2024–25 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

The 2024–25 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team represents the University of Illinois during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Illini are led by third-year head coach Shauna Green, and they play their home games at State Farm Center. This season marks the program's 43rd season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

2024–25 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 25
Record	21–6 (11–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Shauna Green (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Calamity McEntire DeAntoine Beasley Britney Anderson Emily Durr Liza Fruendt
Home arena	State Farm Center
Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Big Ten women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 USC	14	–	1		.933			24	–	2		.923
No. 3 UCLA	13	–	1		.929			25	–	1		.962
No. 8 Ohio State	11	–	4		.733			22	–	4		.846
No. 25 Illinois	11	–	5		.688			21	–	6		.778
No. 21 Maryland	11	–	5		.688			21	–	6		.778
Michigan	10	–	6		.625			19	–	8		.704
Indiana	9	–	6		.600			17	–	9		.654
No. 22 Michigan State	9	–	6		.600			19	–	7		.731
Nebraska	9	–	7		.563			18	–	9		.667
Oregon	9	–	7		.563			18	–	9		.667
Iowa	8	–	7		.533			18	–	8		.692
Minnesota	8	–	8		.500			20	–	8		.714
Washington	6	–	9		.400			15	–	12		.556
Wisconsin	3	–	12		.200			12	–	14		.462
Northwestern	2	–	12		.143			9	–	16		.360
Purdue	2	–	13		.133			9	–	17		.346
Rutgers	2	–	14		.125			10	–	17		.370
Penn State	1	–	15		.063			10	–	17		.370
† 2025 Big Ten tournament winner As of February 22, 2025 Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

Main article: 2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

The Illini finished the 2023–24 season 19–15 overall, with a 8–10 record in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place. Playing as the ninth seed in the Big Ten women's tournament, they lost in the first round to eighth seed Maryland, 75–65.

The team was not invited to the 2024 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, but earned an at-large bid and a number four seed to the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). There, they defeated Missouri State, Stony Brook, Tulsa and first-seeded Washington State to advance to the championship game against first-seeded Villanova. The Illini defeated the Wildcats 71–57 at Hinkle Fieldhouse, marking the program's first postseason championship.^[1]

Green's .621 winning percentage after her first two seasons at Illinois is the best start for the program's head coach, after Theresa Grentz's 1995–97 teams won .617 percent of their games.^[2]

Accolades

Illinois players Makira Cook, Genesis Bryant and Kendall Bostic were named to the WBIT All-Tournament Team after winning the championship game,^[1] with Cook named as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Cook's honor makes her the first Illinois women's basketball player in program history to be named MVP in a postseason competition.^[3]

Four Illini earned All-Big Ten honors after the end of the season. Cook was named to the league's second team, Bostic was voted to the second team by the media and honorable mention by the coaches, Bryant was recognized as honorable mention in both polls, and Gretchen Dolan was added to the All-Freshman Team by the coaches. Dolan's honor is the first by an Illinois freshman since 2017.^[4]

In September 2024, Cook was named to the preseason All-Big Ten Team by the conference coaches.^[5]

On October 28, 2024, Cook was named as one of 20 players to the Nancy Lieberman Award pre-season watch list for the award that honors the top point guard in the country. This marked her second straight year on the watch list, and she is the first Illinois player to be recognized with this honor.^[6] On the same date, Cook was named as one of 50 players to the Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year watch list.^[7]

On October 29, 2024, Bryant was recognized as one of the top 20 shooting guards in the country by landing on the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award pre-season watch list.^[8] Two days later, Bostic was one of 20 players named to the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year pre-season watch list.^[9]

Off-season

On June 3, 2024, Illinois announced the hiring of Liza Fruendt as an assistant coach, replacing Jenna Giacone. Fruendt arrived at Illinois after three seasons as assistant coach at Tennessee.^[10]

Four of the five of the previous season's starting lineup returned for the 2024–25 season, with Cook, Bryant and Bostic returning for a fifth year awarded to them due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11]

In October 2024, it was announced that sophomore transfer Lety Vasconcelos will miss the entire season due to a torn ACL, sustained near the end of summer team workouts.^[12]

On October 24, 2024, the university announced that Green's contract had been extended for two additional years, keeping the coach at Illinois at least through the 2029–30 season.^[13]

