2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team represented the University of Illinois during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Illini, led by first-year head coach Nancy Fahey, played their home games at State Farm Center as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 9–21, 0–16 in Big Ten play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten Women's Tournament to Penn State.

2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
2017–18 record9–22 (0–16 Big Ten)
Head coachNancy Fahey (1st season)
Assistant coaches
  • LaKale Malone
  • Tianna Kirkland
  • Steve Cochran
Home arenaState Farm Center
2017–18 Big Ten women's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 10 Ohio State †13–3 .813  28–7  .800
No. 16 Maryland12–4 .750  26–8  .765
Iowa11–5 .688  24–8  .750
Minnesota11–5 .688  24–9  .727
Nebraska11–5 .688  21–11  .656
Michigan10–6 .625  23–10  .697
Indiana9–7 .563  23–14  .622
Purdue9–7 .563  20–14  .588
Rutgers7–9 .438  20–12  .625
Michigan State7–9 .438  19–14  .576
Penn State6–10 .375  16–16  .500
Northwestern4–12 .250  12–20  .375
Wisconsin2–14 .125  9–21  .300
Illinois0–16 .000  9–21  .300
† 2018 Big Ten Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Illini finished the 2016–17 season 9–22, 3–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for 11th place. They advanced to the second round of the Big Ten Women's Tournament where they lost to Purdue.

On March 14, 2017, head coach Matt Bollant was fired. He finished at Illinois with a five-year record of 61–94.[1] On March 22, the school hired five-time Division III national champion and two-time Division III coach of the year recipient Nancy Fahey as head coach.[2]

Roster
2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
G 1 Brandi Beasley 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) SoRidgeway Memphis, TN
F 2 Lyric Robins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) FrPlano West Plano, TX
F 3 Alli Ball 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) SrPrincipia Upper
Akron		 St. Louis, MO
G 5 Cierra Rice 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS SoGrosse Pointe South Gross Pointe, MI
F 11 Cydnee Kinslow 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) RS SoFreedom
Pepperdine		 Oakley, CA
G 13 Petra Holešínská 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) SoSportovni Gzmnazium Ludvika Danka Vracov, Czech Republic
G 14 Addaya Moore 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) FrGranite City Granite City, IL
F 21 Nancy Panagiotopoulou Andritsopoulou 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) FrAmerican Community Schools of Athens Athens, Greece
G 23 Jaelyne Kirkpatrick 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) JrSt. Ignatius of Loyola Oakville, Ontario
F 24 Jnaya Walker 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) FrBolingbrook Bolingbrook, IL
G 25 Kennedy Cattenhead 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS SrBolingbrook Bolingbrook, IL
G 30 Courtney Joens 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) SoCity High Iowa City, IA
G 33 Meagan McNicholas 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) SoRochester Rochester, IL
F 35 Alex Wittinger 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) JrDelano Delano, MN
F 50 Ali Andrews 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) SoHuntley Lake in the Hills, IL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: 11/26/2017

Schedule and results

[3]

