Nov. 19, 2001

Box Score

CLEMSON, S.C. -- The Fighting Illini women's basketball team opened the season tonight with a 73-62 loss at Clemson. The Tigers held a six point advantage at halftime, 37-31. Illinois took a one-point lead midway through the second half, but they were unable to pull it out down the stretch.

"I was pleased with how hard we played," head coach Theresa Grentz said. "I thought we were in the game all the way through. We're a young team and we're only going to get better. We got some good looks in the second half, but we only got one shot. That's a credit to Clemson's adjustments. We did a lot of good things. I like the fact that we played through on defense this early. I'll take that."

Four Illini put up double figures in the contest. Sophomore Iveta Marcauskaite shot a stellar 61.5 percent from the field going 8-13 to lead the Illini with 17 points. Senior Dawn Vana was not only the second leading scorer with 14 points, she also dished out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds. Sophomore Cindy Dallas added 11 points for the Illini while junior Shavonna Hunter tallied 10.

In her Illinois debut, freshman Angelina Williams scored seven points and grabbed six boards.

With 11:52 remaining in the contest the Illini went on a 6-0 run to take the lead at 55-54. The score remained within four until late in the contest when the Tigers began to pull away. In the last 8:20 of the contest Clemson went on a 10-3 run to seal the victory.

The Illini (0-1) face James Madison in the St. Mary's (Calif.) Tournament on Nov. 23. Tournament play continues on Nov. 24.