INDIANAPOLIS — Shauna Green had one primary concern heading into Sunday’s game at Butler.
The Illinois women’s basketball coach wasn’t sure how focused her team would be.
Finals week was on the horizon. So was Braggin’ Rights, with the Illini heading to Columbia, Mo., next Sunday to face a resurgent Missouri team back on the rise after a couple down seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Green’s trepidation about focus nearly played out late in the fourth quarter. Illinois built a 10-point lead with just less than four minutes to play and then had to fend off a furious comeback attempt by the Bulldogs before holding on for the 65-63 victory at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
“There’s so many things going on right now,” Green said in her postgame radio appearance. “I thought there were just moments where we weren’t locked in. End of the game. Multiple different plays. We’ve got to learn from that. We’ll take the win against a really good team on the road, but we have to be more focused and disciplined in a lot of situations. I give Butler all the credit in the world. They took advantage of pretty much every mental mistake we made. They capitalized.”
Illinois (9-2) led by five at halftime against Butler (5-5) after getting on track offensively in the second quarter after a slow start. Makira Cook kept that going in the third quarter by scoring 14 of her team-high 22 points.
“We were just really passive,” Green said about her team’s start. “When we’re passive, it doesn’t suit us well. We’re not the best versions of ourselves when we’re not really attacking. I was just urging them to play with more urgency and more aggressiveness.
“I thought we did that a lot in the second half. We got to the rim. We were aggressive. We took the shots that were open. We hit the boards really, really hard and got hustle plays and effort plays. That’s what got us kind of going in that third quarter.”
Cook was 6 of 12 from the field in her breakout third quarter. She did all of her damage inside the three-point line. Part attacking the basket. Part pull-up jumpers. Zero made threes.
“You need that mindset that you’re the best player on the floor and that you can get a shot off at any time,” Green said was her message to Cook after she shot 2 of 5 from the field and scored just four points in the first half. “I thought she really came out hunting her shots in the second. We go as she goes. When she’s feeling that rhythm, now everyone else kind of carries on with that. I’m hard on her. I expect a lot of her. I ask a lot of her. Just really, really proud of her because she came through.”
Adalia McKenzie joined Cook in double figures with 13 points and posted her second straight double-double with a team-high 12 rebounds. Kendall Bostic added eight points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in the win.
Finals week presents a unique set of circumstances for practice with Braggin’ Rights looming. Missouri (11-1) is among the teams receiving votes in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 with decent wins against Massachusetts and Wake Forest. Missouri won last season’s game against the Illini 84-65 in Champaign, but Illinois won 58-51 on Dec. 20, 2019 in its last trip to Mizzou Arena. The Tigers lead the all-time series 10-5.
“We’ll have them be off (Monday) and then practice a few days and then have a couple days with individual work,” Green said. “Then start prepping for a really tough game at Missouri. It doesn’t get any easier.”
Scott Richey is a reporter covering college basketball at The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).
