Ignatius L Hoops
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http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/...016-11-06/women-stunned-drury-exhibition.html
Drury stuns the Illini 66-60.
There’s no way for Matt Bollant to know for sure what to expect from his Illinois women’s basketball team this season. But each game, each practice, gives him more information.
On Sunday in an exhibition against Drury, Bollant found out his team needs to find the opponent’s best shooter and try to lock her down.
Drury’s Paige Wilson hit six three-pointers and scored 24 points as the Division II Panthers upset the Illini 66-60.
“We didn’t do a good job finding her,” Bollant said. “Her taking 11 threes is way too many threes. Most of them were pretty good looks.”
The game won’t go on Illinois’ permanent record. But Drury sure celebrated like it counted. A year after finishing 26-5, the Panthers have a win against the Big Ten.
“It’s hard to know what to do (with exhibition scheduling),” Bollant said. “We’ve played some teams in the past that aren’t nearly that caliber of team. Do you get a lot better if you win by 30, 40 points or do you play somebody really good?
“For a young team, obviously, you want to build some confidence. It was good that this team exposed some things that we need to get better at. That was one of the good things in scheduling them.”...
...The go-to player now is sophomore Wittinger, who was among the top freshmen in the Big Ten last season.
Wittinger did her part Sunday, leading the team in points (15) and rebounds (13). She had help from Ali Andrews (13 points) and Cierra Rice and Brandi Beasley (10 each). Rice is a sophomore coming back from injury, and Andrews and Beasley are freshmen.
“My teammates did a good job making me feel comfortable, getting my nerves right and getting into the flow of the game,” Beasley said. “We know what we need to work on now. I think this was a good loss for us to figure out the things that we need to work on.”
Drury stuns the Illini 66-60.
There’s no way for Matt Bollant to know for sure what to expect from his Illinois women’s basketball team this season. But each game, each practice, gives him more information.
On Sunday in an exhibition against Drury, Bollant found out his team needs to find the opponent’s best shooter and try to lock her down.
Drury’s Paige Wilson hit six three-pointers and scored 24 points as the Division II Panthers upset the Illini 66-60.
“We didn’t do a good job finding her,” Bollant said. “Her taking 11 threes is way too many threes. Most of them were pretty good looks.”
The game won’t go on Illinois’ permanent record. But Drury sure celebrated like it counted. A year after finishing 26-5, the Panthers have a win against the Big Ten.
“It’s hard to know what to do (with exhibition scheduling),” Bollant said. “We’ve played some teams in the past that aren’t nearly that caliber of team. Do you get a lot better if you win by 30, 40 points or do you play somebody really good?
“For a young team, obviously, you want to build some confidence. It was good that this team exposed some things that we need to get better at. That was one of the good things in scheduling them.”...
...The go-to player now is sophomore Wittinger, who was among the top freshmen in the Big Ten last season.
Wittinger did her part Sunday, leading the team in points (15) and rebounds (13). She had help from Ali Andrews (13 points) and Cierra Rice and Brandi Beasley (10 each). Rice is a sophomore coming back from injury, and Andrews and Beasley are freshmen.
“My teammates did a good job making me feel comfortable, getting my nerves right and getting into the flow of the game,” Beasley said. “We know what we need to work on now. I think this was a good loss for us to figure out the things that we need to work on.”