Dec. 3, 2003
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GUTHRIE OFF TO FAST START
Tiffanie Guthrie is off to a fast start with 75 points and seven rebounds
in the first four games. Guthrie recorded her second career double double
with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Tiffanie Guthrie had a particularly good start to last year and is trying
to duplicate it this season. Guthrie scored 19 points in the season opener
over UW-Green Bay and 30 points in the near-upset of Arizona. Overall
Guthrie had 90 points combined in the first six games.
WIGLEY STARTS FIRST FOUR GAMES
Freshman Erin Wigley has been instrumental in the early going, starting the
first four contests. Wigley is fourth on the Illinois team in scoring (6.0)
and rebounding (5.3). She is also third on the team with four steals.
DEPAUL SERIES NOTES
DePaul leads 7-6 the series. DePaul is a perfect 6-0 in games in Chicago,
which includes a 65-63 win over the Illini at the United Center in 2000-01.
The Illini, meanwhile, are 6-1 in Champaign.
The series has had several close games. The last five games have been
decided by ten points or less. Eight of the 13 games have been decided by
ten points or less.
The Illinois-DePaul game was conducted each year except one from 1979-84.
The rivalry was renewed with coaches Theresa Grentz and Doug Bruno in
1997-98. Since then the series is tied 3-3 with each team winning at home.
LAST YEAR'S GAME
Cindy Dallas had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead Illinois to a 71-67
victory over the Blue Demons. Angelina Williams had 16 points and Tiffanie
Guthrie had 13 points. The Illini used a 14-0 run late in the first half to
go in front 36-24 and never trailed after that. DePaul got as close as 69-67
with 55 seconds left on a basket from Charlene Smith (12 points), but
Guthrie came up with a huge steal with two seconds left.
SAAB Collecting Clothing
Help someone stay warm this winter. Bring an article of clothing to the
Women's Basketball game on Wednesday, December 10 vs. Bradley. Clothing
will be collected by SAAB members at the entrances of Assembly Hall. All
clothing will be donated to Warm A Kid, operated by Unit 4 Schools.
CLINIC IN CHICAGO DEC. 5
Hall of Fame/Olympic Coach Theresa Grentz is keeping her staff &Illinois
players up to the Chicago area on Dec 5th to run a coaches clinic for the
Chicago area.The night in will be filled with on court demonstrations,
drills, X& O's, and discussions on the college
experience, and the recruiting process with the entire Illinois staff. The
event is from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel-Convention Center, 720
South Michigan Ave. Cost is just $10. Each person will receive a
Drill/Playbook,an Illini souvenir,and food to nibble on.
YANNI SCORES 27 IN OPENER
Aminata Yanni scored 27 points in the season opener against Wayne State.
Yanni had 20 points in the first 13 minutes. That marked the most points by
an Illini player in a season opener since Tauja Catchings scored 32 in a
112-73 victory over Western Michigan to start the 1999-2000 campaign.
Angelina Williams added 22 points, marking the first time that two Illinois
players have scored 20 points in an opener since Mandy Cunningham (27) and
Kris Dupps(23) turned the trick in a 94-61 win over Illinois St. on
11/30/93.
Dallas HONORED BY TRIBUNE
Cindy Dallas earned Pre-Season First Team All-Big Ten honors from the
Chicago Tribune. Joining Dallas on the first team are Erika Valek and
Shereka Wright of Purdue, Kelly Mazzante of Penn St. and Lindsey Whalen of
Minnesota.
Moving up the charts....
Several Illinois players are moving up the Illini's career statistical list
this season, most notably Cindy Dallas, who has 755 career rebounds careers
rebounds. She needs 178 to break the Illinois record set by Jonelle Polk
that has lasted for 17 years. Dallas also recorded her 1,000-point in the
final game of the season, just the 15th Illinois player to reach that
milestone, and stands eighth on the all-time steals list with 181 for her
career.
Last season Illinois set a school-record by canning 171 three-pointers,
shattering the old mark of 142 form 1996-97 Big Ten championship team. As a
result, several players are moving up career three-point list. Aminata Yanni
(84) is sixth, followed by Jer? Issenmann (8th, 64). Tiffanie Guthrie (41)
and Angelina Williams (37) are 10th and 12th, respectively.
RECORD FALLS IN OPENER
Illinois led comfortably 52-12 at halftime against Wayne State in the
opener. That tied an Illini record for fewest points by an opposition in
Champaign in school history. Illinois is now 6-3 in openers under Theresa
Grentz.
Schedule Ranked 8th by WBCA
The WBCA-Summerville RPI listed the Illini's non-conference schedule 11th
nationally, while the overall schedule is the eighth best nationally.
Illinois' opponents had a combined .615 winning percentage in 2002-03, that
is second only to Penn State (.629) among Big Ten schools. The top eight are
Tennessee (.707), Florida (.636), Kentucky (.636), Alabama (.630), Penn
State (.629), Rutgers (.625), Connecticut (.617) and Illinois (.615) with
Duke (.613) and Oklahoma (.612) rounding out the top ten.
