CHAMPAIGN (WCIA) — Illinois women’s basketball (1-0) was without Makira Cook on opening night against Morehead State (0-1), but the rest of the Illini were able to step up and secure an 81-61 win.

Cook left the Illini’s lone exhibition game against Truman State and has been day-to-day since. Senior guard Genesis Bryant helped fill that scoring hold going 12-15 from the field with a game-high 32 points.

“It’s our first game and we played a lot of different line-ups that we haven’t played,” head coach Shauna Green said. “We’re gonna take this, this is a really good learning experience.”

“Makira holds a lot of weight on this team and with her going down like that it’s just next woman up,” Bryant said. “Everyone just gotta step up and play a bigger role.”

Next up, Illinois will travel to Milwaukee to take on Marquette on Saturday, Nov. 11. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.