CHAMPAIGN, Ill.  –  No. 17 Maryland rolled past Illinois, 79-60, Thursday night at the State Farm Center. The Terrapins (15-4, 6-2 B1G) picked up their fourth straight win.
 
Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Kaila Charles led the way with 20 points. She went 8-for-10 from the free throw line and added nine boards. Shakira Austin scored 14 points and Sara Vujacic hit three three-pointers to finish 11 points off the bench.
 
"This was definitely a game of runs," head coach Brenda Frese said. "I thought we punched early with a 10-0 start, but I thought with Illinois, you can see where they're building. They played for 40 minutes and they never gave in. Kaila was Kaila. She was sensational – drawing fouls, getting to the free throw line, being aggressive."
 
Charles scored the Terrapins' first six points as they opened an 8-0 lead to force an Illinois timeout just under 3:00 minutes in. A bucket by Austin made it a 10-0 lead before the Illini (10-9, 1-7) got on the board. The Terrapins led 22-11 at the end of the first quarter, thanks to 10 points from Charles.
 
Vujacic hit two of her threes in the second quarter to help the Terrapins take a 40-27 advantage into halftime.
 
A jumper by Austin with 6:04 left in the fourth quarter put the Terps up 20 at 69-49.
 
Maryland outrebounded Illinois, 52-35 and scored 38 points in the paint to the Illini's 16.
 
Ali Andrews led Illinois with 20 points and Petra Holesinska scored 14
 
Maryland owns the all-time series over Illinois, 11-0.
 
Charles became the ninth Terp to reach the 1,800-career points mark in Thursday's game. She currently has 851 career rebounds. She is one of just six Terrapins to be in the top 10 in the Maryland record books in scoring and rebounds, joining Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones, Marissa Coleman, Vicky Bullett and Crystal Langhorne.
 
Charles has started in all 122 games of her career. She has a chance to break Alyssa Thomas' record of 135 career games started.
 
Senior Blair Watson was named to the Naismith Womens Defensive Player of the Year midseason watch list Thursday.
 
Next, Maryland will return home to host No. 22/25 Northwestern (17-2, 7-1) Sunday at 1 p.m. at the XFINITY Center. For tickets, click here.
 
The Terrapins will be celebrating National Girls & Women in Sports Day at Sunday's game. The first 200 kids at the game can receive a free t-shirt at the marketing table by Gate B. Fans can also participate in a NGWSD photobooth on the concourse.
 
The Terps-Wildcats game will be streamed online through BTN Plus. Fans can watch with their BTN Plus subscriptions.