2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini Women's Basketball Team

The 2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team represented the University of Illinois during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Illini were led by second-year head coach Shauna Green, and they played their home games at State Farm Center. This season marked the program's 42nd season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Illini finished the 2022–23 season 22–10 overall, with a 11–7 record in Big Ten play to finish in sixth place. As the sixth seed in the Big Ten women's tournament, they defeated eleventh seed Rutgers in the first round before losing to third seed Maryland in the second round.

The team was invited to the 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament as one of the First Four teams to play, losing to Mississippi State. This marked their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2003.

The Illini's turnaround in 2022–23 was considered "remarkable" given the program's history since 2003. The 2022–23 team broke multiple records and streaks, including their first 6–0 start to a season since 1986–87, and their first six game winning streak since 2009. They finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 10–1 record. The team won four straight conference games from December 7, 2022, through January 1, 2023, including a dramatic victory over eventual national champion runner-up Iowa; this conference winning streak tied the fourth best streak in program history.

On January 8, 2023, the Illini earned a spot in the AP Top-25 poll for the first time since 2000. Their 11–7 conference record was its most in league play since 1999–2000, and their 10-win improvement in conference games matched the largest turnaround in Big Ten history.

On December 19, 2022, coach Green was named the ESPN Women's Basketball Coach of the Week. In the post-season, transfer player Makira Cook earned First-team All-Big Ten honors, the first Illini to be named to that team since 2010. Cook was also named to the Associated Press' All-American Honorable Mention list, the first Illini to make that list since 2013. Players Kendall Bostic and Genesis Bryant were named to the All-Big Ten second team, and Adalia McKenzie received an All-Big Ten honorable mention; these conference honors marked the first time since the 1986–87 season that four Illinois players earned all-conference accolades.

Offseason

Assistant coach Ryan Gensler left the Illinois program on March 29, 2023, to become the head women's basketball coach at the University of Akron. On April 20, 2023, Green announced that former Stanford University assistant coach Britney Anderson had been hired as an assistant coach at Illinois.

Two non-starting players from the 2022–23 Illinois team, Jayla Oden and Liisa Taponen, entered the NCAA transfer portal after the end of the season and moved on to other programs, and Geovana Lopes exhausted her collegiate eligibility.

The Illini added two players from the transfer portal, center Camille Hobby from North Carolina State University and forward Shay Bollin from Duke University. They also added freshmen guards Cori Allen and Gretchen Dolan to the roster.

All five of the 2022–23 starting lineup returned for the 2023–24 season. The team was ranked number 23 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25, their first preseason ranking since 1999.

Roster

Schedule and results

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!colspan="6" style=, Exhibition

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!colspan="9" style=, Regular season

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!colspan="6" style=, Big Ten Women's Tournament

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!colspan="6" style=, WBIT

Rankings

See also

* 2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

References

External links

*

2023–24 Illinois WBB record book

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team
Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball seasons
Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
Illinois
Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament championship seasons