Dec. 10, 2000

Box Score | Post Game Audio

A crowd of 7,074 witnessed the Illini fall to 3-5 on the season in a 97-55 loss at home to top-ranked Connecticut.

Two Illinois players reached double figures -- freshman Iveta Marcausakaite, who had 12 points and sophomore point guard Shavonna Hunter, who tallied 10 points. Freshman Aminata Yanni started her first game for Illinois and played 28 minutes.

Connecticut guard Shea Ralph had 24 points on 9 of 11 shooting for Connecticut, who improved to 7-0. Forward Svetlana Abrosimova tallied 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting.

One bright note for Illinois came from the fact that the Illini forced 19 turnovers. Connecticut out-rebounded Illinois 41-26 and forced 25 Illinois turnovers.

Illinois took a 2-0 lead on a jumper by Allison Curtin. After UConn scored the next seven points, Cindy Dallas hit a short jumer to make it 7-4. Connecticut took control of the game from there, exploding to a 35-13 lead, before leading 55-25 at the half. UConn then scored the first 12 points of the second half to make it 67-25.

In addition to the loss, the Illini suffered another blow when junior guard Allison Curtin, fell during the second half. An X-ray was taken on her left foot and ankle and her status will be evaluated.

Rounding out the Illinois scoring was Cindy Dallas with 9 points, Dawn Vana with 7, Curtin with 6, and Anne O'Neil with 7.

Curtin also moved into sole possesion of seventh on the Illinois all-time steals list with her 174th steal.She also extended her streak of games with at least one steal to 19 straight games.

Illinois Head Coach Theresa Grentz said her young team, which starts three freshmen, will be better for having played the defending national champs.

"They will have had the opportunity to go against the best in the country," she said. "They'll use that later. They'll know what to expect."

Illinois players will concentrate on finals this week before playing DePaul in the United Center Saturday. The game follows the men's game with Arizona. Box Score