Nov. 23, 2001

Box Score

Moraga, Calif. - Illinois used a 20-0 first half run and tenacious defense to defeat James Madison, 85-45 in the first round of the St. Mary's College Tournament Friday. The Illini meet host St. Mary's in the championship game at 9:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.

Iveta Marcauskaite led a strong inside game with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Cindy Dallas added 16 points and eight boards. Dawn Vana was also in double figures with 12 points.

The talk after the game, however, was the job the Illini did defensively. "The key tonight was the fact that we played through our defense," said Head Coach Theresa Grentz. "I'm excited that we didn't let them get into their half court sets."

The players echoed the coach's remarks. "We were just clicking tonight," said Dallas. "We played much more intense defensively and more deliberate offensively."

"The defense was the big difference tonight," reiterated Marcauskaite. "From the first second of the game, everybody played together to make it happen."

For the record, James Madison shot just .125 from the field in the first half (4 of 32) and just .246 for the game. Illinois also out-rebounded the Dukes, 27-13 in taking a 44-13 at the intermission.

Illinois jumped to a 13-0 lead. After James Madison scored the next six points, the Illini scored 20 consecutive points and held the Dukes scoreless for eight minutes.

Everyone played and contributed on the night. The point difference allowed Coach Grentz to rest Shavonna Hunter a little. Hunter had nine points and two steals in 28 minutes. The scoring was extremely balanced. Freshman Angelina Williams added nine points on perfect shooting - 3 for 3 from the field, 2 for 2 from three-point range and 1 for 1 from the line. Tiffanie Guthrie had seven points, Karen Hagberg eight and Aminata Yanni five points rounding out the Illinois scoring.

The Illini also were impressive from the free-throw line, making 90 percent of the charity shots (18 of 20).

Despite the 40-point difference, Coach Grentz was quick to point out the quality of the opponent. "They returned four starters from a team that won 23 games and beat Mississippi State, which ended our year last year. I was very concerned with their inside game, but give our players a lot of credit for playing through the defense.

"The team is really starting to learn my system," she added.

Illinois take a 1-1 record into tomorrow night's championship game.