Illinois Closes Nonconference Schedule Against Jackson State

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Illinois Starters Last Game (vs. North Texas)

Pos.
No.
Name
Ht.
Yr.
PPG
RPG
APG
SPG
BPG
Season Note

G
2
Destiny Jackson
5-6
Fr.
7.7
4.5
5.0
1.8
0.1
Season-high 9 asts, 5 stls at Missouri

G
4
Gretchen Dolan
5-11
R-So.
14.8
3.7
3.5
1.3
0.4
Two 20-point games this season

G
8
Jasmine Brown-Hagger
5-9
Jr.
6.2
1.6
1.5
1.4
0.1
Season-high 12 pts, 3 rebs, 2 stls at FSU

F
23
Berry Wallace
6-1
So.
17.8
7.2
1.7
0.6
0.1
Five 20-point games this season

F
30
Cearah Parchment
6-3
Fr.
10.8
8.0
1.3
2.1
0.4
Four double-doubles this season

Head Coach Shauna Green

Career Record: 229-111 (.674), 12th seasonDivision I Record: 200-86 (.699), 10th seasonAt Illinois: 73-36 (.670), Fourth seasonBig Ten Record: 31-24 (.564), Fourth season

THE NEXT WIN WOULD…

Move the Illini to 1-0 all-time vs. Jackson State
Improve Green to 1-0 overall vs. Jackson State
Move Illinois to 47-11 in SFC under Green
Give the Illini a nine-game win streak
Give the Illini a nine-game home win streak
Move Green’s career record to 230-111 in 12 seasons
Move Green’s DI record to 201-86 in 9 seasons
Move Green’s Illinois record to 74-36
Make Green the 3rd winningest HC in Illinois WBB
Give Illinois WBB an all-time record of 720-776

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

Jackson State is off to a 2-7 start on the 2025-26 season with wins over Gardner-Webb and Mississippi University for Women. Most recently, the Tigers suffered a 62-51 loss at Alabama. JSU is 1-4 on the road this season with the victory at Gardner-Webb. Jackson State is coached by Margaret Richards, who is in her second season at the helm after coaching JSU to a 16-15 overall record and 13-5 mark in SWAC play last year.

HISTORY VS. JACKSON STATE

Friday’s game marks the first-ever meeting between Illinois and Jackson State.

DOLAN MEDICAL HARDSHIP WAIVER APPROVED

On Dec. 12, 2025, Illinois got word that Gretchen Dolan’s medical hardship waiver for the 2024-25 season was approved by the NCAA, giving the Buffalo, N.Y. native the year of eligibility back. Green made the announcement at media availability that day. As of that day, Dolan will be listed as a redshirt sophomore on the 2025-26 roster.

11-GAME START

Illinois’ 10-1 start through 11 games matches the best start in program history. Green’s squad joins a pair of Jane Schroeder’s clubs at the top of the list.

BEST 11-GAME STARTS

Rank
Season
Record
Coach

T-1.
2025-26
10-1
Green

T-1.
1981-82
10-1
Schroeder

T-1.
1980-81
10-1
Schroeder

BEST 12-GAME STARTS

One team in Illinois women’s basketball program history has achieved an 11-1 start to a season, Jane Schroeder’s 1981-82 squad. Shauna Green’s 2025-26 team has the chance to match that mark on Friday.

BEST 12-GAME STARTS

Rank
Season
Record
Coach

1.
1981-82
11-1
Schroeder

T-2.
2024-25
10-2
Green

2022-23
10-2
Green

2006-07
10-2
Grentz

2002-03
10-2
Grentz

1986-87
10-2
Golden

1980-81
10-2
Schroeder

T-8.
7x, MR 2019-20
9-3
Fahey

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL

Since the arrival of Shauna Green, Illinois has taken care of the basketball at an elite clip, turning in three straight seasons ranked with the second fewest turnovers. The staff’s goal is 13 turnovers or less per game and the Orange and Blue have averaged below that all three seasons completed seasons.

TURNOVERS/GAME UNDER GREEN

Season
Avg.
B1G Rank
D-1 Rank

2022-23
12.9
2nd
27th

2023-24
12.4
2nd
16th

2024-25
12.6
2nd
24th

2025-26
12.3
3rd
17th

EFFICIENCY FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE

Green’s Illini have been incredibly efficient from the free throw line. Illinois has led the Big Ten in free throw shooting the last two completed seasons and is doing so once again in 2025-26. The Illini’s numbers from 2023-24 and 2024-25 are the two best completed single-season free throw percentages in program history.

FREE THROW PERCENTAGE UNDER GREEN

Season
Pct.
B1G Rank
D-1 Rank

2022-23
75.6
8th
53rd

2023-24
79.5
1st
6th

2024-25
79.3
1st
7th

2025-26
81.7
1st
6th

GREEN CLIMBS PROGRAM’S ALL-TIME WINS LIST

Fourth-year head coach Shauna Green continued to move up the program’s all-time wins list. Illinois’ latest win saw Green post her 73rd win at the helm of the program, the tied for the third-most victories by an Illinois women’s basketball head coach.

ILLINOIS WBB WINNINGEST HEAD COACHES

Rank
Coach
Wins
Tenure (# Years)

1
Theresa Grentz
210
1995-2007 (12)

2
Laura Golden
83
1984-1990 (6)

T-3
Jane Schroeder
73
1979-1984 (5)

T-3
Shauna Green
73
2022-Present (4)

B1G WEEKLY HONOR ROLL 2.0

Gretchen Dolan was named to the Big Ten’s Weekly Honor Roll following two standout performances in the Fighting Illini’s wins over Missouri and North Texas.

