As Kendall Bostic approached the half-court line to prepare for tip-off against Mississippi State on Wednesday night, it finally felt real. The Illini’s 20-year NCAA Tournament wait had come to an end.
The opening tip-off not only marked the program’s first tournament appearance since 2003, but it signaled the first action of the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, giving Illinois the opportunity to perform on a national stage.
“All eyes are on that game. It’s the first game in the women’s tournament. Everyone’s watching, so our program is going to be out there,” said head coach Shauna Green. “They’re going to see what we’re about and our style of play. It’s great for our program to put it out there and that national exposure that we’re getting.”
The Illini’s First-Four matchup aired nationally on ESPNU, giving the team the ability to show out in front of a bigger audience. Green admits she did not expect to be playing in the NCAA Tournament in her first year at Illinois when she stepped foot in Champaign for the first time, but the Illini bought in to the new coaching staff and turned the program around.
The team’s 15-win improvement from one season ago marks the best one-year turnaround in program history and the third-best in Big Ten history. Bostic, one of the few returning players from the 2021-22 Illini roster, has thrived under the new staff, averaging a career-high 29.2 minutes and 10.2 points per game. The 2022-23 season has put the Illini back on the map, both in the Big Ten and the NCAA, Bostic says.
“I know it’s crazy from the outside, but being able to play this season has been really great,” Bostic said after the First-Four game. “I know for recruits and for our fans that traveled here, it’s got to be really cool from the outside looking in. I think it will be really, really good for the future knowing this program is only going up. That’s got to make people excited.”
Jada Peebles has also been through the highs and lows after joining the Illini as a freshman in 2019. She was not sure where she would end up after Illinois made a coaching change prior to the season, but Peebles quickly trusted Green and opted to stay in Champaign.
Her roles on and off the court have been huge, and she registered a career-best 43% field-goal percentage and 45.2% 3-point percentage this season. After…
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