CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Berry Wallace scored 21 points and Cearah Parchment added 20 and the Illinois women’s basketball team knocked off the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 76-56 at home Tuesday.

The Fighting Illini (18-8, 8-7) had two players score in double figures, led by Wallace, who had 21 points and nine rebounds. Parchment added a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds and Destiny Jackson added four points, eight assists and two steals. Lety Vasconcelos turned in a career-high nine points with four boards.

Illinois did a stellar job taking care of the basketball, dishing out 24 assists while turning the ball over just 12 times. Jackson’s eight assists were the most for the Illini. Jasmine Brown-Hagger also added with five assists of her own.

Illinois’ defense held Rutgers to only 38.9 percent shooting from the field, including 26.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Scarlet Knights did not have much luck cleaning up their misses on the offensive glass either, as they finished with six offensive rebounds and managed three second chance points while Illinois cleared 29 defensive rebounds.

How It Happened

After falling behind 8-6, Illinois went on a 5-0 run with 3:47 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Wallace, to take an 11-8 lead. The Orange and Blue then lost some of that lead, but still entered the quarter break with a 14-12 advantage. Illinois relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down three shots to account for nine of its 14 points.

Illinois kept its first quarter lead intact before going on a 12-0 run starting at the 9:22 mark in the second period, highlighted by a bucket from Lety Vasconcelos, to increase its lead to 26-12. The Illini kept that lead for the remainder of the period and enjoyed a 35-21 advantage heading into halftime. Illinois dominated in the paint, scoring 16 of its 21 points close to the basket.

Illinois continued to preserve its halftime lead before going on a 10-0 run, punctuated by a basket from Wallace, to expand its lead further to 45-23 with 6:02 to go in the third. Before the third period was over, the Fighting Illini added five points to that lead and entered the fourth quarter with a 60-33 edge. Illinois played well near the basket, scoring 14 of its 25 points in the paint.

Illinois kept its lead intact before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by Wallace’s jumper, to grow the lead to 69-39 with 5:49 to go in the contest. The Scarlet Knights narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Fighting Illinistill cruised the rest of the way for the 76-56 win. Illinois took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring eight of its 16 points in the paint.

Amazon laid off 1,545 Illinois employees. That was most of 2,000 total layoffs across the state in January.

Illinois started 2026 with over 2,000 mass layoffs in January, driven by Amazon closing over a dozen Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores across Illinois.

The firm laid off 1,545 employees in January.

Iron and steel manufacturing accounted for 253 layoffs. Wireless Carrier T-Mobile also announced 109 layoffs in Schaumburg.

These numbers come from the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires employers to notify the state about major layoffs. While the reports don’t capture every detail about Illinois’ job market, they offer a useful look at recent trends affecting workers in large companies.

January layoffs were concentrated in Chicago’s suburbs, in Cook, DuPage and Will counties.

Breaking down January’s big layoffs, it wasn’t just a wave of pink slips, most of these were outright closings, accounting for 1,902 job losses. Only 152 layoffs were not part of a full closure.

The bigger picture comes with a warning: Illinois’ business climate is seen as less friendly than it used to be. The state dropped to 38th in a nationwide business tax climate ranking.

Illinois needs comprehensive reforms to improve its economic situation and reduce future layoffs, including ending excessive occupational licensing, expanding school choice, reducing the nation’s No. 1 property tax rate, lowering its third-highest corporate income taxes, and investing more in apprenticeship programs to help keep companies and jobs in Illinois.

Billionaire Thomas Pritzker will be stepping down as executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels and will not be seeking reelection for the position over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he announced on Monday.

The decision to step down, according to Pritzker, was in order to provide “good stewardship” to help protect the corporation and ensure a “proper transition at the Hyatt.”

“Good stewardship also means protecting Hyatt, particularly in the context of my association with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell which I deeply regret. I exercised terrible judgment in maintaining contact with them, and there is no excuse for failing to distance myself sooner. I condemn the actions and the harm caused by Epstein and Maxwell and I feel deep sorrow for the pain they inflicted on their victims,” he said in a statement

Pritzker, who is Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s cousin, was one of 100 mentioned in the documents that were released on Jan. 3, 2024. The more than 900 pages of primarily unredacted documents included names mentioned by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers.  

In a deposition, Giuffre accused Thomas Pritzker of serious sexual allegations, naming him as one of several men she was trafficked to have sex with. He continued to deny those allegations. 

Pritzker has served as a member of Hyatt’s Board and as executive chairman since August 2004, and began his senior executive and chairman responsibilities for predecessor entities starting in 1980. 

The corporation announced that Mark S. Hoplamazian was appointed as Hyatt’s president and CEO in Pritzker’s place.  

In a letter to the Hyatt board on Monday, Pritzker wrote in part:

“I am extremely proud of the evolution of Hyatt over the past 25 years. Over that time we have taken Hyatt public, we have transitioned to a purpose driven company, we have adopted agile ways of working, we have gone asset light. We have demonstrated our ability to design and execute strategies. We have also demonstrated resilience in the face of Covid and the ability to move quickly to take advantage of opportunities such as ALG. We have generated very intentional growth not only in our numbers, but more importantly, in our people, culture and ways of working. To have played a role in this was both an honor and one of the great experiences of my life.

But now, inevitably, we are coming to a point where we must face the prospect of succession. This goes to good stewardship. I will be 76 in June. Were I to stand for reelection, I would be committing to another three years as Executive Chairman of a public company. When I look at my care for Hyatt, my respect for good governance and the focus that Margot and I have on our legacy, they all lead me to conclude that what is right for Hyatt and for me is that I retire as Executive Chairman of Hyatt effective immediately and not stand for reelection at our 2026 annual shareholder’s meeting.

Advertisement