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Camille Jackson	0	G	5'11"	Sophomore	Chicago, IL	Transferred to Miami Ohio[11]
Kam'Ren Rhodes	4	G	5'6"	Sophomore	Chandler, AZ	Transferred to Akron[11]
Jada Peebles	11	G	5'10"	Senior	Raleigh, NC	Graduated[11]
Aisha Ndour	21	C	6'6"	Senior	Somone, Senegal	Transferred to Wichita State[11]
Samantha Dewey	33	F	6'2"	Sophomore	North Andover, MA	Transferred to Richmond[11]
Camille Hobby	41	C	6'3"	Senior	Jacksonville, FL	Graduated[11]

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Jasmine Brown-Hagger	8	G	5'9"	Sophomore	Shorewood, IL	Mississippi State[11]
Lety Vasconcelos	25	C	6'7"	Sophomore	Miguel Calmon, Bahia, Brazil	Baylor[11]

2024 recruiting class

2024 recruiting class

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	High school
Irene Noya Catoira	6	F	6'3"	Freshman	Vilagarcía de Arousa, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain	Institut Joaquim Blume[11]
Mia Zenere	12	G	5'11"	Freshman	Mokena, IL	Example Academy[14]
Berry Wallace	20	F	6'1"	Freshman	Pickerington, Ohio	Pickerington High School Central[11]
Hayven Smith	25	C	6'6"	Freshman	Frankfort, IL	Lincoln Way East[11]

Roster

2024–25 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Genesis Bryant 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) GS North Carolina State Jonesboro, GA G 2 Cori Allen 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Montverde Academy Nashville, TN G 3 Makira Cook  5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) GS Dayton Cincinnati, OH G 4 Gretchen Dolan  5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Williamsville South High School Buffalo, NY F 6 Irene Noya Catoira 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Institut Joaquim Blume Vilagarcía de Arousa, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain G 8 Jasmine Brown-Hagger 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So Mississippi State Shorewood, IL G 12 Mia Zenere (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Example Academy Mokena, IL F 20 Berry Wallace 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Pickerington High School Central Pickerington, Ohio F 22 Shay Bollin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr Duke Raynham, MA F 23 Brynn Shoup-Hill 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr Dayton Goshen, IN G 24 Adalia McKenzie 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Park Center Brooklyn Park, MN C 25 Hayven Smith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Fr Lincoln Way East Frankfort, IL C 35 Lety Vasoncelos  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) So Baylor Miguel Calmon, Bahia, Brazil F 44 Kendall Bostic 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) GS Michigan State Kokomo, IN	Head coach Shauna Green (Canisius) Assistant coach(es) Calamity McEntire (Eastern Oklahoma State) Britney Anderson (Virginia Tech) DeAntoine Beasley (Tennessee Tech) Emily Durr (Iowa State) Liza Fruendt (Missouri State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2024* 6:00 p.m., B1G+		Lewis	W 80–53	0–0	State Farm Center (3,556) Champaign, IL
Regular season
November 7, 2024* 6:00 p.m., B1G+		No. 19 Florida State	W 83–74	1–0	State Farm Center (3,741) Champaign, IL
November 10, 2024* 7:00 p.m., BTN		Marquette	W 65–53	2–0	State Farm Center (3,748) Champaign, IL
November 14, 2024* 6:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 23	Eastern Illinois	W 84–37	3–0	State Farm Center (3,645) Champaign, IL
November 18, 2024* 11:00 a.m., B1G+	No. 22	Le Moyne	W 94–25	4–0	State Farm Center (13,486) Champaign, IL
November 22, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 22	Oregon State	W 85–66	5–0	State Farm Center (3,891) Champaign, IL
November 26, 2024* 1:15 p.m., BallerTV	No. 19	vs. Maryland Eastern Shore Music City Classic	W 75–55	6–0	Trevecca Trojan Fieldhouse (341) Nashville, TN
November 27, 2024* 7:00 p.m., BallerTV	No. 19	vs. No. 14 Kentucky Music City Classic	L 53–76	6–1	Trevecca Trojan Fieldhouse (368) Nashville, TN
December 2, 2024* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 21	at Canisius	W 68–55	7–1	Koessler Athletic Center (607) Buffalo, NY
December 8, 2024 3:00 p.m., BTN	No. 21	at No. 12 Ohio State	L 74–83	7–2 (0–1)	Value City Arena (6,668) Columbus, OH
December 12, 2024* 6:00 p.m., B1G+		Bradley	W 70–52	8–2	State Farm Center (3,684) Champaign, IL
December 15, 2024* 1:00 p.m., B1G+		Southern Indiana	W 73–50	9–2	State Farm Center (4,108) Champaign, IL
December 20, 2024* 12:00 p.m., B1G+		Southern	W 69–57	10–2	State Farm Center (3,396) Champaign, IL
December 28, 2024 2:00 p.m., B1G+		Oregon	W 64–59	11–2 (1–1)	State Farm Center (4,914) Champaign, IL
December 31, 2024 12:00 p.m., BTN		Washington	L 75–84	11–3 (1–2)	State Farm Center (4,272) Champaign, IL
January 5, 2025 2:00 p.m., B1G+		at Minnesota	L 61–68	11–4 (1–3)	Williams Arena (4,788) Minneapolis, MN
January 9, 2025 6:00 p.m., B1G+		No. 23 Iowa	W 62–57	12–4 (2–3)	State Farm Center (4,231) Champaign, IL
January 16, 2025 6:00 p.m., Peacock		at Indiana	W 68–54	13–4 (3–3)	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (10,534) Bloomington, IN
January 19, 2025 2:00 p.m., B1G+		No. 22 Michigan State	L 68–86	13–5 (3–4)	State Farm Center (5,896) Champaign, IL
January 23, 2025 7:00 p.m., BTN		at Northwestern	W 85–60	14–5 (4–4)	Welsh-Ryan Arena (1,735) Evanston, IL
January 27, 2025 7:30 p.m., BTN		Purdue	W 74–38	15–5 (5–4)	State Farm Center (4,081) Champaign, IL
January 30, 2025 6:00 p.m., B1G+		at Rutgers	W 69–65 OT	16–5 (6–4)	Jersey Mike's Arena (2,016) Piscataway, NJ
February 2, 2025 12:00 p.m., B1G+		at No. 14 Maryland	W 66–65	17–5 (7–4)	Xfinity Center (8,068) College Park, MD
February 6, 2025 6:00 p.m., B1G+		Northwestern	W 73–60	18–5 (8–4)	State Farm Center (4,591) Champaign, IL
February 9, 2025 3:00 p.m., B1G+		at Wisconsin	W 74–51	19–5 (9–4)	Kohl Center (4,547) Madison, WI
February 13, 2025 6:00 p.m., B1G+		Penn State	W 67–55	20–5 (10–4)	State Farm Center (3,983) Champaign, IL
February 16, 2025 4:00 p.m., BTN		Nebraska	W 77–68	21–5 (11–4)	State Farm Center (5,881) Champaign, IL
February 20, 2025 8:30 p.m., BTN	No. 25	at No. 3 UCLA	L 55–70	21–6 (11–5)	Pauley Pavilion (5,435) Los Angeles, CA
February 23, 2025 3:00 p.m., FS1	No. 25	at No. 4 USC			Galen Center  Los Angeles, CA
March 2, 2025 12:30 p.m., BTN		Michigan			State Farm Center  Champaign, IL
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 5–9, 2025		vs. TBA			Gainbridge Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Rankings

