Jan. 17, 2000
Box Score
Postgame Audio
Illinois Head Coach Theresa Grentz
Michigan Head Coach Sue Guevara
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Martin Luther King once delivered his "I Have a Dream"
speech. Monday on the day the nation celebrated his birthday, the Illini
wished they were dreaming. Michigan came into Assembly Hall and did what few
teams have done, hand No. 12 Illinois a double-digit home loss to the tune
of 86-69. Michigan (12-4, 4-1) moves ahead of Illinois into second place in
the Big Ten standings as a result.
As the score would indicate, there were few positives for Illinois.
Senior Tauja Catchings tried to keep her team in it with 23 points and six
rebounds. Also the Illini committed just 10 turnovers to Michigan's 21,
while limiting the Big Ten's steals leader, Stacey Thomas, to just one steal
on the afternoon. Allison Curtin and Susan Blauser added 15 and 14 points,
respectively.
That was about all the good news for Illinois. The Illini fell behind,
7-1, and led just once in the game - at 27-26 following a pair of Blauser
free throws. From that point on, Michigan went on a 13-4 run to close the
half and go into intermission with a 39-31 cushion. It got worse. A Stacey
Thomas three-pointer made it 50-37 with 16:07 left.
Still the 6,438 fans in attendance have seen Illinois make runs before. It
wouldn't happen Monday. The lead reached 18 on a pair of free throws from
Michigan's LeeAnn Bies (16 points, 12 rebounds). The Illini never got closer
than 16 points from there.
The loss was the worst at home in Theresa Grentz' five years, and the
largest margin of defeat in Champaign since an 81-63 loss to Purdue on Jan.
6, 1995. Illinois lost two of the battles it normally wins. For only the
sixth in 20 games, an opponent got to the line more than the Illini.
Michigan was 19 of 23, while the Illini were 14 of 20. In those six games,
Illinois is 1-5. Also for only the sixth time this year, a team
out-rebounded Illinois as the Wolverines led 47-30 in that category.
Illinois is 2-4 when that happens.
The Illini, which have hit some deadly three-pointers this year, shot just
.083 (1 of 12) from the arc compared to Michigan's 7 of 17. Even the
Wolverines' Raina Goodlow made a trey.
Illinois (14-6, 4-2) has two days of practice to regroup prior to Thursday's
game at No. 19 Purdue.
