Jan. 20, 2000
Box Score
Going 0-2 on the week in Big Ten Conference action, the University of
Illinois women's hoops squad lost 73-55 to the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey
Arena in West Lafayette, Ind., Thursday night.
Illinois, now 14-7 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten, fell into the same
pitfalls as it suffered against Michigan earlier in the week. The Illini
got down early in the first half with sophomore Kelly Komara putting Purdue
up 16-10 at 10:45. Illinois would answer as senior Tauja Catchings
deposited her eighth point of the half, cutting the Boilermaker lead to
18-16. Catchings finished the half with 10 points. Having problems
containing junior Katie Douglas and freshman Mary Jo Noon, Purdue began to
break away from the Illini, taking its largest lead of 31-21 into halftime.
The second half saw the wind go completely out of Illinois' sails as
Purdue opened the advantage to 16 points with three quick baskets. Despite
the best efforts of the seniors Catchings, Susan Blauser and Kylie Martin,
the Illini could not slow down the Boilermaker scoring, which stretched the
lead to 58-34 midway through the second half. Outrebounding the Illini
38-24 for the game and fouling out Catchings, Purdue maintained the control
of the game until the final horn.
"Right now, I don't have the answers," Head Coach Thersa Grentz. "We
just have to go back to practice and work."
The triumvirate of seniors led Illinois, paced by the 19 points of
Catchings. Blauser recorded 13 points while Martin added 10. Both Blauser
and Catchings collected six boards. Going without a three-pointer, the
Fighting Illini shot 40.4 percent from the floor, hitting 21-of -52. The
Illini sank 13-of-16 from the foul line for 81.3 percent.
Purdue, now 11-5 on the year and 3-3 in the conference, was led by the
22-point effort of Douglas. Komara finished with 18 points and junior
Camille Cooper contributed 14 points. The Boilermakers went 47.4 percent
from the field on 21-of 57 shooting and 76.5 percent from the line on a
13-of-17 effort.
Illinois will stay on the road, visiting Northwestern on Sunday at 2
p.m.
