Illinois

Women’s basketball Game 2 preview: Marquette at Illinois, 7 p.m. Sunday

Published

1 year ago

November 9, 2024

Press Room

Women’s basketball Game 2 preview: Marquette at Illinois, 7 p.m. Sunday

Lineups

Illinois (1-0)

Starters

P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Makira Cook Sr. 5-6 20.0 Cincinnati

G Genesis Bryant Sr. 5-6 8.0 Jonesboro, Ga.

G Adalia McKenzie Sr. 5-10 20.0 Brooklyn Park, Minn.

F Brynn Shoup-Hill Sr. 6-3 5.0 Goshen, Ind.

F Kendall Bostic Sr. 6-2 18.0 Kokomo, Ind.

➜ FYI: Bryant, who played her 100th career game in Thursday night’s 83-74 home upset of No. 19 Florida State, was largely ineffective until late against the Seminoles. The fifth-year senior Bryant played only 22 minutes — the fewest of the five Illini starters — and didn’t make a shot attempt until the fourth quarter with six of the guard’s eight points coming in the final 10 minutes. Bryant ended up 1 of 5 from the floor after finishing 1 of 3 shooting in Illinois’ lone exhibition game against Lewis on Nov. 1.

Off the bench

P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Gretchen Dolan So. 5-11 11.0 Buffalo, N.Y.

F Berry Wallace Fr. 6-1 0.0 Pickerington, Ohio

G Jasmine Brown-Hagger So. 5-9 1.0 Shorewood

Marquette (0-1)

Starters

P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Olivia Porter Jr. 5-8 14.0 Chapel Hill, N.C.

G Halle Vice So. 6-1 0.0 Bettendorf, Iowa

G Lee Volker Sr. 6-1 10.0 Purcellville, Va.

F Skylar Forbes So. 6-3 11.0 Markham, Ontario

F Jada Bediako So. 6-3 4.0 Brampton, Ontario

➜ FYI: Porter was one of six transfers first-year coach Cara Consuegra brought in during the offseason with the junior guard following her coach from Charlotte to Marquette after Porter started every game for the 49ers last season, with Charlotte finishing 22-10 and making the NCAA tournament. Jaidynn Mason (Southern Illinois), Kennedi Perkins (Syracuse), Ayuen Akot (Frank Phillips College), Aryelle Stevens (Gulf Coast State College) and Bediako (Georgia Tech) were also among the transfer additions.

Off the bench

P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Bridget Utberg Jr. 5-5 3.0 Canton, Ga.

F Aryelle Stevens Jr. 6-1 2.0 Pearland, Texas

G Kennedi Perkins Jr. 5-6 2.0 Bolingbrook

Details

➜ Site: State Farm Center (15,544); Champaign.

➜ TV: Jason Ross Jr. (play-by-play) and Shimmy Gray-Miller (analysis) will have the call on BTN.

➜ Radio: Mike Koon will have the call on WDWS 1400-AM and 93.9-FM.

➜ Series: Marquette leads 6-2.

➜ Last meeting: Marquette won 71-67 on Nov. 11, 2023, in Milwaukee.

➜ FYI: That four-point win for the Golden Eagles saw Liza Karlen go off for a game-high 22 points and Jordan King add 19 points as Illinois played without Makira Cook because of a concussion. But neither player is back at Marquette this season. King exhausted her eligibility and Karlen transferred to Notre Dame.

Beat writer Joe Vozzelli’s storylines

Taking accountability as starters

A major talking point throughout the offseason for Illinois was fixing what had troubled the Illini last winter: Poor starts to games. Particularly in Big Ten play. So much so that Illinois coach Shauna Green didn’t just address it in the practice gym with different drills last season, but through visualization techniques, as well. Still, fifth-year senior Kendall Bostic made it clear where the responsibility lies to improve how Illinois starts games: On the players.

“The starters had a meeting earlier this week and just kind of talked about what we needed to do,” Bostic said. “In the end, it’s on us. We’re the ones that go out and start the game and essentially, when the hole is dug, it’s because we dug it ourselves.”

Getting to the rim, and finishing

Adalia McKenzie‘s ability to beat defenders off the bounce on straight-line drives is one of the 5-foot-10 guard’s best skill sets. But finishing at the rim has been an issue for the Illinois senior guard. But the Illini’s 83-74 win against Florida State on Thursday night featured McKenzie both driving and finishing. The highlight of the 20 points she scored came in the third quarter when McKenzie hung in the air and finished through contact from Seminoles guard Carla Viegas.

“I would just thank my teammates and coaches, them always putting confidence in me, and just work,” McKenzie said of showing more strength at the rim so far this season. “Actually just working on doing layups and being aggressive in practice.”

A banner night is in the plans

Sunday night will feature a banner celebration for Illinois before it tips off against Marquette. A first of sorts. The Illini will have a pregame ceremony, a banner unveiling and a banner raising to recognize the WBIT championship the program won last spring.

Carrying the momentum from how Illinois finished last season and continuing to build off that is top of mind for a veteran Illini team.

