Illinois Women’s Basketball Wins Votes in AP Top 25 Poll

Champaign, Illinois – For the first time since 2013, Illinois women’s basketball was voted in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 ranking.Now out on a 13-2 start Shauna Greenthe Illini take their biggest win yet – 12/10 Iowa in a New Year’s Day upset.

The last time the Fighting Illini were in the top 25 was on November 27, 2000, when the team was ranked 24th in the AP poll.

Illinois moved up to 20th place with 2 ballots and ended up with 12 of 28 votes. Illini ranked 20th (2nd), 21st (1st), 23rd (3rd) and 25th (6th).

The full AP rankings for 01/02/2023 can be found here.

Notes (as of January 2, 2023)

• Illinois started 15 games, the most in program history, with a 13-2 record.
• With a 3-1 start in Big Ten play, Illinois owns the best starting conference play since a 6-3 B1G start in 2012-13 (ending 9-7 vs. B1G).
• With 13 wins, the Illini have won more in any season since 2014-15 (15-16).
• As of Election Day, Illinois’ NET ranking was 29.th – Up 194 spots from a year ago.
• Illinois is already 8-0 at home this season, tying the sixth-longest home winning streak in show history.
• The Illini have also had impressive road success, winning in Pitt, Butler, Missouri and Wisconsin, giving them the program’s most road victories since the 2014-15 season.
• Shauna Green Implemented a defensive mindset that helped lead the program’s resurgence – opponents averaged 59.6 PPG (95^th NCAA, 4th generation B1G), batting average 28.0% (79 points) from the 3-point range^th NCAA, 3rd B1G), 36.4% from field (58^th NCAA, 1^st B1G).
• The Illinois offense is similarly lethal, averaging a UI of 81.1 PPG (20^thNCAA, 5^th B1G), 41.9% percentage from 3-point range (1st NCAA, 1st)^st B1G), 47.9% from the field (14^th NCAA, 6^th B1G).
• Illini’s scoring and rebounding margins are Shauna Green So far.Illinois’ rebounding margin is 12th, with him at 11.1^th 1 nationwide^st in the big ten.Illinois is 17th by 21.5 points^th Whole and 4^th in the big ten.