2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team represented the University of Illinois during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Illini, led by first-year head coach Nancy Fahey, played their home games at State Farm Center as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 9–21, 0–16 in Big Ten play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten women's tournament to Penn State.

2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record9–22 (0–16 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • LaKale Malone
  • Tianna Kirkland
  • Steve Cochran
Home arenaState Farm Center
Seasons
2017–18 Big Ten women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 10 Ohio State 13 3   .813 28 7   .800
No. 16 Maryland 12 4   .750 26 8   .765
Iowa 11 5   .688 24 8   .750
Minnesota 11 5   .688 24 9   .727
Nebraska 11 5   .688 21 11   .656
Michigan 10 6   .625 23 10   .697
Indiana 9 7   .563 23 14   .622
Purdue 9 7   .563 20 14   .588
Rutgers 7 9   .438 20 12   .625
Michigan State 7 9   .438 19 14   .576
Penn State 6 10   .375 16 16   .500
Northwestern 4 12   .250 12 20   .375
Wisconsin 2 14   .125 9 21   .300
Illinois 0 16   .000 9 21   .300
2018 Big Ten tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

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The Illini finished the 2016–17 season 9–22, 3–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for 11th place. They advanced to the second round of the Big Ten women's tournament where they lost to Purdue.

On March 14, 2017, head coach Matt Bollant was fired. He finished at Illinois with a five-year record of 61–94.[1] On March 22, the school hired five-time Division III national champion and two-time Division III coach of the year recipient Nancy Fahey as head coach.[2]

Roster

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2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Brandi Beasley 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) So Ridgeway Memphis, TN
F 2 Lyric Robins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Plano West Plano, TX
F 3 Alli Ball 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Principia Upper
Akron
St. Louis, MO
G 5 Cierra Rice 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS So Grosse Pointe South Gross Pointe, MI
F 11 Cydnee Kinslow 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) RS So Freedom
Pepperdine
Oakley, CA
G 13 Petra Holešínská 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So Sportovni Gzmnazium Ludvika Danka Vracov, Czech Republic
G 14 Addaya Moore 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Granite City Granite City, IL
F 21 Nancy Panagiotopoulou Andritsopoulou 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr American Community Schools of Athens Athens, Greece
G 23 Jaelyne Kirkpatrick 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr St. Ignatius of Loyola Oakville, Ontario
F 24 Jnaya Walker 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Bolingbrook Bolingbrook, IL
G 25 Kennedy Cattenhead 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Sr Bolingbrook Bolingbrook, IL
G 30 Courtney Joens 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So City High Iowa City, IA
G 33 Meagan McNicholas 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Rochester Rochester, IL
F 35 Alex Wittinger 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Delano Delano, MN
F 50 Ali Andrews 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Huntley Lake in the Hills, IL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: 11/26/2017

