By IlliniGuys Staff

January 11, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - It's a game Maddie Webber certainly had circled on her calendar since the school year began in August.

The junior guard from Bridgeville, Pa. scored a career-high 26 to help Illinois to a 92-76 road victory over Penn State.

The win means the Illini (14-3, 4-2 in Big Ten) snap a two-game slide and equal the best 17-game start in program history.

Berry Wallace led all scorers with a career-best and game-high 28 points, scoring Illinois' first 12 points of the game while the rest of the offense struggled at the start. The Illini closed the first half on a 14-3 run to take a 43-32 lead at intermission.

Webber, with family and friends in attendance, scored 19 of her points after halftime. Destiny Jackson added 15 points and nine rebounds, but the normally sure-handed freshman committed career-high six turnovers. Illinois had a season-worst 21 turnovers to allow the Nittany Lions to stay in the game.

Freshman center Cearah Parchment scored 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds before fouling out after just 24 minutes of play. Parchment had the assignment of guarding Penn State's 6-foot-6 star Gracie Merkle, who led the Nittany Lions with 24 points and seven rebounds.

Illinois now prepares for its fourth Top 25 opponent in its last five games when they visit Michigan on Thursday. The Wolverines are ranked 9th in this week's Associated Press poll. Illinois beat No. 7 Maryland on New Year's Day before losing at 24th ranked Michigan State and at home to No. 19 Ohio State in the past week. It will be a 6 p.m. CT tipoff and can be seen on Peacock.