Illini Women's Basketball 2024-2025

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#102      
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#103      
They are killing it with a 6 person rotation.
Very impressed with ladies and Coach Green.
Looks like Berry can really light it up from 3 and has nice mid range game. She has size - hope she can improve her rebounding and man defense.
Corry is getting less minutes but looked very athletic and could drive the lane during Purdue game
Excited to see what 4 freshman can do next year. I expect Destiny Jackson takes over PG. JSF and Dolan at 2G/SF. Berry at PF? Need a center to replace KB
 
#104      
How are we not ranked with a 19-5 record including a road win at Maryland??
To play devils advocate here it's not like there are a bunch of teams with worse records who are ranked. Only 2 6-loss teams in the entire poll, both of which are ranked significantly higher than us by Torvik and NET (both of which have us outside the top 25).

AP voters actually have us equal with our Torvik ranking of #27, and 5 spots ahead of our NET ranking of #32.
 
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#105      
I don’t care if we are unranked. Makes it easier to sneak up on teams. Being ranked just puts a target on your back. We don’t need that.
 
#106      
The only reason I care about the ranking is because of the seeding.,I think with a 4 seed you host a few games.,.I'm not out of reality thinking we could win 5 of our last 6...maybe even all if this 3pt. percentage stays like 11/21 like it's been the last few games..I think we can get a California game...lol
 
#107      
The only reason I care about the ranking is because of the seeding.,I think with a 4 seed you host a few games.,.I'm not out of reality thinking we could win 5 of our last 6...maybe even all if this 3pt. percentage stays like 11/21 like it's been the last few games..I think we can get a California game...lol
NCAA committee doesn't look at AP rankings
 
#108      
The Illini women's NET ranking is 32 as of now. They'd probably have to crack the top 15 to get a top 4 seed, which isn't happening unless they somehow win out and sweep the California games.

Right now a realistic scenario is an 8/9 seed with a trip to South Bend for rounds 1 and 2. If they finish strong and do well in the B1G tournament, maybe they can sneak up to a 6 seed.
 
#110      
We will have played 2 of the likely #1 seeds - USC and UCLA on the road so playing ND in South Bend does not scare me. At least in South Bend our fans can travel to support the Illini.

Most likely we will get somewhere far away like LSU, SC, or UCONN. However at least we will be on national TV against the brightest stars!

Illini WBB is big time!
 
#111      
The only reason I care about the ranking is because of the seeding.,I think with a 4 seed you host a few games.,.I'm not out of reality thinking we could win 5 of our last 6...maybe even all if this 3pt. percentage stays like 11/21 like it's been the last few games..I think we can get a California game...lol
If we win five of the next six, I will buy a round for the house.
 
#115      
They are killing it with a 6 person rotation.
Very impressed with ladies and Coach Green.
Looks like Berry can really light it up from 3 and has nice mid range game. She has size - hope she can improve her rebounding and man defense.
Corry is getting less minutes but looked very athletic and could drive the lane during Purdue game
Excited to see what 4 freshman can do next year. I expect Destiny Jackson takes over PG. JSF and Dolan at 2G/SF. Berry at PF? Need a center to replace KB

Likewise, totally impressed that they are doing this with, for the most part, a six-player rotation.

Berry Wallace knocking down threes consistently is huge!

5 freshmen next year: Destiny Jackson, Erica Finney, Naomi Benson, Cearah Parchment, Manuella Alves-Fernandez.

No doubt we look at Destiny Jackson as our future PG and getting significant minutes next year, but I won't be surprised if the coaching staff targets an upper class established ballhandler in the transfer portal and Destiny may even start the season behind her. Shauna said in an interview earlier this season that she would target a combo guard in the portal.

I imagine Leticia Vasconcelos transferred in from LSU last spring under the presumption that she was going to get a bunch of the minutes at center. Then she sustained a season-ending injury during the preseason. Assuming she is fully rehabbed and returns next year, Lety is the one I expect to be our center. Wouldn't hurt to have a solid second true center, and not yet sure Hayven Smith will be ready to be that next year. We've been lucky to have Bostic who stays on the court close to 40 minutes a game. Don't know too many frontcourt players who can do that.

Will also be interested to see whether forward Shay Bollin is healed and returns for her senior year and plays a role on the court.

Just going off of sideline body language: Shay is totally bought in and a team leader, Hayven is having tons of fun, Lety is stoic.
 
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#116      
Likewise, totally impressed that they are doing this with, for the most part, a six-player rotation.

Berry Wallace knocking down threes consistently is huge!

5 freshmen next year: Destiny Jackson, Erica Finney, Naomi Benson, Cearah Parchment, Manuella Alves-Fernandez.

No doubt we look at Destiny Jackson as our future PG and getting significant minutes next year, but I won't be surprised if the coaching staff targets an upper class established ballhandler in the transfer portal and Destiny may even start the season behind her. Shauna said in an interview earlier this season that she would target a combo guard in the portal.