Main article: 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	RV	23	22	19	21	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	25
Coaches	RV	24	23	19	21	25	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	RV	—	RV

See also

• 2024–25 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

References

1. Vozzelli, Joe (April 3, 2024). "History! Illini win WBIT championship". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
2. Daniels, Matt (April 5, 2024). "The daily pitch". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
3. "Illini Trio Named to WBIT All-Tournament Team, Cook Earns Most Outstanding Player Honors". fightingillini.com. University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. April 3, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
4. "[4] Fighting Illini to Play for WBIT Championship Against [1] Villanova on Wednesday". fightingillini.com. University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. April 1, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
5. "Cook Named Preseason All-Big Ten". fightingillini.com. University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. September 26, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
6. "Cook Named to Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Top-20 Preseason Watch List for Second Straight Season". fightingillini.com. University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. October 28, 2024. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
7. "Cook Earns Spot on Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Watch List". fightingillini.com. University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. October 28, 2024. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
8. "Bryant Named to Ann Meyers-Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Top-20 Preseason Watch List". fightingillini.com. University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. October 29, 2024. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
9. Daniels, Matt (November 1, 2024). "The Daily Pitch". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
10. Daniels, Matt (June 3, 2024). "Fruendt joins Illinois women's basketball as assistant coach". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
11. Vozzelli, Joe (June 10, 2024). "Green Street: The 2024–25 Illini have arrived on campus". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
12. Vozzelli, Joe (October 30, 2024). "Illinois women's basketball center Vasconcelos out for season with knee injury". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
13. Vozzelli, Joe (October 24, 2024). "Illinois women's basketball coach lands contract extension". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
14. Vozzelli, Joe (August 2, 2024). "Green Street: Numbers game". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. Retrieved September 23, 2024.

External links

• Official website
• 2024–25 Record Book