CHAMPAIGN — Alex Wittinger took an elbow to the nose in the first quarter while battling for a rebound.
The evidence was the cotton balls that were in her nostrils for the final three minutes of the opening quarter.
But, after a sprained right ankle kept Wittinger out for the entire second half of last Thursday's 72-50 loss at Purdue, it was going to take more than a bloody nose to prevent the 6-foot-2 senior forward on the Illinois women's basketball team from returning Sunday against Wisconsin.
Why? Well, the Badgers had no answers for Wittinger, who scored 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting and added 12 rebounds and three blocks, to carry the Illini to a 78-68 victory over Wisconsin in front of 1,844 fans at State Farm Center, ending Illinois' seasonlong nine game losing streak.