Feb. 9, 2002

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Illinois women's basketball team came up short at Michigan State, falling to the Spartans 62-57. The contest was knotted at 33 at the half, and the Illini came out firing in the second half to lead by as many as eight (51-43) with 9:26 to play. Three minutes later the Spartans took the lead, which they held the remainder of the way. Turnovers proved to be costly as 23 Illinois mishaps led to 30 MSU points. The Illini only mustered five points off 13 Spartan turnovers. The Illini fall to 13-9 overall, 6-6 in the Big Ten.

Sophomores Cindy Dallas and Iveta Marcauskaite were the Illinois leaders in the contest. Dallas recorded her second straight double-double scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to lead the Illini in both categories. Marcauskaite added 16 points and came down with seven boards for the second highest numbers on the team.

Along with the seven rebounds, Marcauskaite also blocked three shots, leading the Illini who finished with eight rejections. She has blocked seven shots in the past two games and has moved into seventh on the Illini's career blocked shots list with 63. As a team, Illinois has blocked 58 shots in the past eight contests.

Angelina Williams rejected two MSU shot attempts while also unselfishly dishing out a team-high seven assists.

The Illini return home on Wednesday for their first meeting of the season with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Game time is 7 p.m. at Assembly Hall.