Nov. 18, 2009
Box Score
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's basketball team cruised to their second straight win Wednesday night at Assembly Hall, topping Central Michigan 77-59. Illinois never trailed in the game and dominated inside as senior center Jenna Smith had her third-straight double-double with 31 points and 12 rebounds and freshman forward Karisma Penn has 18 points, nine rebounds, five blocks and five assists. Senior Lacey Simpson also had a rare double-double combo of rebounds (16) and assists (11).
Illinois (2-1) jumped all over the Chippewas (0-2) early with dominating inside play. Smith and Penn combined for the Illini's first 20 points of the game (each had 10) as the hosts raced out to a 20-8 lead just 7:38 into the first half. The Orange and Blue later had a 12-0 run midway through the first half, turning a 28-17 advantage at the 7:09 mark into a 40-17 lead with 3:29 to play. The Illini's largest lead was 27 points with 1:05 remaining in the half after sophomore Macie Blinn hit three straight three-pointers off the bench, but the Chippewas scored four quick points to make the halftime score 46-23. The Orange and Blue forced 15 CMU turnovers in the first half and converted that into a 21-4 edge in points off turnovers.
In the second half, Illinois pushed the lead to as much as 28, leading 59-31 at the 13:01 mark, and cruised to the victory from there. For the game, Illinois shot 43.1 percent from the field (31-of-71) and dominated on the glass with a 49-35 rebounding advantage that included 18 offensive boards. The Illini also shared the ball well, dishing out 25 assists on the 31 made baskets. The 25 assists are the most for an Illini team since dropping 27 dimes on Rhode Island on Dec. 9, 2006. Illinois also collected 10 blocks as a team, paced by Penn's five swats, just one shy of the school record of 11.
Smith, who was named to the Naismith Award Watch List earlier in the day, hit 12-of-20 from the field for her 31 points, just missing her career-high of 32 set exactly two years ago on Nov. 18, 2007 against Southern Illinois. Smith's point total moved her past the 1,600 point mark for her career as she finished the game with 1,611 points to move within 28 points of Angelina Williams' fourth-place total of 1,639 on the UI career scoring list. It was her 42nd straight game scoring in double-figures and was her 35th career double-double, which ties her for third on the UI career list with Cindy Dallas.
Not to be outdone, fellow senior Simpson had a monster game despite putting up just two points on 1-of-8 shooting. Simpson pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds, including six offensive, and dished out 11 assists - just one shy of her career high. Defensively, Simpson not only added two blocks and two steals, but she completely shut-down CMU guard Shonda Long, holding her to three points on 1-of-7 shooting after she dropped seven threes and 30 points in the Chippewas' last game.
Penn nearly had a third double-double for the Orange and Blue, hitting 8-of-15 from the field to match her point total from the last game. Blinn, meanwhile, provided some much-needed outside shooting to the mix by knocking down a career-high four three-pointers on seven attempts.
Tonight's game was the second of three in a row at Assembly Hall for the Orange and Blue, who close out the homestand by hosting Bradley on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. The Illinois-BU game will be streamed live at http://video.bigtennetwork.com.
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