Illinois women’s basketball player Berry Wallace is wearing a mask while she plays in the Women’s NCAA Tournament vs. Vanderbilt?
Here’s why?
Wallace, a 6-foot-1 sophomore forward whose team is playing Vanderbilt in the second round of March Madness on March 23, fractured her nose during a practice in Oregon in February.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) rushes towards Illinois forward Berry Wallace (23) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) rushes towards Illinois forward Berry Wallace (23) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) sets up to shoot past Illinois center Lety Vasconcelos (35) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt forward Aiyana Mitchell (14) sets up to shoot past Illinois forward Cearah Parchment (30) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Aubrey Galvan (3) shoots against Illinois during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) shoots past Illinois center Lety Vasconcelos (35) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Justine Pissott (13) shoots past Illinois guard Destiny Jackson (2) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph works with her team during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game against Illinois at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Justine Pissott (13) shoots against Illinois during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) brings the ball up the court past Illinois guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger (8) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) brings the ball up the court against Illinois during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Illinois guard Destiny Jackson (2) looks for an opening past Vanderbilt forward Sacha Washington (35) and guard Jada Brown (2) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Illinois coach Shauna Green yells to her players during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game against Vanderbilt at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) pushes past Illinois forward Cearah Parchment (30) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph works with her team during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game against Illinois at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Justine Pissott (13) shoots the ball against Illinois during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes (1) sets up to shoot past Illinois center Lety Vasconcelos (35) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt associate coach Tom Garrick, left, and coach Shea Ralph, far right, work with their team during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game against Illinois at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Vanderbilt guard Aubrey Galvan (3) looks to pass the ball past Illinois forward Cearah Parchment (30) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Illinois coach Shauna Green works with her team during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game against Vanderbilt at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Illinois guard Maddie Webber (34) looks for a path past Vanderbilt guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda (15) during the first half of a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
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Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt basketball vs Illinois in March Madness second round
Marsha Lake claps as her daughter, Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph, is introduced before a second round NCAA college basketball tournament game against Illinois at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 23, 2026.
Wallace was averaging 18.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game going into her team’s matchup against the Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville.
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She had eight points and five rebound at halftime of the Women’s NCAA Tournament game, which her team trailed 36-25.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Berry Wallace wearing a mask in Illinois vs Vanderbilt March Madness
