By IlliniGuys Staff

March 22, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

AUSTIN, Texas - In a season dominated by Illinois seniors, it was a freshman making her NCAA tournament debut who made the shot of the night.

Berry Wallace grabbed a missed Genesis Bryant free throw and put in a layup between two defenders to give the 8th seeded Illini a 60-54 lead with 1:43 left in the game and the Illinois defense didn't give up another field goal to score a 66-57 victory over 9-seed Creighton on Saturday.

It was Illinois' first NCAA tournament victory since 2000, before any of these players were born.

"I'm so proud of these guys", said Illinois head coach Shauna Green on her postgame radio show. "It's fitting to get this done. This group has been so special and has done so much to bring this program back. I'm so happy for them."

Illinois (22-9) fell behind early to the Bluejays 6-3, but went on a 15-4 run to close out the first period and then increased their lead to 24-12 in the second quarter. Creighton (26-7) closed within four points multiple times in the second half, but could never get any closer.

Kendall Bostic became Illinois' all-time leader with her 54th double-double. She had 12 points and 17 rebounds to pass Jenna Smith. But the Kokomo, Indiana native was more excited about ending the program's 25-year NCAA tournament victory drought.

"It's what I came here to do, to turn a program around", said Bostic on the radio show. "It's a testament to this season and our work ethic. It's a great way to start off this tournament."

GBryant added 17 points, but was held scoreless until the final minute of the game. The second team All-Big Ten selection shook off the missed free throws that set up Wallace's heroics to drain all six attempts from the line in the final 38 seconds to put Creighton on ice.

The Bluejays entered the game ranked 9th in Division I with nine made three-pointers per game, but managed just 6-of-22 against the Illini.

"Our defense was outstanding tonight. Those threes were tough makes. We made them work for every single shot they got", said Green.

"Our prep was great", added Bostic. "We haven't had four days of preparation since (the season opener against) Florida State and our practice team was going faster than what Creighton was doing tonight, so that really helped. And (the experience of) last year's WBIT tournament run really helped too."

The victory was the sixth in a row in national postseason tournament play, as they won five straight games last spring to win the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament. It's their first NCAA win since beating Utah 73-57 on March 17, 2000 in Ames, Iowa.

Adalia McKenzie finished with 14 points and seven rebounds and Wallace added 11 points as the Illini snapped a four-game losing streak dating back to February 20th at UCLA.

Morgan Maly, Creighton's second all-time leading scorer, led the Bluejays with 18 points.

Creighton entered the week at No. 22 in the Associated Press poll, giving the Illini their fourth win this season over a ranked team. They defeated No. 19 Florida State, No. 23 Iowa, and 14th ranked Maryland during the regular season.

Illinois will now face either top-seed Texas or William & Mary on Monday.