By IlliniGuys Staff

November 7, 2024

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Makira Cook and Adalia McKenzie scored 20 points each as Illinois knocked off 19th ranked Florida State 83-74 in their season opener Thursday night.

Illinois (1-0) returns four starters from the past two seasons and a fifth player in Brynn Shoup-Hill who started most of the past two years and that experienced showed against the Seminoles (1-1) as they jumped out to an early 9-2 lead and built that advantage to 28-12 in the second quarter.

Florida State, which is coming off a 23-11 season and a 4th straight trip to the NCAA tournament, mounted a second half comeback to pull within 70-65 with 5:43 remaining in the game. But the Illini allowed only four more field goals the rest of the way while hitting 7-of-8 free throws to seal the win.

Kendall Bostic scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to go over the 1,000 mark for her career while Gretchen Dolan added 11 points off the bench.  Shoup-Hill finished with a team-high 10 rebounds.

Makayl Timpson led Florida State with 22 points and 14 rebounds.

Illinois will host Marquette Sunday night (7pm, BTN) on an evening when they will raise the WBIT championship banner earned last spring.

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage.