CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois extended its winning streak to five games with a 73-60 win over Northwestern on Thursday night at State Farm Center.

Leading by double digits for nearly 30 minutes of play, the Fighting Illini secured its sixth-straight win over the Wildcats while improving to 18-5 overall and 8-4 in Big Ten play this season.

Genesis Bryant paced the Illini in scoring with 20 points, her third-consecutive game with 20+ points. Going 3-for-5 from 3-point range, Bryant also finished with five rebounds, four assists, and a steal.

Kendall Bostic posted 15 points, her eighth-straight outing with at least 10 points. Equaling her career-high with six assists, Bostic also grabbed nine rebounds and made a season-best three blocks.

Berry Wallace poured in 14 points off the bench, 10 of which came in the first half. Scoring in double figures for the sixth time, she amassed three rebounds and two assists.

Jasmine Brown-Hagger registered nine points, while Adalia McKenzie logged seven points and three assists.

With the sides knotted at 2-2 through the opening two-and-a-half minutes, the Illini used a 4-0 run to take a four-point edge. After the Wildcats cut their deficit to one, the Orange and Blue pieced together a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to establish a double-digit edge, 18-7.

Less than a minute later, Bryant knocked down a deep three as the shot clock expired, giving the hosts a 12-point lead, their largest of the opening quarter. The sides ultimately went into the second quarter with the Illini ahead, 25-13.

An 11-4 Illinois run to start the second period moved the home side's advantage up to 19 just over halfway through the frame. Back-to-back buckets from Bostic helped maintain that margin, and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Wallace to close the half sent the Illini into halftime with a 45-25 advantage.

Illinois maintained its double-digit advantage through the third quarter, though the Wildcats cut their deficit to 12 with just under three minutes remaining in the period. A late 7-2 run from the Orange and Blue extended their edge back up to 17, and the sides went into the final frame with the Illini in front, 60-45.

A 5-0 run early in the fourth quarter pushed the home side's advantage up to 18 within the first four minutes. After leading by as many as 21 in the contest, the Illini closed out the victory from the free throw line.

Illinois heads north for a road contest at Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon before returning to State Farm Center for two home games next week. The opening tip between the Fighting Illini and the Badgers at the Kohl Center is slated for 3 p.m. CT on B1G+.

Outside linebacker coach Clint Sintim is leaving Illinois and has accepted a job at Colorado State.

Sintim has been conspicuously absent on the recruiting trail this offseason, so it’s not surprising to see him depart.

He will play linebacker at Illinois.


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She was 102.

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Nothing official yet, but it sounds like Harper will not be available against Illinois.

High ankle sprain. He has missed the last two games

Illinois had a very tough first 8 games on the league slate (in contrast to, say, MSU, which has a brutal back half). The 3-2 road record with 4 games against credible opposition (Oregon/MSU/IU/NW) is solid, the 2-1 home record is a bit disappointing as it took a major letdown performance to eat a loss (the Wisky win is good tho).

However, the next 7 games are all games in which Illinois will be favored. The two trickiest are the at Nebby and at Rutgers games. I actually watched those two teams play last week, and frankly Rutgers - despite its much lesser performance - might be the tougher of the two games, particularly as Ace Bailey is really good and Rutgers is pretty athletic (Nebraska looked awful marginal in terms of athletes to me).

Win the next 7, and 5-3 in the league becomes 12-3 and puts Illinois squarely in the Top 3 seed situation, with a shot at a 2 seed.

One aside to go along with this, the CBB regular season doesn't do it for me like it used to. Illinois hoops used to be appointment viewing. Now, it just seems like a great win or a tough loss is only meaningful in the way it impacts your seeding. But even then, you can get a good seed with a terrible draw and a middling seed with a great draw. Feels like CBB has to figure something out about this. Personally, I'd start by only using the Committee to select the entrants, and then have a computer program that weights things like NET, Pom, and Torvik more heavily in seeding select the bracket. That would get a much fairer tournament bracket.

Tre White from Illinois and Dylan Harper from Rutgers both listed as QUESTIONABLE on the Big Ten availability report.

Rutgers people who I talked to said they would be surprised if Harper plays.

Retired Illinois Sports Information Director Kent Brown has a new book out.

You can order it on Amazon here: 100 Things Illinois Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die

With traditions, records, and lore, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every University of Illinois sports fan should know. It contains essential information such as historic dates, behind-the-scenes tales, memorable moments, and Champaign landmarks. Featuring legendary figures spanning eras, this is the ultimate resource guide for students, alumni, and fans in the know.

