Illinois women earn No. 8 seed in NCAA Tournament

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s been quite the long break for the Illini, but the wait is soon to be over.

Illinois heard its name called on Selection Sunday, earning a No. 8 seed in the Birmingham Regional 3 of the NCAA Tournament. The Illini will face off against No. 9 seed Creighton in the Round of 64 on Saturday in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns are the No. 1 seed in the region.

This tournament will mark the second time in three years that head coach Shauna Green’s team will play in the NCAA tournament after a two-decade absence from the Big Dance for the program.

Even though it felt like a given at the start of the season that the team would make the postseason, there were no guarantees.

To start the season strong, the Illini took down No. 19 Florida State in a thriller at home. The win marked Green’s third win over a ranked team while at Illinois.

A little over a week after the win over the Seminoles, the team welcomed Eastern Illinois into the State Farm Center. The Illini destroyed the Panthers in what ended up being a very forgettable game, but that sadly wasn’t the main story.

Prior to tip-off, star senior Makira Cook was a late scratch from the game, this moment would lead to the eventual ending of Cook’s season. However, this game in particular showed just how many players would be willing to step up.

But for a while, the Illini would fight the injury bug for the most part. The team dropped games in a couple of ranked matchups against Kentucky and Ohio State; however, they were finding their stride coming into the new year. But the biggest rollercoaster of the year had yet to happen

On Jan. 8, season-changing news was announced: Gretchen Dolan and Makira Cook would be out for the season.

It couldn’t have come at a worse time either, as the team was entering the heart of Big Ten play, and were scheduled to play the No. 23 Iowa Hawkeyes the next day. However, this is where the season completely flips.

Going into the Iowa game, the energy changed in the Illinois locker room, it became an underdog mentality with absolutely nothing to lose. For a team with so many seniors, the injuries to Dolan and their fellow senior Cook really put it into perspective that they didn’t have much time left.

So rather than waste it, they walked into the State Farm Center and beat Iowa for a second time in three years.

This set off possibly the hottest streak in program history. After the Iowa game, the Illini went on to win nine out of their next ten Big Ten games. The height of this streak was a marquee win in College Park over the No. 14 Maryland Terrapins.

What’s so crazy about this season for Illinois has been the ups and the downs. Every time you think the Illini are finally going to go away, it seems they just come back stronger.

So when you look at the fact that the team has not won a game in over a month, some might begin to doubt them. Sure, they are on a four-game skid. However, the four losses include No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 USC and a tough Michigan team.

The seniors for Illinois will have one last chance to prove the doubters wrong this March, and one last chance to further cement their legacy in Champaign.