CHAMPAIGN -- Shauna Green remarked after her Illinois women's basketball team's win last Wednesday night against Western Kentucky the Illini coach wasn't sure the last time one of her teams had 13 steals in a game.
How about 10 steals for one player, coach?
Cearah Parchment made that happen on Sunday afternoon against Le Moyne before an announced crowd of 3,994 fans at State Farm Center. The 6-foot-3 freshman forward had 10 steals, which tied former Illini guard Shavonna Hunter for a single-game program record, and Illinois had 22 steals as a team with the Illini easily cruising to a 100-28 victory against the Dolphins.
Parchment was also the second Illinois player in program history with a points-steals double-double (Hunter was also the first) as the Whitby, Ontario, native also finished with 17 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting in an impressive 24 minutes on the floor.
"I mean, I wasn't going into the game thinking like, 'I'm going to be really active in the gaps,'" Parchment said. "I just did what I usually did, but I think after a while, after I got a few steals, I was like, 'Oh, OK, they're not being very secure with the ball, so I think I can have way more.' I just kept going for them."
That the Illini (6-1) followed up the 13 steals they had against WKU and nearly doubled up that production in a 72-point victory over Le Moyne (1-6) might be a new wrinkle to the defense that Green's team can play this season.
One that is different than in years past, where Green hasn't emphasized steals as a main tenet of the way her teams defend.
"I'll take it. I'll take 22 steals. That leads to a lot of easy buckets," the Illinois fourth-year coach said. "It also has motivated them -- it's fuel for them -- like, 'OK, if we're in our gaps and we're active and we're working hard, then man, we get those easy ones.' I think this team, we're different this year. I was just talking about this with our (coaching staff). We are different. We're a lot faster. We obviously are deeper.
"So, we can be a little more active. We can get in those passing lanes. None of our principles have changed and our philosophy hasn't changed. But we're able to be a little bit more handsy. We're longer. To be able to get some of those deflections, they end up being steals. I'm seeing some things that maybe we can do a little more of and be a little more aggressive in certain areas because of the past few games."
That -- on top of how Illinois has defended on the ball -- has arrived at a good time for a new-look and much younger Illini team that is growing into its own now one month into the 2025-26 season.
Another indication of that came on Sunday with Illinois holding the Dolphins to 22.9 percent shooting -- and under 10 points in all four quarters.
"We have just been doing a really good job of playing together," sophomore forward Berry Wallace said. "I think Coach is always talking about being in our gaps and making sure we're on the rim line being in help for each other. So, I think just being in the right position will ultimately lead to us getting more steals and the ball pretty much falling into our hands."
That seemed like it was the case against Le Moyne for Parchment, who six steals in the first quarter alone, with the lengthy forward jumping into passing lanes.
But more importantly was the fact Parchment did so without fouling, which has been an issue early on for the first-year women's college basketball player.
Parchment didn't have any such trouble on Sunday with two fouls.
"CeCe is just so versatile," Green said. "She can do so many different things. You know, finally, (this) was the one night that she wasn't in foul trouble. She can score inside. She can score off the bounce. She's getting steals. She's getting rebounds. She can hit threes. I think this team that's what I love about us so much is that versatility. It's hard just to take away one thing with these guys because they can score at all three levels."
That was evident with six different players hitting double figures, led by Parchment, of course, but Wallace added 17 points and four rebounds and Maddie Webber continued to shine off the bench for the Illini in contributing 15 points, three rebounds, three assists,two steals and one blocked shot.
Even if Parchment was the clear-cut star with her complete performance.
A big deal as one of two Illinois freshman starters for the Illini alongside point guard Destiny Jackson, who again turned in a solid floor game with 10 points,eight assists,four rebounds and two steals(with only two turnovers).
"I think it's just important to know to just do what your best at -- whether it's getting rebounds,whether it's steals or scoring," Parchment said."Doing what your role is.I think for me and Destiny it's just doing what you do well."