Jan 9, 2003
Box Score
Sophomore Janel McCarville scored 15 of her game-high 23 points in the second half to lead No. 9 Minnesota to a 77-62 victory over Illinois on Thursday night in Minneapolis. The Gophers move to 13-1 overall, 2-1 in the Big Ten. The loss for Illinois snaps a four-game winning streak and drops the Illini's record to 10-3, also 2-1 in the Big Ten.
Illinois got off to a fast start, jumping to an 8-0 advantage and leading for the first 28 minutes of the game. Illini sophomore Jere Issenmann (12 points) set the tone early with three three-pointers in the first 12 minutes as Illinois jumped in front 18-13. The Illini scored 12 of its first 18 points on the three-pointers and made 6 of 12 from the arc in the first half.
Illinois held Minnesota to just 38.5 percent shooting in the first half and forced eight Gopher turnovers in the first ten minutes as Illinois extended its lead to 23-14 with an Angelina Williams (13 points) three-pointer at the 6:42 mark of the first half.
Time and again Minnesota made a run, but Illinois had an answer. The Illini also held last year's Big Ten Player of the Year, Lindsay Whalen scoreless for the first 14 minutes of the game. Minnesota cut the lead to 25-24, but Aminata Yanni rattled home a three-point to push the lead back to four points. Yanni again answered a Minnesota basket with one of her own to give the Illini a 30-26 lead at the half.
Karen Hagberg kept Illinois in front by scoring the first six Illini points in the second half. A basket by Cindy Dallas (17 points, 7 rebounds) gave Illinois its biggest lead of the second-half at 46-40 with 14:04 left.
That's when Minnesota began to take control of the game. The Gophers were able to get the ball into McCarville and scored the next 13 points to take its first lead of the game and go in front 53-46.
Whalen also came alive as well and nearly totaled a triple double with 21 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. In all Minnesota out-scored Illinois 37-16 in the final 14 minutes of the game.
The Illini look to rebound on Sunday afternoon when they meet Wisconsin at 1 p.m. at the Assembly Hall. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
