Nov. 27, 2001

Box Score

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- In her return to her hometown of Pittsburgh, sophomore forward Cindy Dallas led the Illini past Duquesne, 74-71. Dallas recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Illini earned their third straight road victory, improving their overall record to 3-1.

"It was a wonderful experience for her. I know it meant a lot," head coach Theresa Grentz said of Dallas' homecoming performance.

As for the game Grentz added: "This was a great win for us. We've gone from the east coact to the west cost and back to the east coast and we're 3-1. You have to be proud of that. We could have easily lost tonight, but to our credit we stayed calm and pulled it out. This is a big win and that's all that counts. There are things we still need to work on, but we're young, and the leadership of our upperclassmen was important tonight."

Shavonna Hunter added 17 points for the Illini while Dawn Vana went 4 of 4 from the free-throw line, improving to a perfect 14-14 on the season, to add 10 points. Freshman Tiffanie Guthrie was on the verge of her first career double-double with nine points and nine boards.

The Illini held a 42-34 halftime advantage behind 12 first half points from Dallas. In the second half the Dukes fought back, as Shiri Sharon hit three treys in the final three minutes to give Duquesne a 71-70 lead with 54 seconds to play. A lay-up by Iveta Marcauskaite and two Vana free-throws put the Dukes away, 74-71, as the Illini earned their third straight road victory.

Illinois takes some time to recover from the traveling before hitting the road again to visit DePaul on Dec. 4.