“Where the program started to where it is now, I think it’s absolutely insane,” Bostic said. “I’m really proud of everyone who has believed in this program, came in and put the work in. We have put a ton of work into everything, and the coaches have come in and changed our system. They got us to buy-in, and we bought into it. I’m just really proud of everybody across the board. It’s so cool to be a part of the foundation that turned Illinois around.”

The News-Gazette’s Pick

Illinois 75, Marquette 65

Now, comes a new test for the Illini: How does Illinois handle a big season-opening win? Avoiding a letdown on Sunday night after the impressive victory against Florida State is critical. Especially with the Golden Eagles, who lost 57-50 at UCF in their opener, still trying to find themselves after an offseason coaching change and with a new-look roster. (News-Gazette prediction record: 0-1).

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Illinois

Voters had no choice in nearly 9-in-10 primary elections

Published

11 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Voters had no choice in nearly 9-in-10 primary elections

Illinois voting data shows voters had no choice of candidate in nearly 9-in-10 Democratic and Republican primaries for state and federal office in 2024.

Voters had no choice of candidate in nearly nine out of every 10 Republican and Democratic primary elections for state and federal office in 2024.

Analysis of Illinois voting data shows Democrats ran one or no candidate in 135 of the 155 primary elections for the U.S. House, Illinois Senate and Illinois House. That left voters with a choice between candidates in just 20 races.

Meanwhile, Republicans only ran one or no candidate in 137 of the 155 primary elections last year for non-judicial state and federal positions, giving voters of a choice in just 18 races.

In total, there were 155 primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives, Illinois Senate and Illinois House in 2024. Democrats did not run a candidate in 28 of these races while Republicans failed to run a candidate in 50.

And in the 107 Democratic primaries and 87 Republican primaries were only one candidate ran for the position, those candidates secured their spot on the general election ballot with a single primary vote.

To get on the primary ballot for Illinois Senate, the Illinois General Assembly mandates established party candidates to get 1,000 petition signatures from district party members. Illinois House candidates need 500 signatures. For U.S. House, either party’s candidates need signatures from 0.5% of all primary voters from their party in the district.

This lack of choice between candidates for Democratic and Republican party primaries also left general election voters with fewer choices on the ballot.

In the 2024 election cycle, 65 of the 155 non-judicial state and federal general elections had only one candidate on the ballot. That means in 65 districts, it only took one vote for a candidate to win a seat representing the entire district.

Illinoisans already suffer from a lack of choice in candidates. Research shows an average of 4.7 million Illinois voters had no choice in their state representative between the 2012 and 2020 election cycles.

Research shows more choice drives voter participation and makes legislators less susceptible to the influence of lobbyists and special interests. Lightly contested elections also tend to skew policies in favor of powerful special interests.

Illinois should consider reforms that will give voters more choices at the ballot box, such as making it easier for independents to enter the general election like they do in Iowa, Wisconsin and Tennessee.

Until that happens, Illinoisans will continue to see elections with too few choices and too much influence handed to those already in power.

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Illinois

2 men shot, 1 fatally, outside bar in Morris, police say

Published

23 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

2 men shot, 1 fatally, outside bar in Morris, police say

MORRIS, Ill. (WLS) — A man was killed and another was injured in a shooting outside of a bar in Grundy County.

The shooting happened early Saturday outside of Clayton’s Tap in the 100 block of West Washington Street in Morris, Illinois, officials said.

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The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, where they found two men with gunshot wounds. One was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

The victim who died was identified by the Grundy County Coroner’s Office as 35-year-old Julian Rosario of Channahon.

A suspect in the shooting, 22-year-old Marshall Szpara of Seneca, was arrested and “initially charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, pending further review from the Grundy County States Attorney’s office,” Morris police said.

No further information was available.

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Illinois

Firefighter faces arson charges after Illinois wildfire burns hundreds of acres

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Firefighter faces arson charges after Illinois wildfire burns hundreds of acres

A volunteer firefighter is facing arson charges after he allegedly set a fire in a Lee County wildlife preserve, scorching hundreds of acres.

According to authorities, 21-year-old Trent Schaefer, a volunteer firefighter in Ohio, Illinois, was charged with one count of arson in connection to a fire that occurred in the Green River State Wildlife Management Area Friday.

On that date, temperatures had soared into the 60s, winds were whipping at more than 30 miles per hour, and humidity plunged below 30%, leading the National Weather Service to issue warnings on the danger of wildfires in Illinois.

It is alleged that Schaefer was seen by witnesses getting out of a vehicle and igniting multiple small fires within the nature preserve, which then coalesced into a larger blaze.

Those witnesses were able to restrain the suspect until Lee County sheriff’s deputies arrested him.

Image taken by Lee County Sheriff’s Office

By the time firefighters arrived on scene the blaze had already spread, and multiple departments were called in to assist with the fire, including the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control by the late afternoon, but not before it burned more than 700 acres, according to authorities.

Schaefer is also a suspect in several other arsons around Lee County, but he has not been charged in any other fires at this time.

Illinois State Police are assisting with the investigation, and no further information was immediately available.

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