Feb. 24, 2011
Box Score
| Printable Illinois-Iowa Box Score 
IOWA CITY, Iowa. - The Fighting Illini took a 54-53 lead with 8:28 remaining, but the Hawkeyes responded with a 20-3 run to pull away for an 83-64 victory Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Sophomore Adrienne GodBold (18 points) and Amber Moore (17 point) led Illinois, but Iowa's Jaime Printy had a career-high 32 points to help hand the Illini their 11th straight defeat.
Turnovers killed Illinois in the first half as the Hawkeyes converted 15 Illini turnovers into 18 points en route to a 40-33 lead at the break. GodBold had 13 points in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting as the Illini shot 48 percent from the field. She sparked an 8-0 run with three consecutive baskets, tying score at 26-26 with 8:11 left, but Iowa countered with an 8-0 run of its own and led by as many as nine just before the break. A putback by freshman Alexis Burke at the halftime buzzer brought the Illini back within seven heading into the lockerroom.
The Orange and Blue opened the second half on a 10-3 run to tie the game at 43-43 three minutes in, but didn't pull ahead until a GodBold bucket at the 8:28 mark made the score 54-53 in favor of the Illini. The lead was short-lived, however, as the veteran Hawkeye squad closed the game on a 30-10 run over the last eight minutes to make the final score look like a rout.
"We played our hearts out for 36 minutes tonight, but just couldn't finish it up," Illinois head coach Jolette Law said. "We dug ourselves a bit of a hole in the first half due to turnovers, but came out in the second half playing together and chipping away at the lead. Then once we finally got it, Iowa punched right back and we weren't able to recover. I have to give them (Iowa) a lot of credit, they responded when they needed to."
GodBold finished with a career-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds, four steals and a block in 29 minutes. However, she was absent for most of those final eight minutes due to foul trouble. She picked up her fourth foul shortly after Illinois took the lead and went to the bench for two minutes. She then came back in for about a minute before fouling out with 4:45 left.
"Adrienne GodBold was our energizer tonight, like she has been for most of the season," Law said. "She plays with heart and is a nightmare for opponents on the defensive end. When she fouled out with about five minutes left, we were still in the game, but I think that kind of deflated us."
Amber Moore hit 5-of-7 from three-point range for her 17 points and sophomore Karisma Penn had 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks despite seeing double- and triple-teams all night. Penn's two blocks give her 68 for the season and move her to within two of Jenna Smith's single-season school record of 70.
Illinois shot 45 percent for the game, hit 8-of-15 from downtown and outrebounded the Hawkeyes 36-35, but 22 turnovers and 4-of-11 free throw shooting prevented the Illini from getting just their third win in Iowa City since 1984. Iowa (21-7, 9-6) has now won 13 of the last 14 games against Illinois. Tonight the Hawkeyes shot 48 percent overall and outscored the Illini 25-5 off of turnovers.
Illinois (7-21, 2-13) returns home to Assembly Hall on Sunday for the regular season finale against Michigan at 2 p.m. before heading to the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis March 3-6.
