University of Illinois
Southern
November 6, 2026 | Women's Basketball
Preview
| #23/22 Illinois (1-0) vs. Southern (0-1) | |
|---|---|
| Date | Time | Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 | 2 p.m. CT |
| Location | Champaign, Ill. | State Farm Center |
| Tickets | Single Game | Season |
| Promotions | B1G Champions 30-Year Reunion | Alumni Game | Digital Program |
| Live Stream | B1G+ | B1G+ App | WATCH |
| Radio | Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Listen | Varsity Network App |
| Live Stats | StatBroadcast |
| 2026-27 Stats | Illinois | Southern |
| Game Notes | Illinois | Southern |
| Availability/Interviews | Postgame Press Conference (11/4/26) | YouTube Playlist |
| Shop | Online Store | Auctions |
| Social Media | @IlliniWBB  | @IlliniWBB  | Facebook  | YouTube  | Fighting Illini App  |
COACH GREEN
Career Record: 242-122 (.665), 13th season
Division I Record: 213-97 (.687), 11th season
At Illinois: 86-47 (.647), Fifth season
Big Ten Record: 39-33 (.542), Fifth season
THE NEXT WIN WOULD...
- Move Green's career record to 243-122 in 13 seasons
- Move Green's DI record to 214-97 in 11 seasons
- Move Green's Illinois record to 87-47
- Improve Green to 53-15 in games at State Farm Center
- Improve Green to 38-7 in regular season nonconference games
- Move Illinois to 3-0 all-time vs. Southern
- Improve Shauna Green to 2-0 all-time vs. Southern
- Give Illinois WBB an all-time record of 733-787
LIVE STREAM
Fans unable to attend Saturday's game can watch Illinois vs. Southern online by purchasing a subscription to B1G+, a streaming service of non-televised events produced by the Big Ten Network in partnership with the Big Ten Conference schools.
Fans who sign up can choose either the monthly rate of $12.99 or the annual rate of $89.99. The B1G+ subscription includes access to live streaming of non-televised games, next day on-demand archives, and access to Big Ten Network's library of Illinois' previous season classics and originals.
OPENING TIP
No. 23/22 Illinois faces Southern on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 2 p.m. CT in State Farm Center. Action will be on B1G+ with Ella Peterson (pxp), Genesis Bryant (color), and Jeremy Linardatos (sideline) on the call.
Mike Koon (PxP) and Kendall Bostic (analyst) will call the action for the Illini on the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (1400 AM/93.9 FM). The pregame show will start 30 minutes prior to tipoff. Streaming, audio, and stats links are also available at FightingIllini.com/WBB.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Southern went 20-14 overall last season and 12-6 in SWAC play. The Jaguars enter their ninth season under head coach Carlos Funchess in 2026-27. Southern was picked to repeat as the SWAC champion in the preseason coaches poll. They opened their season Monday night with an 81-39 loss at No. 22/19 Oklahoma State before making the trip to Champaign.
ALL-TIME SERIES INFO
Illinois and Southern will square off for the third all-time meeting on Saturday with all three taking place in Champaign. The Illini lead the series 2-0. Green's squad took down SU 69-57 during the 2024-25 campaign. The initial meeting between the sides occurred in 2014, with Illinois earning a 62-42 win.
SEASON OPENERS
Illinois has seen continued success in season-opening matchups, posting an 18-4 record in its previous 22 season openers. Under coach Shauna Green, the Illini have gone 5-0 in those outings. This season, Illinois used a second-half surge to secure an 84-50 victory over Detroit Mercy on Nov. 4
Green is 10-1 in season openers in her 11 years as a Division I head coach, winning 10 straight.
PRESEASON RANKING
For the second time under head coach Shauna Green, Illinois women's basketball is ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Poll. The Fighting Illini come in at No. 23, matching their 2023-24 ranking under Green.
Prior to the ranking ahead of Green's second season at the helm of the Orange and Blue, Illinois had not appeared in an AP Preseason Top-25 Poll since the 1999-2000 campaign.
The 2026-27 season marks the fifth time in program history that Illinois has appeared in the AP Preseason Poll. Prior to this year, the Illini had appeared ahead of the 1997-98 (No. 7), 1998-99 (No. 25), 1999-2000 (No. 12), and 2023-24 (No. 23) campaigns – with the first four occurrences coming under Hall of Fame head coach Theresa Grentz.
