Nov. 27, 2004
Final Stats
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Illinois completed its two-game east coast road swing 2-0 Saturday with an 81-55 victory over St. Peter's College at the Yanitelli Center. Illinois (3-0) struggled early on, but was able to find a groove in the second half to pull away from the Peahens. Senior Angelina Williams led the way with 19 points, four rebounds and three steals, including two that led directly to lay-ups in a key run midway through the second stanza.
Seniors Tiffanie Guthrie (18 points) and Jere Issenmann (10 points) also came up big for the Orange and Blue, as did freshman Danyel Crutcher, who is from nearby Orange, New Jersey. Crutcher delighted the over 50 friends and family that came to cheer her on with a 12 point, nine rebound, four block performance. Junior point guard Maggie Acuna did not score, but contributed six rebounds, five assists and five steals to the Illinois cause.
The Orange and Blue were sluggish out of the gates, as the hosts jumped out a 13-8 lead in the opening minutes. Illinois battled back to take a 20-19 lead with 6:27 to go on a three-point play by junior Brittany Daugherty, who returned to action Saturday after missing the last two games with a knee injury. Illinois would extend the lead to 34-27 by halftime.
The Peahens came out fired-up in the second half and closed to within 41-38 at the 16-minute mark, but it would be all Illinois from there. The Illini broke the game open with a 9-0 run, six of those by Williams, to push the lead to 50-38. Minutes later with the score 64-48 in favor of the Illini, Williams would intercept two straight St. Peter's passes at mid-court and cruise in for easy lay-ups to put the game away.
Illinois did not hit a three-point field goal in four attempts, but made-up for it with a whopping 44-12 advantage in points-in-the-paint and a 39-9 edge in bench scoring. A big key was also free throw shooting. Illinois, who entered the day shooting .714 for the season, hit 31-34 from the charity stripe for a .912 clip.
Illinois shot 25-52 (.481) from the field, including 13-22 (.591) in the second half, while holding the Peahens to just 17-56 (.304) shooting for the game. Illinois also controlled the glass for the third straight game, pulling down 39 rebounds to St. Peter's 31.
Next, the Illini will travel north to face Wisconsin-Green Bay on Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.
