Northwestern University Athletics
Sunday, February 22
Evanston, Ill.
2 p.m. CT
Northwestern
8-19,2-14Big Ten
65
vs
92
Illinois
19-8,9-7Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Illinois
27
30
20
15
92
Northwestern
17
16
14
18
65
Photo by: Mary Grace Grabill/Northwestern Athletics
Thomas Scores 25 Points In 92-65 Setback To Illinois
2/22/2026 4:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Sophomore forward leads all scorers
EVANSTON, Ill. (February 22, 2026) — In its penultimate regular season home game of the 2025-26 campaign, Northwestern fell to in-state rival Illinois, 92-65, on Sunday afternoon inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.
"We had the shot to beat them at the buzzer at Illinois, [but] they took us out tonight," head coach Joe McKeown said. "We tried to press, we tried to mix things up, but we just couldn't turn them over and get easy baskets. We had to work for everything."
Sophomore forward Tayla Thomas scored a game-high 25 points and corralled six rebounds, but the Wildcats (8-19, 2-14 Big Ten) couldn't overcome a stellar perimeter shooting display from the Fighting Illini (19-8, 9-7 Big Ten).
Thomas has scored in double figures in 11 contests this season. She eclipsed the 20-point mark for the first time in conference play.
Gallery: (2-22-2026) Women's Basketball vs. Illinois
"We had some silver linings," McKeown said. "Tayla today, I thought she played one of her best games since she's been here. She looked to score, looked to give us a lot of hard-nosed play. That will carry over. We have a big week, and we'll go from there."
Senior forward Grace Sullivan tallied 13 points and three rebounds. Sullivan has scored at least 10 points in every Big Ten game this season.
Joining Thomas and Sullivan in double-figures, sophomore guard Xamiya Walton recorded 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Walton canned both of her attempts from three-point range and added two assists.
Senior guard Caroline Lau, the NCAA Division I assist leader, ran the floor with six assists on Sunday. Lau is 24 helpers shy of matching Nancy Kennelly's single-season program record of 252 assists.
In a display of unselfish basketball, upwards of 70 percent of Northwestern's buckets came off assists.
"We need to learn from what just happened, but our next focus is Maryland," Sullivan said. "We can recenter ourselves and focus on the next goal. I don't think we need to dwell too much, but obviously need to learn."
The Wildcats will return to action on the road at No. 14 Maryland on Wednesday, February 25. Tip-off from XFINITY Center in College Park, Md. is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT.
"We had the shot to beat them at the buzzer at Illinois, [but] they took us out tonight," head coach Joe McKeown said. "We tried to press, we tried to mix things up, but we just couldn't turn them over and get easy baskets. We had to work for everything."
Sophomore forward Tayla Thomas scored a game-high 25 points and corralled six rebounds, but the Wildcats (8-19, 2-14 Big Ten) couldn't overcome a stellar perimeter shooting display from the Fighting Illini (19-8, 9-7 Big Ten).
Thomas has scored in double figures in 11 contests this season. She eclipsed the 20-point mark for the first time in conference play.
"We had some silver linings," McKeown said. "Tayla today, I thought she played one of her best games since she's been here. She looked to score, looked to give us a lot of hard-nosed play. That will carry over. We have a big week, and we'll go from there."
Senior forward Grace Sullivan tallied 13 points and three rebounds. Sullivan has scored at least 10 points in every Big Ten game this season.
Joining Thomas and Sullivan in double-figures, sophomore guard Xamiya Walton recorded 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Walton canned both of her attempts from three-point range and added two assists.
Senior guard Caroline Lau, the NCAA Division I assist leader, ran the floor with six assists on Sunday. Lau is 24 helpers shy of matching Nancy Kennelly's single-season program record of 252 assists.
In a display of unselfish basketball, upwards of 70 percent of Northwestern's buckets came off assists.
"We need to learn from what just happened, but our next focus is Maryland," Sullivan said. "We can recenter ourselves and focus on the next goal. I don't think we need to dwell too much, but obviously need to learn."
The Wildcats will return to action on the road at No. 14 Maryland on Wednesday, February 25. Tip-off from XFINITY Center in College Park, Md. is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT.
Team Stats
Illini
NU
FG%
.500
.457
3FG%
.667
.455
FT%
.833
.818
RB
39
21
TO
10
16
STL
8
4
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
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