Jan. 11, 2001

COLUMBUS, Ohio--Illinois came out on top 75-73 in a tough battle at Value City Arena. Ohio State led most of the game, however the Buckeyes, who only dressed six players for the contest, wore down in the end. The Illini took advantage of the opportunity to beat the ailing Ohio State squad. The Illini out rebounded the Buckeyes 43-34 in the victory. Illinois improves to 8-8 on the year, 3-1 in the Big Ten.

After being down by as many as 11 in the first half, Illinois came back to tie the game at 36 going into the break. A three-pointer by Anne-O'Neil with 6:21 remaining in the contest gave the Illini their first lead of the night. With seven seconds to go in the game the score was tied at 73 when Illinois called a time out. During the break in the action, Iveta Marcauskaite was inserted into the line-up. The inbound play went to Marcauskaite who scored inside to give the Illini a two-point advantage with four seconds left. Ohio State got the ball in play but did not get a shot off before time expired giving the Illini their second victory in as many conference road games.

Dawn Vana recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Vana also added six assists. Allison Curtin led the Illini with 20 points. Shavonna Hunter dished out a career-high nine assists and tied her career mark with two blocks. Aminita Yanni continued to play well in conference match-ups scoring 14 points. O'Neil added 11 for the Illini.

Four members of the Ohio State squad scored in double figures led by Courtney Coleman with 22.

The win was Illinois' third conference victory of the week, which included an upset of No. 9 Penn State on Sunday at Assembly Hall and a victory over Northwestern in Evanston on Tuesday. The three-game, six-day Big Ten road tour for the Illini wraps-up on Sunday at Michigan State.