March 5, 2011
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No. 2 Penn State 79, No. 11 Illinois 64
Big Ten Tournament Semifinal Postgame Notes
March 5, 2011
Conseco Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Ind.
1. Illinois is the first No. 11 seed to advance to semifinals in Big Ten Tournament history. This was the Illini's sixth semifinal appearance overall.
2. Head coach Jolette Law is 7-4 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament, having won at least one game in the tourney in each of her four years at Illinois. Illinois has been the underdog in all 11 games. The Illini are 17-17 all-time in the BTT.
3. Sophomore All-Big Ten forward Karisma Penn sat out the last 7:52 of first half with two fouls, but the Illini were still able to cut the deficit from 10 to 2 in her absence.
4. Illinois cut a 16-point first-half deficit to two at halftime with a 16-2 in the final four minutes before the break. The Illini took leads of 37-36 and 39-38 in the second half.
5. Penn posted five blocks, which is tied for the 4th most in a game in BTT history and ties Lacey Simpson (3/6/08) and Casey Leonhardt (3/2/97) for the most by an Illinois player in a Big Ten Tournament game.
6. Penn finished the season with 78 blocks, the most by an Illinois player in a single season. She has 135 blocks through her first two seasons, which already ties her for fourth on Illinois' career blocks list with Jonelle Polk.
7. Penn finishes the season with 560 points (11th most in school history), 320 rebounds (fourth most in school history) and 18 double-doubles (tied for the 3rd most in UI history).
8. Redshirt freshman Amber Moore made five three-pointers on the night, giving her nine three-pointers for the tournament and 65 for the season. Those 65 are the fifth most by an Illini in a single season and most by an Illinois freshman.
9. Junior Lydia McCully had seven assists, tied for the most by an Illinois player in a Big Ten Tournament game (Lacey Simpson vs. Penn State in 2009) and one shy of Simpson's UI record for in a conference tournament.
10. The Illini are now 2-4 all-time vs. Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament
