Dec. 18, 2010
Box Score | Printable Box Score 
CHICAGO, Ill. - Illinois got back to its winning ways at the United Center Saturday morning with a 65-56 win over sister-school Illinois-Chicago. The Illini never trailed and led comfortably most of the way to improve to 5-6 this season and 8-3 all-time at the home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls.
Sophomore forward Karisma Penn dominated inside, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven blocked shots. Penn, just a sophomore, moved up to sixth on the UI career blocks list with 90 while registering her sixth double-double this season.
The Orange and Blue controlled the game from the start, jumping out to a 15-2 lead early behind strong play from Penn and sophomore Adrienne GodBold, who each had seven points in the first eight minutes. Illinois led 22-8 later in the half before UIC went on a 10-2 run to get back to within 24-18. However, the Illini closed the half on a high note when Lydia McCully went coast-to-coach for a lay-up at the halftime buzzer to give Illinois 35-21 lead at the break.
Illinois cruised in the second half, leading by as many as 18 with six minutes left before UIC made a late run to cut it to single digits. Redshirt freshman Amber Moore hit four free throws in the final seconds to close out the victory.
Moore (11 points, six rebounds) and GodBold (10 points, three assists) joined Penn in double-figures, while McCully finished with nine points, six rebounds and three assists. Freshman Centrese McGee (six points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals), sophomore Eboni Mitchell (six points) and sophomore Lana Rukavina (5 points, three rebounds) also played a big hand in the victory.
The Illini shot 44 percent for the game and held the Flames to 34 percent shooting. Illinois held a 29-13 edge on the boards at halftime, but finished the game with just a narrow 43-42 advantage. The Orange and Blue got to the line a season-high 22 times, making 13. UIC (4-5) was led by Cree Nix and Briana Hinkle, who both had 13 points.
Illinois has now won 11 straight against UIC and six of its last seven at the United Center.
The Illini now travel to Marquette on Tuesday, Dec. 21, for a noon tip before returning to Assembly Hall after the Holiday for back to back games on Dec. 28 versus California and Dec. 30 versus Minnesota.
