Jan. 2, 2003

Box Score

The Fighting Illini Women's basketball team fought back from an 11-point halftime deficit to down Indiana, 63-58, on Thursday at the Assembly Hall in Champaign. Illinois trailed 33-22 at the break and was down by as many as 13 points in the second half, but rallied behind an outstanding performance by Cindy Dallas, who finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds. The win moves the Illini to 9-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten. Indiana drops to 7-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference with the loss.

Dallas' double-double was her fourth of the season and the 16th of her career. The senior from Pittsburgh, Pa., shot 7-8 from the free throw line and also added three steals. Tiffanie Guthrie (11 points) and Aminata Yanni (10 points) were also in double figure for the Illini.

After jumping out to an early 13-3 lead, the Orange and Blue went cold and let Indiana go on a 20-2 run over a 10 minute span to give the Hoosiers a 23-15 lead. They would extend that lead to 33-22 at the break as the Illini shot only 25.8 percent (8-31) from the floor in the first half.

After the intermission, Indiana extended its lead to 41-28 at the 15:20 mark, the Hoosiers' largest lead of the game. From that point on, though, the Illini began to chip away at the deficit and got to within one at 46-45 at the 8:37 mark following a 17-5 run capped by a Jere Issenmann three-pointer.

Then, with the two teams tied and less than a minute to play, Issenmann (14 points) nailed another three to put the Illini up 59-56 with just a 39 seconds remaining. After an Indiana lay-up, Issenmann then calmly knocked down two free throws to push the lead back to three with 19 seconds left. The Hoosiers had one last chance to tie, but Cyndi Valentin's three was not on target. Illinois' Aminata Yanni laid one in at the buzzer to set the final score at 63-58.

The Illini struggled from the field, shooting 19-56 (33.9 percent) for the game, but knocked down 18 of 21 (85.7 percent) from the line and out-rebounded the Hoosiers 40-35. Illinois also shot 62.5 percent from the three-point arc (5 for 8) in the second half.

"No matter whose number was called, she made the most of her minutes," said Illinois Head Coach Theresa Grentz afterward.

Case in point was Jessica Wright. The freshman played just four second-half minutes, but hit one of the biggest shots of the game - a three-pointer with 15 minutes to play. That was a big emotional lift.

Illinois will be in action again on Sunday, Jan. 5 when they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on the Wolverines. That game will be televised by Fox SportsNet Chicago and will tip-off at noon. The Orange and Blue return home on Jan. 12 to face Wisconsin after heading to Minnesota on Jan. 9 for a match-up with the Golden Gophers.