Schedule and results

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[3]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017*
1:00 pm
Fort Wayne W 64–50  1–0
State Farm Center (1,148)
Champaign, IL
Nov 12, 2017*
5:00 pm
at Florida Gulf Coast L 61–85  1–1
Alico Arena (2,202)
Fort Myers, FL
Nov 15, 2017*
7:00 pm
Chicago State W 66–56  2–1
State Farm Center (1,056)
Champaign, IL
Nov 18, 2017*
2:00 pm
Bradley W 74–62  3–1
State Farm Center (1,135)
Champaign, IL
Nov 21, 2017*
7:00 pm
Western Illinois L 67–77  3–2
State Farm Center (1,080)
Champaign, IL
Nov 24, 2017*
4:30 pm
vs. UC Irvine
New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament
W 65–59  4–2
Dreamstyle Arena 
Albuquerque, NM
Nov 25, 2017*
1:00 pm
vs. Wichita State
New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament
W 68–67  5–2
Dreamstyle Arena (4,425)
Albuquerque, NM
Nov 26, 2017*
3:30 pm
vs. New Mexico
New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament
L 68–97  5–3
Dreamstyle Arena (4,663)
Albuquerque, NM
Nov 30, 2017*
7:00 pm
Virginia Tech
ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge
L 49–96  5–4
State Farm Center (1,339)
Champaign, IL
Dec 3, 2017*
2:00 pm
at Memphis W 63–47  6–4
Elma Roane Fieldhouse (553)
Memphis, TN
Dec 7, 2017*
7:00 pm
Indiana State W 81–52  7–4
State Farm Center (1,044)
Champaign, IL
Dec 12, 2017*
2:00 pm
Detroit W 73–65  8–4
State Farm Arena (1,151)
Champaign, IL
Dec 16, 2017*
2:00 pm
Austin Peay W 59–47  9–4
State Farm Center (1,085)
Champaign, IL
Dec 22, 2017*
12:00 pm
at No. 16 Missouri L 55–72  9–5
Mizzou Arena (4,630)
Columbia, MO
Big Ten conference season
Dec 28, 2017
5:00 pm
at No. 15 Maryland L 65–100  9–6
(0–1)
Xfinity Center (7,346)
College Park, MD
Dec 31, 2017
2:00 pm
Northwestern L 59–74  9–7
(0–2)
State Farm Center (1,412)
Champaign, IL
Jan 3, 2018
6:00 pm
at Rutgers L 37–76  9–8
(0–3)
Louis Brown Athletic Center (1,289)
Piscataway, NJ
Jan 7, 2018
1:00 pm, BTN
No. 18 Iowa L 71–84  9–9
(0–4)
State Farm Center (1,646)
Champaign, IL
Jan 10, 2018
7:00 pm
Nebraska L 72–80  9–10
(0–5)
State Farm Center (1,039)
Champaign, IL
Jan 16, 2018
8:00 pm, BTN
Michigan State L 55–67  9–11
(0–6)
State Farm Center (1,114)
Champaign, IL
Jan 20, 2018
5:00 pm, BTN
at No. 19 Michigan L 42–86  9–12
(0–7)
Crisler Center (3,265)
Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 23, 2018
6:00 pm
at Penn State L 59–68  9–13
(0–8)
Bryce Jordan Center (2,326)
University Park, PA
Jan 28, 2018
3:00 pm, BTN
Wisconsin L 61–70  9–14
(0–9)
State Farm Center (3,237)
Champaign, IL
Feb 1, 2018
7:00 pm
at Nebraska L 47–62  9–15
(0–10)
Pinnacle Bank Arena (4,618)
Lincoln, NE
Feb 4, 2018
1:00 pm, BTN
Purdue L 54–73  9–16
(0–11)
State Farm Center (1,902)
Champaign, IL
Feb 8, 2018
6:00 pm
at Indiana L 54–70  9–17
(0–12)
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (2,852)
Bloomington, IN
Feb 13, 2018
7:00 pm
No. 16 Ohio State L 69–88  9–18
(0–13)
State Farm Center (1,149)
Champaign, IL
Feb 18, 2018
2:00 pm
at Northwestern L 61–68  9–19
(0–14)
Beardsley Gym (856)
Evanston, IL
Feb 21, 2018
6:00 pm
at Purdue L 51–64  9–20
(0–15)
Mackey Arena (5,655)
West Lafayette, IN
Feb 25, 2018
2:00 pm
Minnesota L 75–84  9–21
(0–16)
State Farm Center (1,638)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten Women's Tournament
Feb 28, 2018
3:00 pm, RSN
(14) vs. (11) Penn State
First Round
L 57–83  9–22
Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3,119)
Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

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Regular Season Polls
Poll Pre-
Season
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13
Week
14
Week
15
Week
16
Week
17
Week
18
Week
19
Final
AP N/A
Coaches
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Illinois fires Matt Bollant after five seasons". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  2. ^ "Josh Whitman tabs WashU coach Nancy Fahey as new Illini women's basketball coach". Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  3. ^ "2017-18 Women's Basketball Schedule". Illinois Athletics. Retrieved November 26, 2017.