by CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini women’s basketball team went toe-to-toe with the No. 25- ranked Florida State Seminoles on Thursday night at State Farm Center. But despite double-digit scoring games from Aaliyah Nye, Jada Peebles, and De’Myla Brown, Illinois (3-4) was unable to keep pace with FSU (5-2) into the fourth quarter of a 67-58 setback in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup.
Nye (Pottawatomi) poured in a game-high 17 points, while Peebles added 12. Brown chipped in with 11 points, providing a spark off the bench for the first time this season after starting the first six games. The trio combined to knock down all seven of the Illini’s three-pointers on the night, with Nye and Peebles hitting three each.
Sophomore F Kendall Bostic led the Illini with 10 rebounds, matching FSU’s Morgan Jones for game-high honors. Bostic also added a pair of assists, but was held scoreless for the first time in her career as an Illini.
In addition to her 10 rebounds, Jones also recorded a double-double with 12 points to match the offensive output of teammates Makayla Timpson and O’Mariah Gordon who combined for 24 of the Seminoles’ 39 bench points on the night.
The Illini battled the Seminoles to a 15-15 tie after the first quarter, and trailed by just five points, 33-28, at halftime. The deficit reached seven, 37-30, with 7:08 remaining in the third quarter when Eva Rubin and Sara Anastasieska keyed a 7-0 Illini run to tie the game, 37-37, with 5:20 left in the third.
And with the Illini trailing by 49-44 after three periods, the Seminoles were able to hold the Orange and Blue scoreless for the opening 3 minutes of the fourth period, pushing the lead to 14 points, 58-44, on a Gordon three with 7:25 remaining.
Nye snapped the Illini scoring drought with the first of her two fourth-quarter three-pointers, but the Illini were unable to pull back to within striking distance of the lead for the remainder of the game.
