McKenzie, Cook score 20 apiece to help Illinois defeat No. 19 Florida State women 83-74

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Adalia McKenzie and Makira Cook each scored 20 points and Kendall Bostic scored 14 of her 18 points in the first half Thursday night to help Illinois beat No. 19 Florida State 83-74.

Florida State made just 3 of 16 from the field and committed six turnovers to open the game as Illinois jumped to a 16-6 lead. Bostic was 6-of-6 shooting before the break as Illinois led by as many as 17 points before taking a 43-34 lead into halftime.

Makayla Timpson made a jumper that cut Florida State’s deficit to five points with just under six minutes to play but Cook answered with a layup. McKenzie followed with an offensive rebound and putback to make it 74-55 with 4:33 remaining and the Seminoles got no closer.

Ta’Niya Latson scored 27 points and Timpson had 22 and 14 rebounds for Florida State (1-1), which set a single-game program record for points in its opener, beating North Florida 119-49. O’Mariah Gordon added 14 points on 6-of-22 shooting. Sydney Bowles, a transfer from Texas A&M who was named to the SEC All-Freshman team and led the Aggies with 52 made 3s in 2022-23.

McKenzie combined with Bostic to make 16 of 21 from the field and grab 13 rebounds. Gretchen Dolan scored 11 for Illinois (1-0).

Illinois, which beat Villanova in last season’s WBIT championship game, returns four of five starters — Cook, Genesis Bryant, McKenzie and Bostic — along with 2022-23 starter Brynn Shoup-Hill and freshman Berry Wallace, a five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American. Shoup-Hill grabbed 10 rebounds to go with five points and two blocks. Berry made her debut in the first quarter and returned in the third but did not record any statistics in three total minutes.

Florida State, which went 23-11 last season including a 12-6 mark in ACC play, brought back 75% of its scoring production from a year ago as well as 82% of their rebounds.

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