by EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Fighting Illini women’s basketball team fell to the Michigan State Spartans, 81-60, at Breslin Center despite another double-double effort by sophomore guard Jeanae Terry who continued her hot streak on Thursday night.
Terry delivered her third straight double-double performance with a 10-point, 10 rebound stat line to go along with a game-high six assists. Sophomore guard Jada Peebles paced the Illini offense with 17 points.
Freshman guard Aaliyah Nye (Potawatomi) adding nine points to the tally in her first collegiate game back in her hometown, while classmate Aaliyah McQueen, who hails Flint, Mich., also chipped in with a career-high eight points on 3-for-5 shooting from the field including a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the arc.
The Fighting Illini (2-11, 0-10 B1G) were unable to keep pace with the Spartans’ (10-4, 5-4 B1G) efficient scoring in the first half, falling behind 51-28 at the intermission.
MSU pushed the lead to 25 points, 63-38, with 4:08 left in the third quarter, but the Illini climbed back into the game by closing the period on an 11-0 run that include both of McQueen’s triples.
The Spartans regrouped to open the fourth, however, scoring 10 straight to push the Illini deficit to 73-49 with 6:43 left to play, and the Illini were unable to get back to within 20 for the remainder of the contest.
Michigan State’s Nia Clouden scored four points in that key Spartans’ run to open the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 28 points. Alisia Smith (10 points) joined Clouden in double-figures scoring.
STAT OF THE GAME
Illinois received major offensive contributions from its trio of players that hail from the state of Michigan on Thursday Night. Jeanae Terry (Detroit, Mich.), Aaliyah Nye (Gun Lake Tribe) and Aaliyah McQueen (Flint, Mich.) combined to score 27 of the Illini’s 60 points, including six of the team’s seven made three-pointers.
