Nov. 15, 2004

Final Stats

Illinois' women's basketball team closed its exhibition season with a 62-45 win over the Ohio Girls Basketball Report Legends Monday night in front of nearly 1,000 fans at the Assembly Hall. Senior Tiffanie Guthrie led the Fighting Illini with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while freshman forward Danyel Crutcher gave the Illini an inside presence, scoring 11 points and grabbing five rebounds.

The Orange and Blue never trailed and used a 9-0 run in the middle of the first half to distance themselves from the Legends, leading by as many as 14 points in the first half and 30-21 at the break.

Te Legends were able to whittle Illinois' lead to seven with 13:58 to play, but would get no closer as the Fighting Illini went on a 20-9 run over the next 9:36, which was capped by back-to-back three pointers by Illini senior Jere Issenmann.

Junior Brittney Daugherty scored nine points and pulled down 12 rebounds before exiting with a knee injury, while junior point guard Maggie Acuna had a solid all-around game directing the Illinois attack, dishing out four assists, grabbing nine rebounds and swiping four steals while playing 33 minutes.

As a team the Illini shot .462 from the field (24-52), including a sparkling .520 in the second half (13-25), while holding the Legends attack to .274 (17-62) from the field and .118 (2-17) from three-point range. Illinois also controlled the glass, pulling down 44 rebounds for a +10 margin over the guests.

Illinois opens its regular season this Saturday at the Assembly Hall vs. Arkansas Pine-Bluff. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.