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How to Watch Illinois Women's Basketball vs. Maryville Exhibition

The Illini women start anew – in more ways than one – in 2025-26, tipping off against Division II Maryville in Thursday's exhibition matchup
Jason Langendorf|
Feb 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Shauna Green and Illinois Fighting Illini forward Brynn Shoup-Hill (23) during the second quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images
Feb 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Shauna Green and Illinois Fighting Illini forward Brynn Shoup-Hill (23) during the second quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

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Illinois Fighting Illini

In three seasons at the head of the Illinois women's basketball team, Shauna Green has breathed life into a program that had been on life support. Now 63-35 as the Illini coach, Green last season helped Illinois set the second-best season attendance mark (84,437) in program history and led the school to its first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years.

After more or less starting from scratch when she arrived in Champaign in 2022, Green has something close to another blank slate heading into 2025-26. Junior guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger and sophomore forward Berry Wallace are Illinois' most experienced returners, and each came off the bench last season before injuries forced them into more prominent roles.

Injuries have become an agonizingly persistent issue for the Illini, who have already lost four-star freshmen Manuella Alves (ACL tear) and Erica Finney (knee surgery) for the season. But a loaded recruiting class that also included Illinois Ms. Basketball and Gatorade Player of the Year Destiny Jackson, fellow top-100 freshmen Cearah Parchment and Naomi Benson, and Iowa transfer Aaliyah Guyton ensure Green will have more depth to work with in 2025-26.

Here's more information on Thursday's exhibition game.

How to watch Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Maryville Saints

  • Who: Illinois Fighting Illini women vs. Maryville Saints (1-0 in exhibitions)
  • What: First exhibition game for Illinois; second exhibition for Maryville
  • When: Thursday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. ET
  • Where: State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois
  • Promotion: Halloween Game; free admission for kids 12 and under wearing a costume
  • TV/streaming: B1G+ (Annual pass: $89.99; Monthly pass: $12.99/month. Use code "BESTDEAL50" for 50 percent off an annual pass. To purchase a subscription, click here. For more information, visit bigtenplus.com.)
  • Radio/audio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (Champaign: WDWS 93.9 FM or 1400 AM); Fighting Illini Productions; Varsity Network App
  • Last season: Illinois went 22-10 overall and finished fifth out of 18 teams in the Big Ten with an 11-7 conference record in coach Shauna Green's third season in Champaign. The Illini won their first-round NCAA Tournament game – the program's first in 25 years – after winning the inaugural 2024 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) a year earlier. Illinois enters this season with a heralded group of freshman that espnW ranked No. 7 in its class of 2025 recruiting rankings.
  • Series history: Illinois has played exhibitions in the past against Division II Maryville, though no official record is available through either program. Current Illinois women's director of basketball operations Maya Solomon, a former captain and four-year varsity letterwinner (2014-18) for Maryville, played for Saints coach Chris Ellis, now in his 15th season with the program.

What to know about Maryville

The knee-jerk reaction to this matchup, understandably, would be to note the home exhibition (always cushy, right?) and Maryville's Division II status and expect a 40-minute walkover to help the Illini stretch their legs before the official start of the regular season. You would be wrong.

The Saints just pulled a significant overtime upset of the SEC's Missouri in Columbia. A fluke? Are 11 second-half threes a fluke? Also, Maryville – located in St. Louis and a longtime D2 force under Chris Ellis – has made something of a habit of knocking off Division I opponents recently (including St. Louis and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville).

Illinois' injuries and youth make this a particularly dangerous matchup under the circumstances, especially if last season's Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Lindsey Schadewalt (23 points and three three-pointers against Mizzou) gets loose. But Green's outfits are built on defense, and last season the Illini led the Big Ten in three-point defense (both makes and percentage). Maryville is by no means an automatic 'W,' but Illinois has the level of talent and formula to avoid becoming the Saints' next upset victim.

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Jason Langendorf
JASON LANGENDORF

Jason Langendorf has covered Illinois basketball, football and more for Illinois on SI since October 2024, and has covered Illini sports – among other subjects – for 30 years. A veteran of ESPN and Sporting News, he has published work in The Guardian, Vice, Chicago Sun-Times and many other outlets. He is currently also the U.S. editor at BoxingScene and a judge for the annual BWAA writing awards. He can be followed and reached on X and Bluesky @JasonLangendorf.

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