Fresh off the news that the NCAA approved her medical hardship waiver, Dolan averaged 20 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 block in 35.5 minutes per game, helping the Fighting Illini tie their best 11-game start in program history at 10-1. 

In the Illini’s Braggin’ Rights road win over Missouri on Wednesday night, Dolan played a career-high 40 minutes while posting her second 20-point game of the season. To go along with her 21 points, Dolan added two rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block against just one turnover.

On Sunday, Dolan stayed hot, turning in 19 points, five rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal. She connected on a new career-high four 3-pointers while making five total field goals and five free throws.

Across the week, Dolan surpassed the 40/50/90 slash line, shooting 42.9% (12-for-28) from the field, 58.3% (7-for-12) from 3-point range, and 90% (9-for-10) from the free throw line.

BERRY WALLACE’S SOPHOMORE SURGE

Through 11 games of the 2025-26 campaign, Fighting Illini sophomore Berry Wallace is averaging 17.8 points per game up from 9.0 ppg last season, despite being at the top of every opponents’ scout.

Along with her 17.8 points, Wallace is averaging 7.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.1 blocks across 32.1 minutes per game. The Pickerington, Ohio, native opened the season with four consecutive 20-point outings, including the first double-double of her career in the Orange and Blue’s season opener. Wallace is shooting a scorching 50.7% FG, 36.4% 3FG, and 86.8 FT% through 11 games.

Wallace’s four straight 20-point games to open the season made her the only player in a P5 conference to do so. Additionally, she is the only player in the country with 4+ 20-point games against all D1 teams to start the season.

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN

Fighting Illini rookies Destiny Jackson and Cearah Parchment have started all 11 games for Illinois and are averaging a combined 18.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 3.9 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. The Illini combo is one of two freshman duos in the Big Ten averaging 20+ minutes each, joining Maryland.

Parchment was one of two Big Ten freshman to record a double-double in the first three weeks of the season (Layla Hays, Iowa) while Jackson’s six assists in her collegiate debut (SEMO) is a program record for a freshman in a season opener. Parchment added a points-steals double-double with 17 points and 10 steals vs. Bellarmine on Nov. 30. Parchment’s showing was just the second of the sort in Illinois program history while also tying the single-game record with 10 steals. Parchment was just the fifth player – and first freshman – in the NCAA to record a points-steals double-double this season.

Both Illini rookies were recognized as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week within the first five weeks of the season. As of Dec. 8, Illinois is the only program to have two different players recognized with the award.

FRESHMAN STANDOUTS

Destiny Jackson is one of 14 players across D1 averaging at least 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in the NCAA and averaged the second fewest turnovers per game (2.3). Jackson is averaging 29.8 minutes per game, the fourth-fewest minutes among the group.

Jackson is one of two freshmen across D1 averaging at least 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists and is the lone Big Ten representative.

ALL NCAA DI FRESHMEN

PLAYER
TEAM
PPG
RPG
APG
TO/GAME

D. Jackson
Illinois
7.7
4.5
5.0
2.3

A. Galvan
Vanderbilt
10.5
4.0
7.1
2.4

TOP ILLINOIS TALENT

With the addition of Destiny Jackson and Aaliyah Guyton for the 2025-26 campaign, Illinois basketball now has the top-ranked Illinois recruits from the classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025. 

Jasmine Brown-Hagger was the state’s No. 1 player in the class of 2023, and the no. 54 prospect in the nation, according to espnW HoopGurlz. In her senior season at Example Academy, she averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 3.2 steals. While she played her freshman season at Mississippi State, she came home to Illinois the following year.

Illinois’ No. 1 in the class of 2024, Aaliyah Guyton is originally from Peoria, Illinois. She enters her first season at Illinois after transferring from Iowa over the offseason.

After earning the titles of Illinois Ms. Basketball and Illinois Gatorade Player of the year in 2025, Destiny Jackson comes from Chicago as a five-star recruit, ranked sixth nationally at her position. The top-ranked player in Illinois, Jackson played at Whitney Young Magnet H.S. while playing club for Example Sports GUAA.

YOUNGEST TEAM

Green’s fourth Illini squad is by far her youngest, with an average age of 19.91 years as of the start of the 2025-26 campaign. This places Illinois in the top-five for youngest rosters in Power 5 Women’s Basketball.

Only two players — Gretchen Dolan and Gisela Segura — are above the age of 21. Segura is the team’s oldest, with her 23rd birthday in December. 

Meanwhile Cearah Parchment is the youngest player on the team, at 18 years and four months. She was born on July 4, 2007, just five days after the launch of the iPhone.

THE SHAUNA GREEN EFFECT

Illinois’ 63 wins through Green’s first three seasons match the program record in that span while also marking the most by a head coach in their first three years with the Orange and Blue. Across that period, Illinois is 38-11 at home under Green, and the program has secured double-digit wins in three straight seasons for the first time in program history. The Illini won 11 consecutive games from March 21-Nov. 26, 2024, a new program record and the longest active win streak in the country at the time. Additionally, Illinois strung together a program-record eight-game Big Ten winning streak en route to an 11-7 record in league play.

TALLEST PLAYER IN PROGRAM HISTORY

Listed at 6’7″, Lety Vasconcelos is the tallest player in program history. While the Illini have had various student-athletes at 6’6″ in the past — including Aicha Ndour from 2022-2024 — the extra inch makes Vasconcelos the tallest Illini ever. 

While she’s the tallest Illini, Vasconcelos is tied for tallest in the conference, as Purdue’s Avery Gordon and UCLA’s Lauren Betts are also listed at the same height.