Feb. 24, 2002

Box Score

IOWA CITY, Iowa. -- A late comeback attempt by the Fighting Illini women's basketball team was not quite enough as they fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes today, 79-71 in the final game of the regular season. Illinois falls to 14-12 overall. With a record of 7-9 in Conference play, the Illini will enter the Big Ten tournament as the eighth seed, opening the event on Thursday at 2 p.m. (CST).

Cindy Dallas continued to play tough on both sides of the ball, recording her sixth straight double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds. Sophomore Iveta Marcauskaite led the Illini's offensive charge, shooting 9-14 from the field for 20 points. Angelina Williams also scored 14 points.

Illinios led by a small margin for the majority of the first half. A Jerica Watson free-throw tied the contest at 29 with 4:39 remianing in the first period. The Hawkeyes went on an 11-3 run to close out the period, taking a 40-32 advantage into the break. The Illini staged a late comeback attempt, cutting the double-digit Hawkeye lead to six (74-68) with 1:45 remaining, but Illinois could not complete the comeback. The two teams were even in the second half, scoring 39 points appeice.

Iowa's Lindsey Meder and Jerica Watson combined to score 44 points and grab 26 rebounds. The Hawkeyes outrebounded the Illini by a 43-38 margin.

The annual Big ten Women's Basketball tournament runs Thursday, Feb. 28 through Monday, March 3 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Indiana. The Illini will be the eighth seed, facing ninth-seeded Michigan in the tournament opener at 2 p.m. (CST) on Thursday.