Ellis sparks Purdue to 62-52 win at No. 22 Illinois

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Adalia McKenzie with the and-1 for Illinois

Adalia McKenzie with the and-1 for Illinois

January 26, 2023

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- — Abby Ellis scored 16 points and Jeanae Terry grabbed 14 rebounds and Purdue built a 10-point first-half cushion and maintained it the rest of the way in posting a 62-52 upset of No. 22 Illinois in a Big Ten Conference battle on Thursday.

The Boilermakers notched their first win over a ranked opponent on the road and now are 4-2 against the Illini when they are ranked and 65-18 against Illinois overall.

Ellis hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the first quarter to help the Boilermakers build a 16-11 advantage after a quarter and they doubled it in the second, taking a 35-25 lead at intermission.

Ellis hit 6 of 9 from the field, including 2 of 4 from the distance, and grabbed six rebounds to help lead Purdue (14-6, 5-5 Big Ten). Terry hit 5 of 11 from the field and had four assists and four steals to go with her season-high 14 rebounds and 10 points. Caitlyn Harper added 10 points.

Makira Cook was 8 of 24 from the field, including 1 of 8 from distance, to lead Illinois (16-5, 6-4) with 19 points. Genesis Bryant finished with 11 points, Brynn Shoup-Hill had 10 points and Kendall Bostic grabbed 10 rebounds to go with her five points.

Purdue continues its stretch of three-straight games against ranked opponents when it takes on No. 2 Ohio State Sunday before playing host to No. 6 Indiana February 5.

Illinois plays host to Michigan State on Sunday.

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AP women’s college basketball:

https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP--Top25