Jan. 24, 2010

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Illinois senior Jenna Smith scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough as the Illini fell to second-place Penn State, 70-66, Sunday afternoon in front of 8,471 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Illinois (11-8, 3-6) trailed by 12 with three minutes left in the game after back-to-back buckets by PSU freshman Alex Bentley gave the hosts a 65-53 lead. The first was a backbreaking three-pointer as the shot clock expired and the second was a driving lay-up with 3:01 left. The

Illini still had some fight left, however, as they quickly countered with a 7-0 run to get back to within 65-60 with 1:42 remaining. Later, a three-point play by Smith got the Illini within four, but another dagger followed from Penn State when Tyra Grant hit a fall-away jumper with the shot clock winding down to give the Lady Lions a 69-63 lead with 44 seconds left.

Smith hit a three-pointer with 11.3 on the clock to make the score 69-66, but a Bentley free throw with 7.6 left sealed defeat for the Illini and set the final at 70-66.

Smith had an off shooting day, especially early, as she started 3-of-13 from the field, but the senior All-American had a huge second half, hitting six of her final nine shots to finish with 24 points and 10 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season. She became the fourth Illinois player to go over 1,900 career points and finished the game with 1,912 to move past Lisa Robinson (1,906 points from 1978-82) and into third on the UI career scoring list. Smith also moved into eighth on the Big Ten career rebounding list, as she now has 1,037 career boards to pass Minnesota's Laura Coenen (1,029 rebounds from 1982-85).

Freshmen Karisma Penn and Adrienne GodBold also had big days for the Orange and Blue. Penn scored 14 points and added seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal, while GodBold came off the bench to add 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. Illini senior Lacey Simpson saw only 25 minutes of action due to foul trouble. She contributed seven points, six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal before fouling out with 1:51 left in the game.

The game was tight throughout the first half as there were four ties and four lead changes in the first 20 minutes. The Illini took a 13-8 lead with 13:30 to play after holding the Lady Lions without a field goal for over six minutes. Penn State came back to take a 16-15 lead after a pair of free throws, however, and the score would remain neck and neck into halftime, with PSU leading 28-27 at the break. Penn led Illinois with eight points as both teams struggled from the field before the break (Illinois 34.5 percent and Penn State 33 percent).

For the game, Penn State shot 41.8 percent from the field and was 21-of-29 from the line, while Illinois shot 37.5 percent overall and was 14-of-18 from the charity stripe. The Illini outrebounded the Lady Lions 40-38 and held a 32-24 scoring edge in the paint, but PSU had an 18-14 advantage in points off turnovers and got to the line 11 more times in the game, which proved to be the difference.

Illinois has now lost four games in a row, while Penn State (15-4, 7-2) has won six straight since losing the Illini in Champaign on Dec. 31. Bentley led the Lady Lions with 19 points, while Grant added 15 points and nine assists for PSU.

Today's Illinois-Penn State game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 8 a.m. CT as one of the network's "Student U" productions. The Fighting Illini return home to host the Michigan Wolverines this Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m., before hitting the road again next Sunday, Jan. 31, to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis.