Illinois connects on just 34 percent of its field goals and goes 12 of 40 on two-point attempts in the first loss of the 2025-26 season during its initial road test.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

November 14, 2025

A 2,100-mile trip, Oregon State’s deliberate pace of play and shooting just 30 percent on its two-point field goal attempts were the equation for the first loss of the 2025-26 season for the Illinois women’s basketball program.

Shauna Green’s squad couldn’t overcome a rare bleak shooting performance from Gretchen Dolan and an inability to get enough production from its bench as Illinois took home a 64-59 loss to Oregon State on Friday night.

Illinois (2-1) did get 24 points and six rebounds from Berry Wallace as she played three different frontcourt positions for the Illini in her 33-minute effort. However, Oregon State (3-0) ran several different defenders on Dolan, who came into the contest averaging 17 points per game, as the junior guard ended the night just 4 of 19 from the field and with only two points in the second half.

Oregon State, which is coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths in 2024 and 2025, held Dolan without a field goal for the final 21 minutes of play during a stretch where she missed seven consecutive attempts.

The Beavers got a game-high 25 points from 5-foot-11 veteran guard Tiara Bolden. Bolden, who was challenged by her head coach Scott Rueck to take 10,000 three-pointers this summer, was 9 of 13 from the field including two from beyond the three-point arc on her way to a career offensive night.

Illinois took a 24-18 lead in the second quarter on a dribble-drive that led to one of the few mid-range jumpers that fell for Dolan on the evening but that would prove to be the Illini’s biggest advantage of the night. From that moment until halftime, Illinois went the final seven minutes and 48 seconds without a field goal to see its six-point lead turn into a one-point deficit.

Since Rueck took over the Oregon State operation in 2010-11, they rank fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense while holding opponents to 35.7 percent shooting from the field. Illinois ended the 40-minute effort shooting just 20 of 59 (33.9 percent) from the field, despite connecting on 8 of 19 from beyond the three-point arc.

Illinois, the third youngest power conference team and youngest in the Big Ten Conference, showed its inexperience Friday night as freshman point guard Destiny Jackson was held to just five points and two assists in 27 minutes.

The Illini 2025-26 roster now includes the top-ranked high school player from the state of Illinois from the last three recruiting cycles (Jackson, Iowa transfer Aaliyah Guyton and junior guard Jasmine-Brown-Hagger) but that trio managed just 10 total points and four assists from their perimeter roles.

Illinois will have a long weekend to digest this first loss of the season before hosting Murray State (1-1) at State Farm Center Tuesday afternoon in the annual Field Trip Game with tip at 11 a.m. CST. The Racers are coming off of arguably the best season in program history in 2024-25 after setting a program record 25 wins and securing both the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles en route to the program's first NCAA tournament appearance since 2008.