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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois never trailed en route to a 91-67 season-opening victory over Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday night at State Farm Center.Â
The Fighting Illini (1-0) had three players score in double figures, led by Berry Wallace, who secured a double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds, setting career-highs in both categories.
Maddie Webber tacked on 16 points from the bench, and Gretchen Dolan chipped in as well with a career-high 16 points and seven assists.
Illinois took advantage of excellent ball movement in Tuesday’s game, piling up 19 assists on 31 made field goals. Dolan’s seven assists led the distribution list for the Fighting Illini, and Destiny Jackson also added six assists of her own.
In her first game action in over 600 days, Lety Vasconcelos marked her Illinois debut with seven points and six rebounds.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 6-4 advantage, Illinois went on a 6-0 run with 8:05 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Cearah Parchment, to increase its lead to 12-4. The Fighting Illini then lost some of that lead, but still entered the quarter break with a 19-15 advantage.
The Fighting Illini used the second period to increase their lead and entered halftime with a 43-31 edge.
Following intermission, Illinois continued to expand its advantage, pushing it to 60-37 before going on a 6-0 run to expand its lead further to 66-37 with 2:58 to go in the third. The Fighting Illini held onto that lead for the rest of the frame and entered the fourth quarter with a 72-43 edge. Illinois played well near the basket, scoring 16 of its 29 points in the paint.
Illinois kept its lead intact before going on a 5-0 run, finished off by Jackson’s layup, to grow the lead to 80-55 with 3:54 to go in the contest. The Redhawks narrowed the margin before the game was over, but the Fighting Illini still cruised the rest of the way for the 91-67 win. Illinois fired away from deep in the quarter, knocking down three shots to account for nine of its 19 points.
The Illini return to State Farm Center on Sunday afternoon for an in-state battle against Illinois State at 12 p.m. CT.
PRESS CONFERENCE
HIGHLIGHTS
POSTGAME NOTES
Player Notes:
Berry Wallace finished with a team-high 27 points and 11 rebounds while adding three assists.
Registered the first double-double of her career.
Posted a career-best 27 points on 10-for-18 shooting.
Her 27 points are the most by an Illini since Genesis Bryant’s 28 at Rutgers on Jan. 30, 2025.
Posted the first 20-point scoring effort of her career.
Finished with double-digit points for the 13th time in her collegiate career.
Scored 13 points in the second quarter alone.
Grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.
Had 10+ rebounds for the first time in her career.
Gretchen Dolan tallied 16 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and a steal in her first game since Dec. 28, 2024.
Scored a career-high 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
Led Illinois with seven assists.
Tied her career-high of seven assists, which she has recorded on one other occasion (Nov. 18, 2024, vs. Le Moyne)
Scored in double figures for the ninth time in her career.
Made her first four shots from the field.
Maddie Webber recorded 16 points, a rebound, and a steal off the bench.
Was the first Illini off the bench.
Posted double-digit points for the 41st time in her collegiate career.
Notched her first point as an Illini off a free throw with one minute remaining in the first quarter.
Her first field goal came off a fast break layup to start the second quarter.
Lety Vasconcelos registered six seven points and six rebounds in her first game at Illinois.
Got her first game action in 611 days after missing the entire 2024-25 season due to injury.
Put up a career-high seven points.
Grabbed six rebounds, tying her career-best.
Destiny Jackson scored six points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out six assists in her debut.
Scored the first point of her collegiate career off a free throw midway through the second quarter.Â
Dropped her first field goal with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Her six assists were the most by an Illini freshman since the 2021-22 season, when Jayla Oden registered seven assists at Nebraska on March 3, 2022.Â
Six assists is the most in a freshman debut since at least the 2002-03 season.
Cearah Parchment finished her debut with eight points, three rebounds, and a steal.
Gretchen Dolan and Cearah Parchment scored Illinois’ first 14 points, with eight coming from Dolan and six via Parchment.
Irene Noya Catoira played for 12 minutes and put up three points, both career highs.
Team Notes:
Illinois won the opening tip, and the Illini opened the scoring with a Gretchen Dolan jumper on the team’s first possession of the night.
The Illini had three double-figure scorers (Wallace [27], Dolan [16], Webber [16]).
Illinois led for the entirety of the contest (39:21), starting with Gretchen Dolan’s midrange jumper to start the game.
Illinois outscored SEMO by 17 points (29-12) in the third quarter.
Illinois forced SEMO into 17 turnovers and scored 21 points off of them.
The Illini scored 13 second-chance points off 11 offensive rebounds.
Illinois held SEMO to 3-for-12 from 3-point range
Nine Illini contributed in the scoring column.
This is the first time Illinois has had more than eight scorers since nine scored against Le Moyne on Nov. 18, 2024.
Illinois outscored SEMO 44-24 in the paint.
Illinois dished out 19 assists compared to SEMO’s nine.
Misc. Notes:
Starters: Destiny Jackson, Jasmine Brown-Hagger, Gretchen Dolan, Berry Wallace, Cearah Parchment
This lineup is now 1-0 this season
Destiny Jackson and Cearah Parchment are the first Illini freshmen since Nov. 5, 2019, to start in a season opener (Jada Peebles and Kennedi Myles vs. Chicago State)
The 2025-26 Illini are the youngest team Shauna Green has coached at Illinois, with an average age of 19.91 years.Â
Ten Illinois student-athletes saw the floor in the season opener. The last time Shauna Green played 10 Illini was on Feb. 9 vs. Wisconsin.
Shauna Green is now:
9-1 in season openers as a D1 head coach
64-35 at Illinois
30-24 in Big Ten play
191-86 as a Division I head coach
220-110 overall
Illinois vs. SEMO: 2-0Â
With the win over SEMO, the Illini have won nine consecutive season openers.
Illinois is now 1-0 when wearing white uniforms this season and are now 38-12 when doing so under Green.
The Illini are 1-0 in games starting after 6 p.m. CT this season.
Illinois is 1-0 in games played on Tuesdays this season.
Illinois is 12-7 during the 2025 calendar year.
Illinois is 1-0 in home games this season.
