Nov. 10, 2000

Ashley Berggren coming to Champaign Ashley Berggren will return to the Assembly Hall playing floor for the first time as a member of the Reebok Lady Stars. Tip-off is 2 p.m. Sunday.

"A teacher is one who makes him or herself progressively unnecessary" -- Thomas Carruthers

One reason Coach Grentz is using this quote today is because of the way the team, particularly the juniors, has responded of the past week.

"The older players are beginning to say things to the younger players," Grentz said. "This a sign of maturity and leadership."

Each year the coach puts the responsibility for how the offense runs on the point guard. At times during practice, Coach Grentz calls on her point guard Shavonna Hunter to rally the troops and make sure the team responds the way it should to the coaches' instructions.

"Shavonna was put into the fire last year," said Grentz. "She didn't ask for it, but she was forced into that role by the situation. She's only a sophomore, and she's still learning."

Defensively, Illinois is working on individual positioning work with the guards and forwards and also on closing out. Nine days away from the Clemson game, "They are getting better and more confident," said Grentz.

Much of that confidence stems from the performance against the men's practice squad. The men scrimmaged against the women for about 45 minutes Thursday. Iveta Marcauskaite had a good day scoring in the post and fought hard for several rebounds.

The Illini worked on the zone offense primarily in the scrimmage. Coach Grentz is teaching the importance of proper angles and how to find the player at the high post, which, when executed leads to easy baskets on numerous occasions.

The Illini will practice against the men's practice squad again on Friday.

Practice times for next Friday and next week are 3-5:30.