CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The DePaul-Illinois women's basketball game may not have been picture-perfect, but as far as Illinois women's basketball coach Theresa Grentz is concerned, she is proud of the way her team responded in the 74-64 victory over the visiting Blue Demons.

The game featured 54 fouls, 63 free throws, and five foul outs. The 17th-ranked Illini set a school-record with 35 free throws made and had the fourth-highest free-throws attempted in school history (46). Susan Blauser posted her 13th 20-point game as an Illini with 20 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. Allison Curtin added her tenth straight game with at least 15 points, scoring 18 points, while Kylie Martin scored in double digits for the fifth straight game with 14.

Illinois nearly scored as many points from the free-throw line (35) as from the field. Curtin raised her free-throw percentage to .853 by making 9 of 10 from the line.

The game was played at a methodical pace and didn't have much rhythm. DePaul led 16-9 with 8:14 left as the Illini made just four of their first 16 shots from the field. Shavonna Hunter brought Illinois to life with a driving lay-up to bring her club to within three, and Blauser was good on 3 of 4 free-throws to tie the score. DePaul took its last lead of the game at 21-20, but the Illini went on a 9-2 run to go ahead by six points and led by two at the half.

Although the Illinois lead never dipped below eight in the second half, DePaul stayed in the game thanks to the Demons' Lenae Williams, who shot nearly half (27) of her team's field goals and finished with 25 points and five three-pointers.

Illinois built its biggest lead at 63-49 with 4:14 left. The game was won on the foul line where Illinois out-scored DePaul 35-14. In the end four Blue Demons fouled out, including Williams.

"If you're going to win the big games, you have to have patience and you have to have discipline," said Grentz. "Keeping your focus in the tough games will be help you down the road in the big games."

Illinois takes on the U.S. National team, the future Olympic Team, Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Assembly Hall. Following final exams next week, the Illini play Kansas on Dec. 18 at the United Center in Chicago.