Jan. 23, 2000
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. -- If winning is indeed the best remedy for what ails you, then Sunday?s 82-65 win at Northwestern was just what Illinois needed to shake a three-game losing skid.
Many of qualities that were evident in four victories over ranked teams and two previous Big Ten road wins returned Sunday in Evanston. Quickness in the backcourt, namely starters Shavonna Hunter and Allison Curtin, frustrated Wildcats guards most of the afternoon. Hunter led the Illini with six steals, giving her 57 for the year, just three shy of the Illinois freshman record set just last season by Curtin. Speaking of the native of Taylorville, Curtin led all scorers with 20 points and had four steals, which matches last year?s total of 60 with eight games left in the regular season plus the post season. Although just a freshman, Hunter put up senior-like numbers Sunday. Besides her six steals, she had 14 points, five rebounds and a team-high seven assists. <\p>
Senior Tauja Catchings has been the solid rock for Illinois through the Big Ten season. Sunday Catchings put up numbers that have seemed routine ? 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, a .727 (8 of 11) shooting percentage from the field, and a 75 percent (3 of 4) clip from the line. Although Catchings picked up three fouls in the first half, she managed to play the entire second half without getting her fourth personal.
One of Illinois? weaknesses throughout the 1999-2000 campaign has been its depth. Sunday, however, the second stringers provided a big shot in the arm. In one stretch, Head Coach Theresa Grentz had the line-up of sophomore Holly Wilson and Dawn Vana and freshmen Karen Hagberg, Kristi Faulkner and Hunter. Hagberg had her best game since the season-opener against Western Michigan. In just 19 minutes, Hagberg racked up eight points and a career-high seven rebounds. The trio of Hagberg, Wilson (8 points, 2 rebounds) and Dawn Vana (2 points, 3 rebounds) combined for 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Northwestern senior Leslie Schock (18 points, 7 rebounds) tried to keep the Wildcats in it. After Illinois jumped to a 29-16 lead, Schock scored eight of her team?s points in a 12-3 run that brought Northwestern to within 32-28, but Hagberg and Wilson combined to score the final seven points of the first half for the Illinois, giving the Illini a 39-31 lead at halftime.
The Illini maintained a 6-10-point advantage for the first 14 minutes of the second half then outscored the hosts 24-15 to close out the game. Hunter and Curtin had some nice feeds to each other, while forcing pressure in the backcourt.
Illinois has a 3-2 record on the road in the Big Ten, and could match or surpass the school record for road conference wins (5) set in 1996-97.
