Road Matchup For Women's Basketball At Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After a solid bounce-back effort Wichita State saw Alcorn Women's Basketball (0-2) cut close to the Shockers on Wednesday, the Braves will take a more northern approach to the Midwest on Sunday, November 13, traveling to face Big Ten (B1G) foe Illinois at the State Farm Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and will broadcast on B1G+ and bigtenplus.com with an annual subscription.

THE GAME: Alcorn Braves (0-2) at Illinois Fighting Illini (1-0)
WHEN: Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. CT
WHERE: State Farm Center (Champaign, Ill.)
LIVE STATS: Illinois
WATCH LIVE VIDEO: Broadcast on B1G+ ($59.99/year)

IN THE RANKINGS
Alcorn is not ranked in the preseason Associated Press or USA TODAY Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll Top 25 poll. Illinois is not ranked in the preseason Associated Press or USA TODAY Sports/WBCA Coaches Poll Top 25 poll. Neither team received any votes in these preseason polls.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Alcorn Women's Basketball this year by following the Braves social media platforms. You can follow @AlcornSports on Instagram and @BravesSports on Twitter.

SERIES VS. ILLINOIS
Sunday will mark the third meeting in the series for these programs, most recently playing in the 2013-14 season. Illinois holds a 2-0 lead in the overall series.

LAST SEASON FOR THESE TEAMS
Alcorn completed the 2021-22 season with a 3-22 record, including two victories over SWAC opposition. Meanwhile, Illinois went 7-20 with a 1-13 conference record, reaching the second round of the B1G Championships. Alcorn Head Coach Nate Kilbert is in his third season and has a record of 10-37 with the Braves (189-383 career). Illinois Head Coach Shauna Green is in her first season and coaching her second game for the Illini, holding a record of 1-0 at Illinois and 157-75 on her career.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THESE TEAMS
Coming off an opener that saw Alcorn limited to only 33 points in a losing effort at Tulsa, the Braves responded in their trip to the Sunflower State by keeping offensive pace with the Wichita State Shockers and holding their own on defense. Although the Shockers jumped out to an early lead, the Braves offense started to get underway, and the deficit was three at the end of the first period.

A Cayla Obillo layup in the paint off a turnover allowed Alcorn its first lead of the game at 24-23 with 5:37 remaining in the half, WSU kicked off a 12-3 run that allowed a comfortable halftime cushion of 37-29. The Braves brought it as close as six points in the second half, but WSU caught fire down the stretch and shot 50 percent in the final frame to lock in the 67-53 Shockers win.

In Champaign, Illinois kicked off the Shauna Green era with a dominant performance against Northeast Conference opponent Long Island University. Led by junior forward Kendall Bostic's double-double of 16 points/11 rebounds and junior guard Makira Cook's 14 points, the Illini notched five players in double figures of the 75-40 win. U of I shot 47 percent from the field and outrebounded LIU 53-35 on the night.

THE BRAVES IN THE 2022-23 SEASON
The Alcorn Braves' roster for the new season welcomed seven new players to Lorman, including five junior college transfers, one graduate transfer from a Division I program and an international high school recruit.

However, it has been a pair of returning players registering some of the biggest numbers in the early season, as redshirt sophomore forward Akyriale Ford leads the team with averages of 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds, and senior forward Tyginae Wright has put up 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds through two games. Ford has also collected a pair of blocks, while Wright has five assists.

A high-expectation transfer from Southern Nevada, center Destiny Brown overcame a slow debut at Tulsa to make her projected mark at Wichita State with 12 points, six rebounds and a block coming off the bench against the Shockers. Brown was an NJCAA All-America Second Team selection at USN, averaging 16.6 ppg and 12.9 rpg, using her 6-3 frame to block 4.4 shots per outing (third most in NJCAA Division I).

Another early impact transfer, Coahoma Community College combo player Nakia Cheatham has averaged 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds early in her first year since averaging a double-double of 12.0 points/11.5 rebounds in earning NJCAA All-Region 23 honors at CCC.

ABOUT THE ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI
Taking in the first season under Head Coach Shauna Green, the Fighting Illini showed off a strong offensive and defensive performance to kick of her coaching era. Green most recently took Dayton to a 26-6 finish that went to the second round of the NCAA Tournament – her Dayton teams earned 22 or more wins in four of her eight seasons. The Fighting Illini are coming off a 7-20 year that prompted the coaching change and return three starters from a year ago. They've matched their eight lost lettermen with an incoming group of eight. They five returners on the 2022-23 squad, including senior guard Jada Peebles (7.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.8 apg last year), sophomore guard Jayla Oden (6.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.4 apg last year), senior center Geovana Lopes (3.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg last year), sophomore guard Adalia McKenzie (9.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.6 apg) and All-Big Ten Honorable Mention forward Kendall Bostic (6.7 ppg, 11.4 rpg).

Against LIU, Illinois limited the Sharks to just 23.7 percent from the field and grabbed 21 of their overpowering 53 rebounds on the offensive glass. UI powered the ball inside, scoring 54 points in the paint, including 22 second-chance scores. They capitalized well off 18 LIU turnovers, scoring 21 points in TO situations. 

CATCH THE BRAVES LIVE AT THE WHITNEY IN 2022-23
Season Tickets for the 2022-23 Alcorn men's and women's basketball teams at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex are now available for purchase at https://alcornsports.myimpacttickets.com/basketball. Season tickets for the home SWAC competitions are $76.25, while single-game admission is $12.65 in advance.

UP NEXT
The Braves' home opener is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 16, in a 6 p.m. tilt against Arkansas Baptist College at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex.

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