The women’s basketball team received a rude welcome into the Big 10 last week. The Fighting Illini endured a pair of thrashings, losing at No. 6 Penn State 101-71 Thursday night and at No. 13 Ohio State 87-57 Sunday.
Illinois (5-6) trailed the Buckeyes only 35-30 at the half, but shot just 33 percent in the second half while Ohio State shot 71 percent. The Illini also committed a staggering total of 32 turnovers.
Illinois had only two players in double figures, Kris Dupps and Anita Clinton, each with 10 points. The start was the first for Clinton, a freshman forward from Proviso West.
Against Penn State, the Illini made only 33 percent. Illinois has gone 71 straight games with marks of 50 percent or worse. And the road doesn’t get any easier this week: The Illini play host to fifth-ranked Iowa at 7 p.m. Friday at Assembly Hall. The Hawkeyes look every bit as good as they were last year, when they took the Big 10 title with a 16-2 record.
One bit of good news emerged over the weekend. Mandy Cunningham, a junior guard from Bridgeport, moved into Illinois’ career top 10 with 915 points, surpassing Sonya Waters, who graduated last spring. The No. 9 scorer is Dee Dee Deeken, with 978 points.