Wallace, Jackson help Illinois women beat Wisconsin 82-70 at Big Ten Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Berry Wallace scored 22 points, Destiny Jackson added 21, and No. 10 seed Illinois beat 15th-seeded Wisconsin 82-70 on Wednesday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Cearah Parchment scored 14 points for Illinois (20-10) and Lety Vasconcelos — the tallest player in program history, listed at 6-foot-7 — scored a career-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting

Wisconsin (13-17) has lost 10 in a row, including a 92-60 loss at Illinois on Feb. 11.

Gift Uchenna tied her season high with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting, Kyrah Daniels scored 17 and Laci Steele 12 for the Badgers. Destiny Howell, who went into the game averaging a team-leading 14.1 points per game, finished with six points on 2-of-12 shooting.

Uchenna scored seven points in a 12-3 run that cut Wisconsin’s deficit to a point a little more than four minutes into the third quarter, but the Illini scored 16 — eight by Vasconcelos — of the next 19 to take a 62-48 lead with 41 seconds left until the fourth.

Illinois shot 83% from the free-throw line, where the Illini outscored Wisconsin 24-10.

The Illini have won seven of eight against Wisconsin and lead the series 44-43

Jackson had five assists moved past Jill Estey (154 in 1990-91) into second on the program’s single-season assist list with 156. Alexis Smith set the record of 168 in 2012-13.

Up next

Wisconsin: Season complete.

Illinois: Plays seventh-seeded and No. 18 Michigan State in the second round Thursday.

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