Nov. 7, 2004
Box Score
CHAMPAIGN, ILL. - The Illinois offense came out firing on all cylinders in Sunday's exhibition opener against BK Poprad in front of 749 fans at Assembly Hall. The Illini shot a sizzling .619 from the field en route to a 114-74 victory over the visitors from Slovakia. Senior Angelina Williams led the way, scoring 30 points on 12-16 shooting, including 5-6 from three-point range, while also pulling down six rebounds.
The guests jumped on top, 7-2, in the opening minutes, but Theresa Grentz's Fighting Illini squad stormed back with a 23-4 run over the next six minutes to break the game open and would never look back. The Orange and Blue cruised to a 52-39 halftime lead thanks to hot shooting (.586 from the field, .571 from 3pt.-land and .933 from the line) and double-digit scoring efforts from Williams (11), Tiffanie Guthrie (11) and Brittney Daugherty (10).
In the second half, Illinois came out even hotter than they were in the first. The Illini hit 22 of 34 shots after break en route to 62 points. Williams scored 19 of those 62 to close the game with 30. The UI defense also stepped up in the second half, holding Poprad to .361 (13-36) shooting, including just .286 (2-7) from behind the arc.
In addition to Williams, several other Illini had impressive stat lines. Guthrie finished with 23 points, four rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Janelle Hughes hit 6-8 shots for 18 points and also dished out six of Illinois' 20 assists. Daugherty nearly recorded a double-double with 11 points and eight boards, including perfect 3-3 shooting from the field. Sophomore post-player Audrey Tabon had a breakout game with 13 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Danyel Crutcher pulled down nine boards.
For the game, Illinois hit 39 of 63 (.619) total shots, 9 of 15 (.600) from behind the arc and 27 of 33 (.818) from the charity stripe. The Illini dominated the glass, pulling down 45 boards to Poprad's 26.
The news wasn't all good for the Illini though. Freshman Megan Nyquist left the game in the second half with a knee injury. The severity of the injury is unknown at this point. Senior guard Jeré Issenmann sat out the game as a precaution after suffering a concussion in the Orange and Blue Scrimmage last Tuesday night.
Up Next
The Illini will host the Ohio Girls Basketball Review on Monday, Nov. 15 in the second of two exhibition contests this preseason. They will open the regular season at Assembly Hall on Nov. 20 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
