Dec. 4, 2004

Final Stats

RUSTON, La. - Illinois' women's basketball team won a thriller Saturday afternoon at No. 20/21 Louisiana Tech, 71-65. Angelina Williams banked in a three-pointer with 2.7 seconds to play to force overtime and the Illini outscored the Lady Techsters 13-7 in the extra period to capture the victory. With the win, the Fighting Illini improve to 4-1 while Louisiana Tech falls to 3-2.

Louisiana Tech guard Tasha Crain hit a spinning jump shot in the lane with 7.5 seconds remaining to give the Techsters a 58-55 advantage, but Williams took the inbounds pass, dribbled up the court and nailed the game-tying three-pointer from the top of the key. In the overtime period, the Illini hit 5-of-6 shots from the field and 3-of-5 free throws to pull away from the Techsters.

The win snapped a couple of impressive Louisiana Tech streaks. The Lady Techsters had won 161 straight at home over unranked opponents and 30 consecutive overall at the Thomas Assembly Center, which was the second longest streak in the nation. Louisiana Tech entered the game with the best home winning percentage of any team in the NCAA at .945 (413-24).

Tech had not lost a home game against an unranked foe since a 69-54 setback against New Orleans on Jan. 30, 1992.

"This is a big win for us, a team win," head coach Theresa Grentz said. "Everyone contributed something and that's the way you beat a team like Tech on their floor. We did a good job of staying with the game plan and not panicking early on."

Williams led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-25 shooting, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Freshman Danyel Crutcher scored 12 points and had five rebounds while Tiffanie Guthrie added 11 points, six boards, four assists and three blocks and Erin Wigley scored 10 and hauled down five boards.

Commenting on the shot that sent the game into overtime, Williams said, "I didn't call `bank' on it. I was just trying to get up the court and get a 3 as quick as possible, maybe have time for a another shot if I missed, but I was happy the shot went in and it gave us an opportunity in overtime."

The Illini played well defensively, holding the Lady Techsters to 24 percent shooting (19-81) for the game while also blocking nine shots.

Grentz continued, "Wednesday's game was a disappointment, obviously, but we knew the best way to rid ourselves of that disappointment was to play well down here. This is definitely going to give us a confidence boost. We've scared a lot of reams in the past so it feels good to finally pull one out. La. Tech is a good team with a great tradition, not many teams have come in here and gotten a W."

The Fighting Illini are back in action on Tuesday at home against in-state foe, Bradley.