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

A win over Vanderbilt would put Illinois in the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1997-1998 season
Jared Shlensky|
Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Shauna Green calls out to her team Friday, March 6, 2026, during a Big Ten women's basketball tournament game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Shauna Green calls out to her team Friday, March 6, 2026, during a Big Ten women's basketball tournament game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. | Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Illinois didn't play its best against Colorado in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but the seventh-seeded Illini (22-11) performed well enough to beat the Buffaloes and advance for the second straight season.

Still, Illinois will have to play much better on Monday against second-seeded Vanderbilt if it is going to have any chance to advance to the Sweet 16 for just the third time in school history. Here are three things to keep an eye out for in Monday's matchup.

1. Can Illinois slow down Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes?

Mikayla Blakes leads the nation in scoring (27.1), which means slowing her down may be the key for the Illini in this game. Of course, that's a lot easier said than done.

Blakes, the reigning SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore this season, dropped 30 points against High Point. She has scored 30 or more points in four of the Commodores' past five games.

Vanderbilt has a solid team and a couple of other really good scorers, but none is nearly as dangerous as Blakes. If Illinois can hold her to under 25 points, the Illini have a legit shot at moving on. But that's a big ask considering Blakes has scored 25-plus points in 10 of Vandy's past 11 games.

2. Can Illinois continue to take care of the ball?

Illinois does a lot of things well as a team – free-throw shooting, facilitating on offense, rebounding – but nothing will be more important on Monday than taking care of the ball. Fortunately for the Illini's sake, they have excelled in that area all season. Illinois has allowed the second-fewest steals per game in the nation (5.2) and ranks 13th in turnovers per game (13.1).

That will need to continue against a Vanderbilt squad that forces more than 20 turnovers a game. The Commodores get after it defensively, and the Illini at times this season have struggled against opponents that are physical and athletic on the ball.

Can Illinois knock down some threes?

Illinois is one of the best three-point shooting teams in women's college basketball, ranking No. 17 out of 359 Division I programs. The Illini are shooting 35.9 percent from deep – but they have struggled from beyond the arc recently.

Illinois hit just four of 14 (28.6 percent) threes against Colorado, and was even worse against Iowa (5-for-22, or 22.7 percent) in the Big Ten Tournament. That won't be enough against Vanderbilt.

The Illini probably need to make at least six threes and shoot no less than 30 percent from beyond the arc on Monday. Otherwise, Illinois is going to have a hard time getting to 70 points, and even that might not be enough to beat Vanderbilt, which ranks seventh in the country in scoring at 85.2 points per game.

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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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