I imagine Leticia Vasconcelos transferred in from LSU last spring under the presumption that she was going to get a bunch of the minutes at center. Then she sustained a season-ending injury during the preseason. Assuming she is fully rehabbed and returns next year, Lety is the one I expect to be our center. Wouldn't hurt to have a solid second true center, and not yet sure Hayven Smith will be ready to be that next year. We've been lucky to have Bostic who stays on the court close to 40 minutes a game. Don't know too many frontcourt players who can do that.

Will also be interested to see whether forward Shay Bollin is healed and returns for her senior year and plays a role on the court.

Just going off of sideline body language: Shay is totally bought in and a team leader, Hayven is having tons of fun, Lety is stoic.
Appreciate the info as always. Already looking forward to next season! Go Illini
 
#118      
Yes, I believe we can read something into this announcement. The Green Effect is happening. Per Fighting Illini Women's Basketball:

"The Illinois women's basketball Senior Day game vs. Michigan on March 2 will start at 12:30 p.m. CT. Big Ten Network has selected the contest as a wild card game. Senior Day festivities will occur on the court after the game.

With the wild card selection, the Fighting Illini's final four regular season games will all be televised."
 
#119      
With the wild card selection, the Fighting Illini's final four regular season games will all be televised."
I have only seen the B10 network games (too cheap to pony up for B10+ or Peacock).

We are entering BIG TIME with games at USC and UCLA. Frankly UCLA 6'7" AA center will be quite the challenge for KB. I suspect 6'6" Haven Smith will finally get some signifcant minutes as we try to contain her. Baptism by fire.

Wish I had time to go see them play. Unfortunately that weekend I am headed to MSG for the Duke game. What an Illini sports weekend. I will have to set my Youtube TV to record the womans games.

Incredible job by Coach Green, her staff and the players. Despite injuries to Cook, Dolan and new center we are having possible our best season in 25 years!

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#121      
I imagine Leticia Vasconcelos transferred in from LSU last spring under the presumption that she was going to get a bunch of the minutes at center. Then she sustained a season-ending injury during the preseason. Assuming she is fully rehabbed and returns next year, Lety is the one I expect to be our center. Wouldn't hurt to have a solid second true center, and not yet sure Hayven Smith will be ready to be that next year. We've been lucky to have Bostic who stays on the court close to 40 minutes a game. Don't know too many frontcourt players who can do that.
Leti transferred in from Baylor.
 
#123      
Likewise, totally impressed that they are doing this with, for the most part, a six-player rotation.

Berry Wallace knocking down threes consistently is huge!

5 freshmen next year: Destiny Jackson, Erica Finney, Naomi Benson, Cearah Parchment, Manuella Alves-Fernandez.

No doubt we look at Destiny Jackson as our future PG and getting significant minutes next year, but I won't be surprised if the coaching staff targets an upper class established ballhandler in the transfer portal and Destiny may even start the season behind her. Shauna said in an interview earlier this season that she would target a combo guard in the portal.

I imagine Leticia Vasconcelos transferred in from LSU last spring under the presumption that she was going to get a bunch of the minutes at center. Then she sustained a season-ending injury during the preseason. Assuming she is fully rehabbed and returns next year, Lety is the one I expect to be our center. Wouldn't hurt to have a solid second true center, and not yet sure Hayven Smith will be ready to be that next year. We've been lucky to have Bostic who stays on the court close to 40 minutes a game. Don't know too many frontcourt players who can do that.

Will also be interested to see whether forward Shay Bollin is healed and returns for her senior year and plays a role on the court.

Just going off of sideline body language: Shay is totally bought in and a team leader, Hayven is having tons of fun, Lety is stoic.
I think it has been a big plus to have Erica and Cearah enrolled in school and with the team. They are absorbing what it means to be an Illini and play for Coach Green. Leti is also continuing to understand what her position in the system entails and is benefiting from watching KB and Brynn play. Also agree the staff will be in search of finding a veteran guard or two. I was watching the Iowa / Nebraska game the other night and at one point the Hawkeyes had four freshman on the court with Lucy Olsen. We will be more of a blend of experience as we bring in our freshman class. It makes me smile to see the interest in seeding. It has been a long time since that could become a topic on an Illini sports board. Let's go and get those Nittany Lions!!
 
#124      
It sounds like Gen is good to go as she practiced this week and Shauna didn't sound too stressed in her media availability, but we won’t know for sure until shoot around.

Penn State is our last chance for a bad loss. Take care of business tonight and then get one more win out of the final 4 regular season games (likely either Nebby or Michigan at home) and we should be in, no matter what happens in the B1G tournament and what others do to finish the season. 3 Q1 wins + no bad losses is better than just about every team on the bubble right now. And 11 conference wins would keep us at the top of the pile of other in-conference bubble teams (not that conference record matters for tourney selection, but with razor-thin margins, getting one more quality win helps). ESPN currently has us as an 8 seed with 5 B1G teams on the bubble.
 
#125      
If we get Nebby Michigan,Penn State,and one in Cali,we will have a double bye in the B1G tournament and a path way to a 4 seed..Iowa beat SoCal,why can't we? This team is no cupcake.I did wished we had a little more experience for a couple more freshman but maybe they are learning more watching.. They are enthusiastic on the bench though..lol
 
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