Peebles propels Illini to important road win in regular-season finale

Feb. 26—PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Shauna Green has made it clear to Jada Peebles she wants the Illinois women's basketball guard back for a fifth season.

A 75-53 win by the 25th-ranked Illini on Sunday afternoon against Rutgers in front of 2,049 fans at Jersey Mike's Arena showed why the first-year Illinois coach values the senior guard so much after Peebles delivered a game-high 20 points on an efficient 7-of-9 shooting performance, including four three-pointers.

With forward Brynn Shoup-Hill out (right foot injury), Green turned to a four-guard lineup again for the team's regular-season finale, starting Peebles for a second consecutive game alongside Makira Cook, Genesis Bryant and Adalia McKenzie. Kendall Bostic was the Illini's lone starting forward.

"My teammates have consistently been telling me, 'Keep shooting. Keep shooting,'" said Peebles, who played 38 minutes and added four rebounds, one assist and two steals. "When I get that first (shot to go) in, everything just builds from there. Definitely just a mindset of showing what I have from the beginning (as a starter) and punching them from the beginning, instead of bringing a spark coming off the bench just being a spark right away."

The 21 wins the Illini (21-8, 11-7 Big Ten) have posted this winter is the most since the 1999-2000 season when Illinois went 23-10 with Theresa Grentz as coach and qualified for a fourth consecutive NCAA tournament.

Looking to return to the NCAA tourney for the first time in 20 years, Illinois saw its NET ranking — one of the top metrics for determining at-large selections into the NCAA's field of 68 — drop significantly after a 90-57 home loss to Nebraska on Wednesday night. That made Sunday's rematch with the Scarlet Knights (11-19, 5-13) an important game for the Illini, who moved up five spots to 40th in the NET after defeating Rutgers by 22 on the road.

"We executed really well and it just helped us having those few couple of days of just reps with people playing at those positions and Jada at the four," said Green, whose Illinois team was also without sophomore guard Jayla Oden after the reserve player injured her right hand last week before the Illini played the Cornhuskers. "They were a lot more comfortable with it and confident. We got in the paint, which was key, and then we got those kick-out, inside-out threes, and Jada got us off to a good start hitting those first three."

Peebles poured in a trio of three-pointers in the opening five minutes to stake Illinois to an 11-6 lead. The Illini would stretch that advantage to 21-8 after the first quarter and later led 37-21 at the halftime break, with Peebles scoring 13 points in the first half.

"She came out and was huge (Sunday) in everything that she did," Green said of Peebles. "Defensively, offensively, she was in a really good rhythm and played almost the entire game. I'm just really proud of her. She was big time and helped us out a lot."

Illinois led by at least 17 points the rest of the way with Bryant heating up in the second half, as the junior guard scored all 15 of her points after the break. McKenzie chipped in with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Bostic finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks.

The Illini shot 56 percent from the field as a team and held Rutgers to only 36 percent shooting, with the Scarlet Knights only making one three-pointer.

It was specifically the work Illinois did on the defensive end against Kaylene Smikle that impressed Green the most. The Rutgers freshman guard was averaging 19.3 points since joining the starting lineup for first-year coach Coquese Washington in mid-December. Smikle scored 18 points but it took 17 shot attempts for the Farmingdale, N.Y., native to get there. Smikle was 1 of 11 in the first half.

"That was something that we really made a key," Green said. "We were locked into (Smikle). Makira was really up to the task of kind of taking it personal and the challenge of I'm going to lock her up and we bumped over and put Jada on her as well and gave her some length. We really did a great job on her for 40 minutes."

A win on Sunday secured the No. 6 seed for Illinois at the Big Ten tournament in Minneapolis and a first-round bye. The Illini will face the winner of Wednesday's first-round game between No. 11 seed Rutgers and No. 14 seed Northwestern (9-20, 2-16). Illinois' second-round game against either the Scarlet Knights or Wildcats — both of whom the Illini swept in the regular season — will tip off at approximately 8 p.m. on Thursday at the Target Center.

For Peebles, the longest-tenured Illini, it will be the first time the Raleigh, N.C., native has played meaningful games in the month of March.

Conversations will take place after the season about whether Peebles plans to take advantage of the extra year afforded to athletes by the COVID-19 pandemic. Peebles has said she's "looking forward" to a fifth year in Champaign. But before then, Peebles and Illinois are hoping to have a March to remember.

It all starts in a few days in Minneapolis.

"I thought that may be a possibility (of playing Rutgers again in the Big Ten tournament), but really I thought it was pretty solidified that we wouldn't have to play them," Green said. "Obviously, huge win from Wisconsin (against No. 12 Michigan in Madison), that changed a lot of things up. We'll be ready to go. There's multiple things that we can throw at them, but at the end of the day, it's just about us and us being the best versions of ourselves no matter who we play."