Illinois has now appeared in an AP Top-25 poll at some point during the season all five years under Green. The Illini have been ranked in 12 combined AP polls under Green. In 2022-23, the Illini appeared in four Top-25 polls, followed by the preseason rankings in 2023-24, five weeks across 2024-25, on Jan. 12, 2026, and most recently in the 2025-26 preseason ratings.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 23/22 Illinois used a big second half to secure an 84-50 season-opening victory over Detroit Mercy at State Farm Center on Wednesday night. The Fighting Illini outscored the Titans by a 48-18 margin over the final 20 minutes, while three Orange and Blue scorers finished in double figures. Illinois won the rebounding battle, 53-23, and blocked seven Titan shots.
Berry Wallace opened the year with the second double-double of her career, scoring 21 points while tying her career-high with 11 rebounds. Grabbing five offensive boards, Wallace also added two assists and two steals. Cearah Parchment posted a 20-point double-double of her own, collecting 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field and corralling 11 rebounds. She made a career-high four blocks and notched a steal.
The contest marked the 100th career game that senior Maddie Webber played in between her time at Villanova and Illinois.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
In Illinois' 2026-27 season-opening win, Cearah Parchment (22 points, 11 rebounds) and Berry Wallace (21 points, 11 rebounds) became the first Illini teammates to post 20-point double-doubles (20+ points, 10+ rebounds) in the same game since Feb. 10, 2013, vs. Minnesota, when Adrienne GodBold (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Karisma Penn (22 points, 11 rebounds) did so.
Parchment and Wallace are the first Big Ten teammates to achieve that feat since March 8, 2025, when USC's Kiki Iriafen (25 points, 11 rebounds) and JuJu Watkins (20 points, 11 rebounds) did so against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
FOUR YEARS UNDER COACH GREEN
Illinois' 85 wins through Green's first four seasons are the second-most in a four-year span while also marking the most by a head coach in their first four years with the Orange and Blue. Across that period, Illinois is 51-15 at home under Green, and the program has secured double-digit wins in four straight seasons for the first time in program history. The Illini won 11 consecutive games from Nov. 18, 2025-Jan. 1, 2026, a new single-season program record despite being the youngest team in the Big Ten and third-youngest Power 4 team in the country.
THE RETURN
Envied by many, the Illinois staff has done a remarkable job with roster retention year after year. From the 2025-26 squad, 11 of 14 players with remaining eligibility returned to Illinois for the 2026-27 campaign. In terms of production, that equates to the top nine scorers as well as 99.27% of points scored, 97.65% of minutes played, and 100% of games started.
HOME ATTENDANCE NUMBERS
2022-23: Across 15 home games, Illinois Women's Basketball saw 52,295 fans fill the State Farm Center en route to a 12-3 record. That total attendance ranked fifth in program history and made Shauna Green the only head coach to bring in 50,000 or more fans in her first season with the Illini.
2023-24: In Illinois' season - and home - opener, the attendance of 2,680 marked the largest ticketed season-opening crowd at State Farm Center since 2000 (3,954). In the Illini's 17 home games, Illinois finished with a combined attendance of 63,242 for an average of 3,720 a game. 63,242 is now the fifth-best all-time attendance.
2024-25: Illinois' season average finished at 4,967 per game across 17 home regular-season contests. The Illini went 14-3 at State Farm Center. Illinois' total attendance of 84,437 during the 2024-25 campaign ranked second-best in a season in program history.
2025-26: Illinois' first attendance of 4,227 was the largest crowd at a home opener since 1997-98 (8,275). A crowd of 14,361 was called for Field Trip Day, the third-largest mark in program history, and largest ever for both Field Trip Day and a non-conference game. The Feb. 8 game vs. USC was sold out, with all 15,544 tickets purchased to mark the third sellout in program history in SFC and first under Shauna Green. The average attendance finished at 5,766, the third-best mark in program history. The total attendance of 98,014 is the second-highest mark ever.
A FAMILIAR FACE
On May 26, 2026, Coach Green announced the hiring of Simon Harris as an assistant coach. Harris also worked under Green from 2016-18 at Dayton, and both were assistants on Dayton's 2014-15 Elite Eight coaching staff.
Most recently, Harris returned to NC State for his second stint as an assistant coach during the 2025-26 campaign. Prior to that, Harris joined the Loyola Chicago staff as an assistant coach from 2023-25. Harris spent the 2021-22 campaign at ETSU, where he was the head coach.
Harris served as an assistant coach at Ohio State from 2020-21 following his first stint at NC State from 2018-20. From 2014-18, the Pittsburgh, Pa., native worked with the Dayton women's program after spending 2011-14 on the men's side.
During his time at UD, he crossed paths with Shauna Green and Calamity McEntire.
