Dec. 28, 2008

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Illinois led most of the way, but couldn't hold in for the victory in a 54-51 defeat to Penn State Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan center in University Park, Pa. Juniors Jenna Smith and Lacey Simpson each had double-doubles for the Orange and Blue, as Smith poured in 23 points and had 12 rebounds and Simpson finished with 10 points and 12 boards, but it wasn't enough as the Lady Lions overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to pull the game out in the final minute.

Illinois (4-9, 0-2) left by eight at half and by as many as 12 early in the second half, 35-23, with 18:54 left. The Illini still led by five, 48-43, with less than seven minutes to play, but Penn State made a run and tied the game at 48. A three-point play by Smith on the Illini's next possession put the Illini up 51-48 with 5:16 to go. Those would be their final points, however, as PSU took its first lead since the early minutes on a free throw by Mashea Williams with 1:06 to play, and then PSU center Janessa Wolff banked in a 15-footer to put the hosts up 54-51 with 39 seconds left.

Illinois had a chance to tie it in the final seconds. After timeout with 4.7 seconds left, Smith came open at the top of the key, but her three-point attempt was just short. Simpson grabbed the offensive rebound and raced out behind the arc, but her desperation three at the buzzer and that was off as well.

"I got what I wanted on the last shot," Law said of the final seconds. "Jenna popped off a screen out to the top of the key and I'll gamble on her shot everyday. I see it every day in practice and I'm confident she can knock it down."

Illinois had 11 second-half turnovers, including four in the final 2:16 of the game that proved to be costly. The Illini also shot just 29 percent in the second half after hitting 48 percent from the field in the first.

"In the first half, we did what we needed to do offensively and got good looks, but in the second half we became individuals," Law said. "We didn't make the extra pass and execute our offense and that led to some critical turnovers down the stretch that Penn State was able to capitalize on."

After falling behind 9-6 in the early going, the Illini took control of the first half with a 10-0 run to take a 16-9 lead midway through the half. Illinois would extend the lead to eight at the break, 31-23, behind 14 points and seven boards by Smith. The Orange and Blue defense held Penn State (6-6, 1-1) to 31 percent from the field in the first half.

After taking the lead at the 12:16 mark of the first half, the Illini didn't trail again until 1:06 remained in the game. The Illini were looking for their first win at Penn State since the 1997-98 season, while Lady Lions picked up their first Big Ten win in their last 14 conference games. Tyra Grant led Penn State with 21 points, but was held to just six in the second half.

Smith's double-double was the 25th of her career and she has now scored in double figures in 21 straight games and in 49 of the last 50 overall. Simpson's double-double was the seventh of her career. Both Smith and Simpson pulled down five offensive boards en route to their 12 overall rebounds. They were the only two Illini to reach double figures in scoring, as redshirt freshman Lydia McCully finished with eight points and senior Chelsea Gordon with five.

With her 23 points, Smith moved past the 1,200-point barrier and into 16th on the UI career scoring list, passing Lisa Bradley. Smith now has 1,213 career points and is just two away from cracking the top-15 on the Illinois list.

The Illini will return home for a pair of Big Ten games to ring in the New Year. On New Year's Day, Illinois will host Wisconsin at 7 p.m., and then two days later on Jan. 3, the Illini will try to "Pack the Hall" for the CBS game against Minnesota at 11 a.m. Free tickets for "Pack the Hall" are available at the UI Athletic Ticket Office, WDWS/WHMS Radio, the News-Gazette or both GameDay Spirit locations.