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Women's basketball Game 22 preview: Northwestern at Illinois, 6 p.m. Thursday

joe vozzelli, the news-gazette, champaign-urbana, ill.
·5 min read

Feb. 8—Lineups

Illinois (10-11, 4-7 Big Ten)StartersP Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Makira Cook Sr. 5-6 14.7 Cincinnati

G Genesis Bryant Sr. 5-6 14.4 Jonesboro, Ga.

G Adalia McKenzie Jr. 5-10 10.0 Brooklyn Park, Minn.

F Kendall Bostic Sr. 6-2 12.6 Kokomo, Ind.

C Camille Hobby Sr. 6-3 9.0 Jacksonville, Fla.

FYI: Bostic's 24-point, 15-rebound double-double in the Illini's 77-72 overtime loss at Purdue on Monday night was the 25th one of her three-year Illinois career. The senior forward is one double-double shy of tying Ashley Berggren for the seventh-most in program history. Jenna Smith

* holds the school record in career double-doubles with 53 from 2006-2010.

Off the benchP Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

F Brynn Shoup-Hill Jr. 6-3 3.6 Goshen, Ind.

G Gretchen Dolan Fr. 5-11 4.0 Buffalo, N.Y.

F Shay Bollin So. 6-3 1.8 Raynham, Mass.

Northwestern (8-14, 3-8 Big Ten)StartersP Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Caroline Lau So. 5-9 8.0 Westport, Conn.

G Hailey Weaver Jr. 5-11 9.1 Solon, Ohio

G Casey Harter Fr. 5-11 6.3 Harleysville, Pa.

F Caileigh Walsh Jr. 6-3 12.8 Sparta, N.J.

F Paige Mott Sr. 6-1 8.1 Philadelphia

FYI: The Wildcats are coming off arguably their most complete performance of the season in a 69-43 home win on Sunday against Wisconsin, as Lau, Mott and Walsh combined for 55 points and Northwestern held the Badgers to only 25.8 percent shooting from the field while forcing 19 turnovers — one off its season high

* .

Off the benchP Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Melannie Daley Jr. 5-11 12.7 Hastings, N.Y.

G Jasmine McWilliams Sr. 5-11 2.3 Indianapolis

G Maggie Pina Gr. 5-7 5.0 West Chester, Pa.

Details

Site:

* State Farm Center (15,544); Champaign.

Radio: Mike Koon

* will have the call on WDWS 1400-AM & 93.9-FM.

Streaming:

* BTN Plus (subscription).

Series:

* Northwestern leads 49-37.

Last meeting:

* Illinois won 93-52 at Northwestern on Jan. 14 in Evanston.

FYI: The 41-point win the Illini delivered at Welsh-Ryan Arena last month was Illinois' third straight win against the Wildcats. It's the longest win streak for Illinois against its in-state rival since the Illini won 21 in a row against Northwestern from 1997 through 2010.

Beat writer Joe Vozzelli's storylines

Looking to rediscover their offensive rhythmGenesis Bryant was the first — and only Illinois player — on the floor at State Farm Center on Wednesday afternoon about an hour before the Illini's team practice. With assistant coach DeAntoine Beasley watching and a team manager rebounding for her, the senior guard put up a bunch of layups. Then Bryant moved outward from the basket, shooting some pull-up jumpers and working through some moves in the lane. It's not unusual to see Bryant arriving early for practice. But Bryant was also 3 of 15 from the floor in Illinois' overtime loss at Purdue. Bryant wasn't alone in her shooting struggles, though, as Makira Cook also finished 4 for 19 in Monday night's five-point loss. The Illini were 6 of 21 on three-point attempts, as well, and missed several layups. "We've talked to them about trying to manufacture more points, get to the free-throw line more if your shot is not falling," Illinois coach Shauna Green said of Bryant and Cook on Wednesday. "Again, we got some really good looks. ... Shots that they made the last couple games, and so we have just got to continue to keep them confident, keep them shooting. But we need the ball to go through the basket in order to win those games. There's just no other way around it. .... There were a few possessions we had multiple offensive rebounds and I think we statted it, we only finished two putbacks. That's not good enough. We have to finish better."

Getting defensive after Purdue lossPurdue's dominance in the paint — particularly in the first half — had Illinois trailing throughout most of Monday night's Big Ten loss at Mackey Arena. A fourth-quarter comeback allowed the Illini to force overtime, but the fact the Boilermakers won the paint matchup 42-32 was indicative of Illinois' issues with getting consistent stops. That lack of defensive intensity is contrary to the identity the Illinois coach wants her team to be built on. "You have got to believe in it. It is who we are," Green said. "You have to just believe that's going to put you in position to win games. ... I'm not a zone person. I don't want to play zone unless it's for here or there and we had to play zone for almost the entire game (at Purdue) because we just couldn't defend and we couldn't get stops."

Expecting a different Northwestern teamNobody needed to remind Green of the parallels. Just look at the two games Illinois played against Michigan this season. The first game, the Wolverines handed the Illini an 84-48 loss at State Farm Center only for Illinois to flip that with a 77-64 win on Jan. 31 in the rematch in Ann Arbor, Mich. Northwestern will be looking to do the same thing after Illinois routed the Wildcats 93-52 in mid-January. "They are playing really well right now," Green said. "Their defense is a lot better. They're scoring more. They have even made some changes of getting certain players the ball in different positions. ... I will definitely make reference to all of those things, so there is no surprise (Thursday night) because we have to be ready to go."

The News-Gazette's Pick

Illinois 72, Northwestern 62The Wildcats' three Big Ten wins include a sweep of Wisconsin and a win against Rutgers. Not exactly notable. But still a cautionary tale to the Illini that they can't overlook Northwestern. Illinois has basically played in close games all season, and this matchup will more resemble that kind of game than the one the Illini played in Evanston when essentially everything worked (N-G prediction record: 13-8).