Rivals is rolling out new positions like defensive end (DE), edge defender (EDGE), interior offensive lineman (IOL), linebacker (LB), quarterback (QB), nickel (NICK), slot (SLOT), and specialist (SPEC).

Prospects will no longer be designated as an outside linebacker (OLB), inside linebacker (ILB), strongside defensive end (SDE), weakside defensive end (WDE), center (OC), guard (OG), fullback (FB), pro-style quarterback (PQB), dual-threat quarterback (DQB), or kicker (K).

With this change, the rankings and prospect position designations for players prior to the 2026 recruiting class will remain unaltered.

Full list of new positions:

QB
RB
APB
WR
SLOT
TE
OT
IOL
DT
DE
EDGE
LB
CB
NICK
S
ATH
SPEC

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Visit has been set. It’ll be April 11-13. Anderson has also set his Auburn OV for May 30.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini fifth year Kendall Bostic has been named to the Women’s College All-Star Game Watch List presented by Herbalife. The Kokomo, Ind., native was one of 68 players appearing on the watch list that represented 51 different programs and 15 conferences.

Bostic is averaging 16.0 points, 11.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 34.5 minutes per game across her final year of collegiate basketball. She has started 115 consecutive games since transferring to Illinois ahead of her sophomore season and now holds the program’s career rebounding record. Bostic is shooting 53% from the field, 30.4% from 3-point range, and 87.5% from the free throw line this season. She owns 49 career double-doubles, all coming with the Orange and Blue. The same day Bostic broke Illinois’ program rebounding record, she moved into third place on the Big Ten’s all-time boards list.

So far, in her final campaign, Bostic has earned Big Ten Player of the Week, AP Player of the Week Honorable Mention, Her Hoops Stats Midseason First Team All-Big Ten, and McClain Power Forward Watch List honors.

The 2025 Women’s College All-Star Game will feature the top senior standouts. Of the more than 60 players that appear on the watch list, 20 will ultimately be selected to participate in the event on Saturday, April 5, in Tampa. The game will tip at 3 p.m. ET and air on ESPN2.

The complete watch list can be found on the event’s website at www.womenscollegeallstar.com. The final event roster will be announced the week of the event. Participants in the Women’s College All-Star Game will be players that have exhausted or will for forego their remaining eligibility.

Last April, 20 of college basketball’s top senior standouts converged in Cleveland to rekindle the postseason event that Intersport helped originally launch in 1998.

Right now we are 15-7
Quad 1: 6-6
Quad 2: 3-1
no Quad 3
Quad 4: 6-0

We have 9 more regular season games:

@Rutgers: Quad 2 (barely)
@Minnesota: Quad 2
vs. UCLA: Quad 1
vs. Mich St: Quad 1
@Wisconsin: Quad 1
(N) Duke: Quad 1
vs. Iowa: Quad 2
@ Michigan: Quad 1
vs. Purdue: Quad 1

So 31 regular season matchups:
18 Quad 1
7 Quad 2
0 Quad 3!!!
6 Quad 4

Some of these edge cases might fluctuate, but that's a loaded schedule. The home/away splits in the Big Ten just about maximize our number of Quad 1 games. It makes it very tough to win the conference but it's going to do wonders for our seeding.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– Illinois forward Will Riley is Big Ten Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.

• Riley led the Illini in a pair of games last week, averaging 20.0 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 52% from the field, including 45.5% from 3-point range.
• Scored team-high 24 points in the comeback win over Ohio State, making 7-9 shots and a career-high nine free throws on 12 attempts, along with three rebounds.
• His 24 points tie the most by a freshman off the bench in a conference game this season.
• Scored 20 of his 24 in the second half, as Illinois overcame an 11-point deficit against the Buckeyes to storm back for the win.
• Opened the week with 16 points while knocking a game-high four 3-pointers and had four rebounds at Nebraska.
• Scored 13 consecutive points for the Illini during the second-half comeback in Lincoln, helping push the game into overtime.

Riley earns his second Big Ten Freshman of the Week award to go along with recognition following the opening week of the season when he broke the Illini freshman debut scoring record with 31 points vs. Eastern Illinois.

No. 23 Illinois is back in action Wednesday night, playing at Rutgers (7:30 p.m. CT, BTN).