Once again the Illini have a challenging non-conference schedule, which will
help prepare them for the Big Ten season. On the slate are 11 teams that
advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago -- Alabama State, UC-Santa
Barbara, DePaul, Louisiana Tech, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi
State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State and Purdue. Considering that the
Illini play Ohio State, Purdue, and Minnesota twice makes 14 of the 27 games
on the season against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tourney.
ILLINOIS STATE SERIES NOTES
Illinois leads the series 16-12, but the Illini have won nine of the last
ten.
The Illini and Redbirds have met once before in Chicago. ISU won 85-77 at
the IAIAW Tournament on March 6, 1981.
Illinois won last season, 71-46, and the average margin of victory in the
last nine wins has been 17.
Illinois has played Illinois State more games than any other
non-conference opponent. The teams have met every year since 1975-76 except
for 1983-84, 1997-98 and 1998-99.
KEYSTONE CONNECTION
This year's Illinois team features four players from the state of
Pennsylvania, led by sixth-year senior Cindy Dallas. Dallas graduated from
Schenley High School in Pittsburgh. Another Pittsburgh product, Audrey
Tabon, a forward from Oakland High School, played former WBNA great Suzie
McConnell-Serio. Erin Wigley, who started the first two exhibition games, is
from Moon Township, Pa., just north of the Steel City. Audrey Tabon, who
hails from Waynesboro, Pa., in the south central part of the state, rounds
out those from the Keystone State.
DALLAS GRANTED 6th YEAR
Cindy Dallas was granted a sixth year to complete her four years of
eligibility by the NCAA. Dallas has suffered three ACL injuries, one in high
school and two at Illinois. Dallas played only 48 minutes during her
freshman and sophomore seasons combined all the way back in 1998-99 and
1999-2000, suffering season-ending ACL injuries early in both years. Dallas
has been a force down low, earning second team All-Big Ten honors last year.
This year, Dallas had her ?good? knee scoped in October and has been slowly
working her way back. The Illini coaching staff has been careful. Dallas
returned against Louisiana Tech, scoring six points and grabbing five
rebounds in 15 minutes of action.
DALLAS GUNS FOR RECORD
Cindy Dallas was granted her sixth year of eligibility after missing all but
48 minutes of her first two seasons. She will turn 24 on Jan. 17. Dallas has
won the Big Ten rebounding title each of the past two seasons and could
become the first player ever to claim that distinction three years in a row.
She entered the 2003-04 season with 750 rebounds, needing 183 to tie Jonelle
Polk for the Illini rebounding record. An average season would make Dallas
just the sixth player in Big Ten history to reach 1,000 rebounds.
Cindy Dallas missed the pre-season after having her knee scoped.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Last year, Illinois gave up just 1,983 points during the season (68.4 per
game), its best defensive year since 1983-84. Illinois' defense has been
solid through the first two games as well. Opponents are shooting just .372,
300 (18 of 60) from three-point range. The Illini are also out-rebounding
opponents 41.8-38.0. Louisiana Tech, the 11th ranked team in the country,
shot just 29.4 percent in the second half. Opponents are only averaging 63.8
points per game.
THE POCKET BOOK
Illinois Head Coach Theresa Grentz is series about raising money for Coaches
vs. Cancer. Each home game she brings an orange ?pocket book? to the game
and sets it beside the bench. In the pocket book are brochures for Coaches
vs. Cancer.
AN ANCHOR ON THE BENCH
New Illinois assistant coach Marsha Frese, who has become a nationally
respected recruiter at Ball State, Minnesota and Maryland, joined the
coaching ranks after three years as a sportscaster. Frese was the first
female sports anchor for KALB-TV in Alexandria, Va. She also served brief
stints as a color analyst for Rice University and Louisiana College radio
broadcasts.
ILLINI AT UNITED CENTER
Illinois is playing its fifth game at United Center on Saturday. The lllini
are 2-2 in United Center games with all four games going down to the wire.
In fact last year's 72-67 loss to Mississippi State is the largest margin of
the series for non-overtime games.
1999: #19 Illinois 61, #20 Kansas 59
Theresa Grentz became Illinois' all-time winningest coach in game that the
Illini scored with less than three seconds to play
2000: DePaul 65, Illinois 63
A three-pointer by Molly Watson with 4.9 seconds left was the game winner.
No team led by more than three in the second half.
2001: Illinois 77, Pepperdine 71
Jer? Issenmann hit a three-pointer with five seconds left in regulation to
send the game into overtime. Cindy Dallas had 15 rebounds and five steals.
2002: #15 Mississippi St. 72, Illinois 67
Illinois led by as many at five in the second half and 60-57 with 3:13 left
before MSU went on a 12-2 run in the final minutes.
