Young Illini Move Forward in B1G Tournament 

By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports

   The #10 Seed Illinois Fighting Illini knocked off the #7 Seed Michigan State Spartans 71-69 in the Second Round of the Allstate Big Ten Tournament Thursday Night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Illinois is 21-10 and will face #2 Seed Iowa 24-5 tomorrow night in the Quarterfinals. Michigan State is 22-8 and will wait for their NCAA Tournament fate on March 15th at 8 PM on ESPN when the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament field of 68 is announced.

    Five Fighting Ilini scored in double figures led by Cearah Parchment with 15 points, Destiny Jackson added 14 points, Maddie Webber scored 13 points off the bench, Jasmine Brown-Hagger scored 12 points, and Barry Wallace added 10 points. Illinois went 25-49 from the field for 51%, 6-14 from three-point range for 43% and 15-19 from free throw line for 79%. The Fighting Illini scored 34 bench points, 15 points off turnovers,

   Kennedy Blair led Michigan State with a career high 30 points as the Sophomore from Dearborn, Michigan went 11-18 from the field, 1-2 from three-point range and 7-9 from the free throw line along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Grace VanSlooten added 13 points, and Jayln Brown scored 12 points. The Spartans went 26-61 from the field for 42%, 3-12 from three-point range for 25% and 14-17 from the free throw line for 82%. Michigan State pulled down 33 rebounds, 12 assists, 9 steals, 4 blocks and 14 turnovers. The Spartans scored 42 points in the paint, 13 points off turnovers, 10 second chance points, 6 fastbreak points and 2 bench points.

   Michigan State led 6-0 to start the game as there were 5 lead changes and 3 ties. Illinois led 20-17 after the first quarter and outscored the Spartans 16-12 in the second quarter to lead 36-29 at halftime. Michigan State outscored Illinois 40-35 in the second half. Michigan State outscored Illinois 19-17 in the third quarter as Fighting Illini led 53-48 going to the fourth quarter. The Spartans outscored the Fighting Illini 21-18 in the fourth quarter as Illinois ended the game by hitting 4 of their last 5 from the field. Illinois led from the 4:41 mark of third quarter when the game was tied 42-42 until the end of the game.

   Illinois will face Iowa as Alliyah Guyton who scored six points for Illinois will face her former team that she played for a year ago. Michigan State will be in the NCAA Tournament but now they have a long week and half ahead waiting to see who and where they will play in the Big Dance.