2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

The 2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team represented the University of Illinois during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Illini, led by third-year head coach Nancy Fahey, played their home games at State Farm Center as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 11–19, 2–16 in Big Ten play to finish in thirteenth place. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten women's tournament to Wisconsin.

2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record11–19 (2–16 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • John Patterson
  • Scott Merritt
  • Vernette Skeete
Home arenaState Farm Center
Seasons
2019–20 Big Ten women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 Maryland† 16 2   .889 28 4   .875
No. 12 Northwestern 16 2   .889 26 4   .867
No. 21 Iowa 14 4   .778 23 7   .767
No. 20 Indiana 13 5   .722 24 8   .750
Rutgers 11 7   .611 22 9   .710
Ohio State 11 7   .611 21 12   .636
Michigan 10 8   .556 21 11   .656
Michigan State 9 9   .500 16 14   .533
Purdue 8 10   .444 18 14   .563
Nebraska 7 11   .389 17 13   .567
Minnesota 5 13   .278 16 15   .516
Wisconsin 3 15   .167 12 19   .387
Illinois 2 16   .111 11 19   .367
Penn State 1 17   .056 7 23   .233
2020 Big Ten tournament winner
As of May 2, 2024
Rankings from AP poll

Previous season edit

The Illini finished the season 10–20, 2–16 in Big Ten play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten women's tournament to Purdue.

Roster edit

2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 J-Naya Ephraim 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So Southern Durham Saint Croix, USVI
G 1 Brandi Beasley 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Sr Ridgeway Memphis, TN
F 2 Lyric Robins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Jr Plano West Plano, TX
G 4 Carolyn Waleski 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Lincoln-Way East Frankfort, IL
G 5 Cierra Rice 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS Sr Grosse Pointe South Gross Pointe, MI
G 10 Jeanae Terry 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Wayne Memorial Detroit, MI
G 11 Jada Peebles 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Wakefield Raleigh, NC
G 12 Taylor Edwards 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) GS Arcola Arcola, IL
G 13 Petra Holešínská 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Jr Sportovni Gzmnazium Ludvika Danka Vracov, Czech Republic
F 21 Nancy Panagiotopoulou Andritsopoulou 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS So American Community Schools of Athens Athens, Greece
F 23 Mackenzie Blazek 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Whiteland Community Franklin, IN
G 30 Courtney Joens 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr City High Iowa City, IA
F 44 Kennedi Myles 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Walnut Hills Cincinnati, OH
F 50 Ali Andrews 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr 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: May 13, 2020

Schedule and results edit

Source:[1]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2019*
11:00 a.m., BTN+
Chicago State W 96–66  1–0
State Farm Center (4,189)
Champaign, IL
November 9, 2019*
2:00 p.m., BTN+
Holy Cross W 78–75 OT 2–0
State Farm Center (1,240)
Champaign, IL
November 13, 2019*
7:00 p.m., BTN+
Austin Peay W 76–62  3–0
State Farm Center (1,010)
Champaign, IL
November 16, 2019*
2:00 p.m., BTN+
Illinois State L 58–74  3–1
State Farm Center (1,520)
Champaign, IL
November 21, 2019*
7:00 p.m., BTN+
Arkansas–Pine Bluff W 65–50  4–1
State Farm Center (1,045)
Champaign, IL
November 24, 2019*
2:00 p.m., BTN+
Bryant W 69–55  5–1
State Farm Center (1,199)
Champaign, IL
November 30, 2019*
7:00 p.m., BTN+
Presbyterian W 71–52  6–1
State Farm Center (1,058)
Champaign, IL
December 5, 2019*
5:00 p.m., ACCN
at North Carolina
ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge
L 60–85  6–2
Carmichael Arena (2,116)
Chapel Hill, NC
December 10, 2019*
7:00 p.m., BTN+
Merrimack W 75–72  7–2
State Farm Center (960)
Champaign, IL
December 15, 2019*
2:00 p.m., BTN+
Evansville W 59–44  8–2
State Farm Center (1,383)
Champaign, IL
December 20, 2019*
12:00 p.m., SECN
at Missouri W 58–51  9–2
Mizzou Arena (4,332)
Columbia, MO
Big Ten conference season
December 28, 2019
2:00 p.m., BTN+
Northwestern L 50–77  9–3
(0–1)
State Farm Center (2,099)
Champaign, IL
December 31, 2019
3:00 p.m., BTN+
at Iowa L 72–108  9–4
(0–1)
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (6,942)
Iowa City, IA
January 6, 2020
6:00 p.m., BTN
at No. 12 Indiana L 42–83  9–5
(0–3)
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (3,024)
Bloomington, IN
January 9, 2020
7:00 p.m., BTN+
Rutgers L 51–75  9–6
(0–4)
State Farm Center (997)
Champaign, IL
January 12, 2020
2:00 p.m., BTN
Minnesota W 74–71  10–6
(1–4)
State Farm Center (1,333)
Champaign, IL
January 16, 2020
6:00 p.m., BTN+
at Purdue L 67–81  10–7
(1–5)
Mackey Arena (5,886)
West Lafayette, IN
January 19, 2020
1:00 p.m., BTN+
at Ohio State L 47–77  10–8
(1–6)
Value City Arena (5,143)
Columbus, OH
January 23, 2020
7:00 p.m., BTN+
No. 20 Maryland L 60–79  10–9
(1–7)
State Farm Center (1,088)
Champaign, IL
January 30, 2020
6:00 p.m., BTN+
at Rutgers L 41–72  10–10
(1–8)
Louis Brown Athletic Center (1,359)
Piscataway, NJ
February 2, 2020
2:00 p.m., BTN+
Wisconsin L 64–73  10–11
(1–9)
State Farm Center (2,388)
Champaign, IL
February 6, 2020
7:00 p.m., BTN+
Ohio State L 58–78  10–12
(1–10)
State Farm Center (2,388)
Champaign, IL
February 9, 2020
1:00 p.m., BTN+
at Penn State W 70–66  11–12
(2–10)
Bryce Jordan Center (4,592)
University Park, PA
February 13, 2020
7:00 p.m., BTN+
No. 20 Indiana L 54–59  11–13
(2–11)
State Farm Center (1,145)
Champaign, IL
February 16, 2020
2:00 p.m., BTN+
Purdue L 58–70  11–14
(2–12)
State Farm Center (2,119)
Champaign, IL
February 19, 2020
6:00 p.m., BTN+
at Michigan L 59–80  11–15
(2–13)
Crisler Center (2,388)
Ann Arbor, MI
February 22, 2020
2:00 p.m., BTN+
at Nebraska L 58–80  11–16
(2–14)
Pinnacle Bank Arena (5,044)
Lincoln, NE
February 26, 2020
7:00 p.m., BTN+
Michigan State L 58–72  11–17
(2–15)
State Farm Center (1,176)
Champaign, IL
February 29, 2020
1:00 p.m., BTN
at No. 14 Northwestern L 58–75  11–18
(2–16)
Welsh–Ryan Arena (4,016)
Evanston, IL
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 4, 2020
1:00 p.m., BTN
(13) vs. (12) Wisconsin
First Round
L 55–71  11–19
Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3.793)
Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings edit

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 edit

References edit

  1. ^ "2019-20 Women's Basketball Schedule". Illinois Athletics. Retrieved May 13, 2020.