Champaign, Ill. - The Fighting Illini once again relied on a balanced scoring effort, edging Southern Illinois, 78-64, Tuesday night (Dec. 8) at the State Farm Center. Illinois improves to 6-1 on the season, the best start for an Illini team under head coach Matt Bollant so far. Six Illini scored in double figures in the game, led by freshman Cierra Rice (17) and sophomore Chatrice White (16). White also contributed 13 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
"It definitely says that we're not just one-dimesional and we can move the ball," White said of Illinois' balanced scoring attack on Tuesday. "We like to get our teammates shots. It's not just about points, it's about who can get the most assists. We like to share the ball, it's not just one person scoring, it's the whole team. That's what we like."
Although the Illini battled throughout the entire game, UI's fourth-quarter effort secured the win on Tuesday night. Illinois held SIU to just 11 points in the final period, putting up 20 of their own after going into the halftime break tied at 35.
"I'm proud of the way we defended in the fourth quarter today," head coach Matt Bollant said. "I felt like we probably wore them down a little bit and our transition offense helped us. We shared the basketball well; we shot more then 55-percent in the second half. It took us awhile to defend and rebound the way we needed to, but I thought we did down the stretch when it counted."
Illinois started the game with a Simmons three-pointer, continuing where she left off last Sunday. Coming off of a State Farm Center record, seven three-pointer performance against Lehigh, Simmons led Illinois through the first quarter with a total of six points. Southern Illinois kept things close throughout the period, even briefly taking a lead over the Illini. Illinois capitalized with seven points off of three SIU turnovers in the period, forcing three fouls from the Salukis as well.
The excitement continued before halftime as the Illini used an 11-2 run to pull ahead of the Salukis, leading by 12 midway through the period. SIU wouldn't go away, as the Salukis followed that up with a 12-2 run of their own. At the half, the score was locked at 35. Both teams had committed four turnovers apiece, but the Illini only gave up four points off those miscues while SIU gave up seven.
Illini came out of the break ready to score, putting up 23 third quarter points in an attempt to put together a significant lead. SIU, however stayed close as the Salukis took a two-point lead in the period. White fought back as she continued to foil SIU's attempts to pull away from the Illini. Tied at 51 with three minutes left in the period, the Orange and Blue went on a 7-2 run to take the lead into the final period.
The Illini went hard on the glass, out-rebounding Southern 44-34 in the game, four Illini grabbed more than five rebounds each in the game. The scoring was spread around as well as Rice, White, Simmons, Sarah Hartwell, Kennedy Cattenhead and Alex Wittinger all scored in double-digits.
The Orange and Blue return to the State Farm Center on Saturday, hosting Central Michigan in a 2 p.m. contest. Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest on Illinois Women's Basketball.
Notes
-Illinois improved to 6-1 on the season with Tuesday's 78-64 win over Southern Illinois. The Illini are off to a 6-1 start to the year for the first time under head coach Matt Bollant and for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
-Chatrice White finished with 16 points on the night, good for her sixth double-figure scoring game in seven games this season. She also grabbed 14 rebounds, marking her third double-double of the season.
-Cierra Rice put up 17 points on Tuesday, earning her fifth consecutive double-digit scoring game.
-UI had 42 points in the paint in tonight's game. It ties for the highest production in a game this season, and it is the third time that Illinois has reached that number (UT Martin & TSU).
-Illinois totaled 21 second chance points in today's game, its highest total in a game this season.
-Redshirt senior Sarah Hartwell put up 10 points, the most this season since she recorded 14 against Chicago State.
-Illinois saw six players put up double-figure scoring numbers for the second time this season. Prior to this season's game against Tennessee State, the Illini had not seen that kind of a production spread since 2013.
-Southern Illinois shot just one free throw attempt in the second half and nine in the game, the Salukis' lowest total on the season.
