WHAT HAPPENED
Illinois found a way. Barely. Nebraska came into Sunday’s regular-season finale looking for a 20th win and a chance to enhance its NCAA tournament resume. But the Illini survived two late potential go-ahead three-point attempts from Logan Nissley and then Jaz Shelley to hold on for the 74-73 thrilling Senior Day victory before 4,311 fans at State Farm Center. Despite leading for more than 26 minutes, Illinois had to rally from a seven-point deficit with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Some big buckets from Gretchen Dolan and enough free throws from Genesis Bryant and Makira Cook made the difference.
WHAT IT MEANS
A .500 finish to the regular season wasn’t what was expected of the Illini before the 2023-24 season tipped off in early November. Far from it. Not after Shauna Green‘s first Illinois team finished with a 22-10 record and made a return trip to the NCAA tournament. Instead, the Illini will enter this week’s Big Ten tournament at the Target Center in Minneapolis with a 14-14 record after an 8-10 showing in Big Ten play. A win against Nebraska (19-10, 11-7) still gives the Illini something to build upon ahead of an all-important conference tournament. Especially after some heartbreaking losses.
WHAT’S NEXT
Illinois will open the Big Ten tournament as the 9-seed. That means an 11:30 a.m. second-round matchup against Maryland or Michigan on Thursday. It all depends on the final Big Ten game of the season. A home win by the Wolverines over the Purdue would mean the Illini would face Maryland on Thursday. A Michigan loss would have the Wolverines playing Illinois. Regardless, the Illini have no choice but to win four games in four days. It’s Big Ten auto bid or bust for Illinois to make it to the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive season.
WHAT WAS SAID
“Well, I feel like I have been very confident from the free-throw line. I wanted to step up there and knock them down. I knew it was a crucial point in the game. Obviously, I split the free throws, but I made one so that helped that I did what I had to do,” Makira Cook said of what turned out to be the game-winning free throw as the senior guard missed her first attempt from the line but made the second to put Illinois ahead by what was the final margin with 34 seconds to go
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