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3 Things to Watch When Illinois Faces Colorado in the Women's NCAA Tournament

Shauna Green has the seventh-seeded Illini nearing uncharted territory, but they will have to go through the No. 10 Buffaloes to get there
Jared Shlensky|
Feb 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Shauna Green during the third 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 during the third quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Shauna Green took the Illinois women's basketball head coach job four years ago, and so far, she has delivered. The Illini are in the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time in 26 years after Green guided them to a 21-11 mark during the regular season.

Green's Illini even won their first-round game last year as a No. 8 seed, and this year – loaded with freshmen and sophomore contributors – they have earned a seven seed. But Illinois is far from a lock against 10th-seeded Colorado, so here are three things to keep an eye out for in Saturday's game:

Will the Illini's youth finally catch up to them?

Illinois' starting five consists of two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. Typically, that's not ideal for a team looking to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Experience isn't the end-all be-all, but it certainly helps. And one can only wonder if things go south early for the Illini whether they'll be able to overcome a bit of adversity. The good news is, four of the five currently in Illinois' lineup have started every game this season.

Meanwhile, Colorado's starting five consists of two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore. But unlike the Illini, only two of the Buffaloes' starters have started every game. That difference would seem to mitigate Colorado's experience edge.

Can Illinois continue to make its free throws?

Missing free throws can cost any team games – especially in the one-and-done environment of March? But guess what? Making free throws can win games. That tends to be taken for granted and isn't talked about as much as the latter, but the Illini's success at the line this season has won them a lot of games.

Illinois is second in the nation in free-throw shooting (81.5 percent), and they will need to continue to sink their freebies at a strong clip if they're going to climb over Colorado and keep moving in the tourney.

The Buffs aren't nearly as efficient as the Illini at the line, but they're still pretty good as a team at 72.9 percent.

Can Illinois make Colorado shoot the three?

In today's world of basketball – from high school to the pros – everyone seems to love the three-point shot. But not Colorado.

The Buffaloes are one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country (27.6 percent), so the more shots Colorado is forced to settle on from beyond the arc, the better for the Illini.

Illinois might not want to give Colorado a ton of wide-open looks, but making the Buffs shoot the ball from the outside, especially late in the shot clock, isn't necessarily the worst idea, either. If the Illini hold Colorado to a figure somewhere near its season average and then shoot the three as they're capable of on the other end (36.1 percent, No. 16 in the nation), they'll likely lock down a win in their second consecutive NCAA Tournament.

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Jared Shlensky
JARED SHLENSKY

Jared Shlensky is a contributing writer for On SI and a freelance play-by-play broadcaster. Jared was previously a sports betting writer for Yardbarker, an On-Air YouTube Personality for the Sports Geek and a minor league play-by-play broadcaster.

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