Feb. 2—SEATTLE — Illinois women’s basketball coach Shauna Green used the phrase “starting to figure out what it takes” during her postgame radio interview to describe Cearah Parchment’s continued standout play of late, the latest of which included a double-double on Sunday at No. 25 Washington.
These Illini, too, are starting to figure it out.
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At least it feels that way after a 75-66 Illinois victory against the Huskies before 4,691 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena.
A road win that prevented the Illini from losing three straight games for the first time this season and gave a young Illinois team a second victory against a ranked opponent this winter. Illinois also defeated then-No. 7 Maryland last month in Champaign.
It all stemmed from what the Illini (16-6, 6-5 Big Ten) did at the defensive end on Sunday to beat Washington (17-5, 7-4).
Parchment’s big game helped, as well. The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week finished with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds with the 6-foot-3 forward from Whitby, Ontario, doing so on 8 of 16 shooting with three made three-pointers in 38 minutes.
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“I think that’s the best we’ve defended in a long time,” Green said, “and just a really hard team to guard with all the action that they do and the type of players that they have. We did a really good job of defending the three-point line the majority of the game. … We just made plays on the offensive end. I’m just really proud of us. We had a couple of tough losses and these guys kept believing and kept working, and we showed a lot (Sunday).”
For three quarters, Illinois showed it could guard the Huskies well. Washington had only 40 points heading into the fourth quarter as the Illini held a 51-40 lead through 30 minutes.
A big part of Illinois leading for nearly all of the final 28 minutes of Sunday’s Big Ten matchup was the result of a dominant second quarter.
The Illini won that quarter 22-13 to grab a 37-29 lead at halftime.
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Still, for Illinois to protect an 11-point lead demanded the Illini basically match the Huskies in the fourth quarter as Washington finally found its offensive game. Parchment and Berry Wallace led that effort, as that duo combined to go 9 of 10 at the free-throw line. Even if Illinois had some uncharacteristic struggles as a team with its free-throw shooting (seven total misses), the Illini still scored 16 of their 24 fourth-quarter points at the line.
Parchment has looked a different player of late. A more confident one, too. That was evident again on Sunday at Washington.
“Just being aggressive, I feel like the first half of the season Coach Green just kept wanting me to be more aggressive — whether it comes from rebounding, getting second-chance opportunities or just creating my shot in space,” said Parchment, who is averaging 24.7 points and 9.3 rebounds over the past three Illinois games against then-No. 24 Nebraska, No. 2 UCLA and Washington. “I think just being more aggressive to score helps my team overall. So, if I just keep doing that, good things will happen.”
The win also represented a return to the healthiest the Illinois roster has been in two-plus weeks, as redshirt sophomore guard Gretchen Dolan was back in the lineup after missing the previous four games with a right knee injury.
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Dolan, the Illini’s second-leading scorer at 13.6 points per game before Sunday’s matchup with the Huskies tipped off, wasn’t much of a factor with the 5-foot-11 Buffalo, N.Y., native going scoreless in five minutes played off the bench.
But Illinois didn’t need the best version of Dolan.
Not with the way the Illini had balanced scoring, with Wallace supplying 22 points and seven rebounds, Maddie Webber adding 13 points and Destiny Jackson doing a bit of everything with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.
That Illinois had 26 second-chance points on the strength of 14 offensive rebounds and won the rebounding matchup, 33-24, was just as significant a factor.
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Now, the Illini have a win to build on as they stay in the Pacific Northwest for a few more days. Illinois wraps up its extended road trip at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Oregon (17-7, 5-6). The Ducks pulled an upset of their own, with a 68-61 victory on Saturday at Maryland.
“That’s what I’m the most proud of to do this on the road, and this is a team that does not lose at home,” Green said. “So, for us to have the toughness and the grit to us to be able to come out with this Top 25 win, we just have to use this momentum and keep it going the rest of this February.”
