI as Illinois scored three runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 6 and then broke out with five runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away.

Kelly Ryono had the big hit in the seventh, with her bases-clearing double extending the Illini's lead from 8-6 to 11-6.