Feb. 7, 2008

Final Stats

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Another one came down to the wire for the Illinois women's basketball team. This time, Minnesota held on for a 61-56 victory Thursday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Illinois had two shots to tie the game with less than a minute left, but late threes by Lacey Simpson and Lori Bjork were off the mark and Minnesota escaped with the win. Bjork led Illinois (13-10, 5-7) with 18 points and Minnesota native Jenna Smith added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Orange and Blue.

It was the sixth time in the last seven Illini games that the final margin was five points or less and that hinged on a possession in the final minute. Illinois is 2-4 in those six games.

The Illini led 50-47 after a jumper by Lacey Simpson at the 6:57 mark, but the Gophers went on an 8-0 run over the next four minutes to take control, leading 55-50 after the under four minute media timeout. Bjork hit two huge threes down the stretch to give the Illini a chance at the end, one that made it 55-53 with 3:34 left and the other that made it 57-56 with 1:40 to play.

On Minnesota's ensuing possession, Leslie Knight hit a driving lay-up as the shot clock expired to put the Gophers up three with 1:09 left and then Simpson missed a three to tie on the other end. The Illini got the ball back still down three after UM's Brittany McCoy missed the front end of a one-and-one with 43 seconds left and Simpson cleared the rebound.

After an Illinois timeout, Bjork got a good look from the left wing but missed, the rebound caromed long and Bjork secured it, but her momentum was carrying her out of bounds. Bjork tried to throw it off a Minnesota player to save the possession, but it missed and Gopher Emily Fox picked up the loose ball and sprinted the other way for a breakaway lay-up to put the game away with 12 seconds left.

"Minnesota scored when they needed to score," said Illinois head coach Jolette Law. "We made our run and got up three and then they took it to another level. I have to give them a lot of credit. They were the aggressors for the most the game."

Bjork finished with four three-pointers on nine attempts, moving her within four threes of tying the Illinois career record for three-pointers made. She now has 190 treys to move within striking distance of Krista Reinking's record of 194. Her 18 points also give her 981 career points, inching her closer to the 1,000-point milestone.

Smith finished 6-of-10 from the field for her league leading 12th double double, but had trouble getting the ball all night as Minnesota collapsed on the sophomore center whenever she touched the ball. As a result, Smith found her open teammates often on the perimeter, but the Illini hit just 7-of-25 from behind the arc on the night.

"They were double and triple-teaming Jenna from the start and we weren't able to convert when she kicked it out to the perimeter," Law said. "We made some adjustments and were able to get her some looks in the second half, but we just weren't able to knock down enough shots down the stretch."

Illinois shot 39 percent for the game to Minnesota's 42 percent, but the Gophers (16-8, 7-5) turned the ball over just eight times. The Illini held a slim 36-35 edge on the glass after having a +10 margin at one point in the game.

Illinois returns home this Sunday, Feb. 10, to host Indiana in the second annual "Think Pink" game to promote breast cancer awareness. All fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game, which starts at 1 p.m. and will be televised live by the Big Ten Network.