Illinois picked up its second straight 20-point victory inside Welsh-Ryan Arena in the in-state rivalry matchup against Northwestern with an 85-60 win on Thursday night.

January 23, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

EVANSTON, Ill. — Shauna Green’s domination in the house of her former boss continued Thursday night.

The 85-60 blowout victory in the in-state rivalry game was the second consecutive 20-point win for Green’s Illini inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The athleticism and execution difference was evident from nearly the opening tip as Illinois (14-5, 4-4 in Big Ten Conference) ran off an opening five minutes that saw all seven players who checked in the game score points and saw a 11-2 run to end the 10-minute period allow the Illini to run out to a 27-9 lead.

Adalia McKenzie reached double figures with 15 points for her 10th straight game right before halftime as the senior wing had nine points in the first five minutes on downhill drives to the basket, a three-point basket and an ability to get to the foul line.

Northwestern (7-11, 0-7 in Big Ten) had no answer defensively to the Illini ball-screen action and perimeter ball movement as Illinois finished the first 20 minutes of action shooting 61.3 percent from the field, 5 of 10 from three-point range and had an staggering 1.429 points per possession.

The first-half margin actually allowed fifth-year center Kendall Bostic to experience a very rare rest for the final five minutes and seven seconds of the second quarter after the 6-foot-2 post player registered her second foul. With Bostic, who finished with 20points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes, on the bench, Illinois was able to get out in transition and went on a 11-3 run to end the first half.

By the time, Bostic returned for the start of the second half, the Kokomo, Ind. native nailed an open jump shot in the Illini’s first possession and one of the largest Big Ten victories of the Shauna Green era was on its way once again. Bostic had half of her team-high 20 in the third quarter before Green subbed her out again with Illinois up 66-31 with two minutes and 27 seconds left in the quarter.

Berry Wallace had eight points and four rebounds in 11 minutes of the first half off the bench as Northwestern’s plan to attack the power forward position of the Illini lineup in ball screen action backfired in a big way. Wallace ended with

Genesis Bryant, the Illinois fifth-year lead guard, finished with a career-high in assists with 13 to go along with 13 points.

Illinois, which is usually running on a seven-player rotation, was able to sit Bostic, McKenzie and Bryant for the final five minutes and 57 seconds of action.

Green is now 5-0 against Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown in her three years at Illinois and has recorded back-to-back 30-point victories in the house of the school’s all-time wins leader. Just over a calendar year ago (Jan. 14, 2024), Illinois defeated Northwestern 93-52 for its first Big Ten win of the 2023-24 season. Green gained her first Big Ten Conference experience in the 2015-2016 as an assistant at Northwestern prior to being named head coach at Dayton before the 2016-17 season, where she had been an assistant coach from 2013-15.

Northwestern was led by the inside scoring effort of Taylor Williams as the 6-foot-2 transfer from Michigan and Western Michigan finished just short of her third consecutive double-double effort of 11 points and nine rebounds.

Illinois will be back at home on Monday night against another opponent currently winless in Big Ten play as they host Purdue for a 7:30 p.m. tip on Big Ten Network.