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017*
1:00 pm		 Fort Wayne W 64–50  1–0
 State Farm Center (1,148)
Champaign, IL
Nov 12, 2017*
5:00 pm		 at Florida Gulf Coast L 61–85  1–1
 Alico Arena (2,202)
Fort Myers, FL
Nov 15, 2017*
7:00 pm		 Chicago State W 66–56  2–1
 State Farm Center (1,056)
Champaign, IL
Nov 18, 2017*
2:00 pm		 Bradley W 74–62  3–1
 State Farm Center (1,135)
Champaign, IL
Nov 21, 2017*
7:00 pm		 Western Illinois L 67–77  3–2
 State Farm Center (1,080)
Champaign, IL
Nov 24, 2017*
4:30 pm		 vs. UC Irvine
New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament		 W 65–59  4–2
 Dreamstyle Arena 
Albuquerque, NM
Nov 25, 2017*
1:00 pm		 vs. Wichita State
New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament		 W 68–67  5–2
 Dreamstyle Arena (4,425)
Albuquerque, NM
Nov 26, 2017*
3:30 pm		 vs. New Mexico
New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament		 L 68–97  5–3
 Dreamstyle Arena (4,663)
Albuquerque, NM
Nov 30, 2017*
7:00 pm		 Virginia Tech
ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge		 L 49–96  5–4
 State Farm Center (1,339)
Champaign, IL
Dec 3, 2017*
2:00 pm		 at Memphis W 63–47  6–4
 Elma Roane Fieldhouse (553)
Memphis, TN
Dec 7, 2017*
7:00 pm		 Indiana State W 81–52  7–4
 State Farm Center (1,044)
Champaign, IL
Dec 12, 2017*
2:00 pm		 Detroit W 73–65  8–4
 State Farm Arena (1,151)
Champaign, IL
Dec 16, 2017*
2:00 pm		 Austin Peay W 59–47  9–4
 State Farm Center (1,085)
Champaign, IL
Dec 22, 2017*
12:00 pm		 at No. 16 Missouri L 55–72  9–5
 Mizzou Arena (4,630)
Columbia, MO
Big Ten conference season
Dec 28, 2017
5:00 pm		 at No. 15 Maryland L 65–100  9–6
(0–1)		 Xfinity Center (7,346)
College Park, MD
Dec 31, 2017
2:00 pm		 Northwestern L 59–74  9–7
(0–2)		 State Farm Center (1,412)
Champaign, IL
Jan 3, 2018
6:00 pm		 at Rutgers L 37–76  9–8
(0–3)		 Louis Brown Athletic Center (1,289)
Piscataway, NJ
Jan 7, 2018
1:00 pm, BTN		 No. 18 Iowa L 71–84  9–9
(0–4)		 State Farm Center (1,646)
Champaign, IL
Jan 10, 2018
7:00 pm		 Nebraska L 72–80  9–10
(0–5)		 State Farm Center (1,039)
Champaign, IL
Jan 16, 2018
8:00 pm, BTN		 Michigan State L 55–67  9–11
(0–6)		 State Farm Center (1,114)
Champaign, IL
Jan 20, 2018
5:00 pm, BTN		 at No. 19 Michigan L 42–86  9–12
(0–7)		 Crisler Center (3,265)
Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 23, 2018
6:00 pm		 at Penn State L 59–68  9–13
(0–8)		 Bryce Jordan Center (2,326)
University Park, PA
Jan 28, 2018
3:00 pm, BTN		 Wisconsin L 61–70  9–14
(0–9)		 State Farm Center (3,237)
Champaign, IL
Feb 1, 2018
7:00 pm		 at Nebraska L 47–62  9–15
(0–10)		 Pinnacle Bank Arena (4,618)
Lincoln, NE
Feb 4, 2018
1:00 pm, BTN		 Purdue L 54–73  9–16
(0–11)		 State Farm Center (1,902)
Champaign, IL
Feb 8, 2018
6:00 pm		 at Indiana L 54–70  9–17
(0–12)		 Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (2,852)
Bloomington, IN
Feb 13, 2018
7:00 pm		 No. 16 Ohio State L 69–88  9–18
(0–13)		 State Farm Center (1,149)
Champaign, IL
Feb 18, 2018
2:00 pm		 at Northwestern L 61–68  9–19
(0–14)		 Beardsley Gym (856)
Evanston, IL
Feb 21, 2018
6:00 pm		 at Purdue L 51–64  9–20
(0–15)		 Mackey Arena (5,655)
West Lafayette, IN
Feb 25, 2018
2:00 pm		 Minnesota L 75–84  9–21
(0–16)		 State Farm Center (1,638)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten Women's Tournament
Feb 28, 2018
3:00 pm, RSN		 (14) vs. (11) Penn State
First Round		 L 57–83  9–22
 Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3,119)
Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings
Main article: 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Regular Season Polls
PollPre-
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

References
  1. "Illinois fires Matt Bollant after five seasons". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  2. "Josh Whitman tabs WashU coach Nancy Fahey as new Illini women's basketball coach". Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  3. "2017-18 Women's Basketball Schedule". Illinois Athletics. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
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