Feb. 28, 2002

Box Score

The eighth-seeded Illini got off to slow starts in both halves of the 2002 Big Ten Tournament opener, and they were unable to recover, falling to the ninth-seeded Michigan Wolverines, 83-63. After they had defeated the Wolverines in both regular season meetings, the Illini fall to 14-13 overall.

Michigan jumped out to an early 9-0 lead as the Illini did not score their first basket until the 16:18 mark in the first half. The Wolverines went into the lockerroom at halftime with a 39-28 advantage. They used the momentum from the first half to hold the Illini off in the beginning of the second half as well. Illinois started the period on a scoring draught that lasted more than four and a half minutes. Sophomore Iveta Marcauskaite got the Illini on the board in the second half with a lay up at the 15:20 mark.

Marcauskaite scored in double figures for the 25th time this season, scoring 19 points. Despite the team-leading numbers, the relentless Wolverine defense held the Conference leader in shooting percentage to just 6-14 from the field. Marcauskaite was a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line.

Michigan's defensive efforts stopped the Illini cold all day, as they hit only 18 of their 59 shot attempts (.305) in the game. Illinois was also outscored in the paint, 42-26.

Cindy Dallas led the Illini off the glass as they outrebounded the Wolverines by a 44-41 margin. Dallas grabbed 11 boards, but her streat of six-straight double-doubles was snapped as she was held to just six points.