Dec. 31, 2003
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UPDATE ON ILLINOIS
Illinois is 5-5 on the season after facing a tough non-conference schedule.
The Illini are coming off a 70-53 loss at Oklahoma, a game in which Illinois
led 32-28 at the half. Angelina Williams scored 19 points, and Aminata Yanni
added 14 points and five rebounds.
Illinois has faced a rigorous schedule that has included four games
against ranked opponents. Illinois has been competitive against all four of
those ranked teams. The Illini trailed Louisiana Tech by just three points
late in that game, only to fall, 67-61. The Illini led UCSB, 32-30 at half
and 46-38 five minutes into the second half, only to fall 70-59. The Illini
scored 81 points and shot 52.5 percent from the field in an 89-81 loss to
DePaul then held a 32-28 lead at half against Oklahoma.
Illinois has an athletic team that has 99 steals and forced 185 turnovers
in 10 games.
ILLINI DEFENSE SETS TONE
The saying goes that if you have a strong defense, you'll be in every game.
That has essentially been the case this year for Illinois. Here some quick
facts on the subject:
The 41 points scored by Pepperdine are the fewest by an Illinois opponent
since giving up 37 to Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in a 95-37 victory on Nov. 28,
1997and the fewest by a Division I school against the Illini since giving up
41 to Arizona on Nov. 28, 1980.
Illinois extended a streak of seven straight halves, in which the opponent
shot under 30 percent after Alabama St. shot just 28.6 percent in the first
half. The three opponents prior were shooting at a mere 26.7 percent clip
from the field. For the season opponents are shooting 35.1 percent and
scoring just 61.8 points per game.
Four of Illinois' ten opponents scored 50 points or less -- only one has
eclipsed 70 points.
Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten in field-goal defense (.360) and is
second in the league in three-point defense (.264). The Illini also lead the
conference in rebounds (42.4).
ILLINOIS SCHEDULE STRONG
Illinois has another strong schedule this season:
The WBCA-Summerville RPI listed the Illini's non-conference schedule 11th
nationally heading into the season, while the overall schedule ranked the
eighth-best nationally.
This week ten of Illinois' opponents are ranked in the AP Top 25.
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 ON CBS
Illinois is making its third appearance on CBS since 1998. The Illini are
2-0 on CBS. #13/11 Illinois defeated #21 Colorado, 88-48, on Jan. 4, 1998 at
the Assembly Hall. In that game the Illini out-scored the Buffaloes, 58-31
in the second half. Melissa Parker had 16 points.
Then on Dec. 30, 2000, Illinois defeated #14 Auburn, 73-56, in Auburn,
Ala. That ended a 55-game home court non-conference winning streak for
Auburn. Iveta Marcauskaite had 24 points and nine rebounds.
MISSISSIPPI STATE SERIES
Illinois and Mississippi State met at the United Center in Chicago.
Mississippi State defeated Illinois, 72-67. It was a seesaw contest the
whole way with neither team leading by more than seven points. The Illini
led by three, 60-57, with 3:13 left. Tan White led MSU with 19 points. Cindy
Dallas had 17 points and seven rebounds and Karen Hagberg tallied 16 points
and eight rebounds.
The Illini and MSU met in the 2001 WNIT Second Round in Champaign.
Mississippi State won 86-77, shooting 63.8 percent from the field.
THE ILLINOIS-IOWA SERIES
Illinois is 15-34 overall against Iowa, but five of those 15 wins have come
since 1997. Last year the Illini swept the Hawkeyes for the first time since
1983, defeating Iowa, 82-72 in Iowa City, and 73-58 in Champaign. Those two
wins came just a week apart. Cindy Dallas had 19 points and 14 rebounds in
Iowa City and 15 points and eight boards in Champaign. Angelina Williams had
24 points in Iowa City. Iowa shot just 36.9 percent from the field and 8 of
39 three-point shots in those two games.
DALLAS BREAKS SINGLE-GAME FG RECORD, LEADS BIG TEN IN FG PCT.
Cindy Dallas set a new single-game field-goal shooting record by going
10-for-10 from the field. Dallas breaks the record set by Jonelle Polk, who
was 12 for 13 from the field against Indiana on Jan. 30, 1987.
Dallas leads the Big Ten in field-goal percentage at .649 (37 of 57). Over
the last five games, Dallas has made 30 of 42 field goals (.714).
TOUGH SLATE AHEAD
Illinois is in the midst of a tough stretch of games, playing six of its
next eight games on the road. On the slate are five ranked teams. These
eight teams have combined record of 57-17 (.770). The slate includes at #15
Oklahoma, at Iowa (Jan. 2), at Mississippi State (Jan. 4), home with #18
Ohio State (Jan. 8), and #6 Purdue (Jan. 11) followed by road games at
Wisconsin (Jan. 13), #7 Minnesota (Jan. 15) and #10 Penn State (Jan. 18).
MULTI-TALENTED ATHLETES
Angelina Williams and Tiffanie Guthrie are two Ilinois athletes that can
play all five positions. The Illini have gone to a point guard by committee
with Williams and Guthrie primarily at the point. Williams has also played
inside where she averages 15.1 points, 1.3 blocks and 5.4 rebounds.
Oftentimes, Williams has sacrificed her own scoring for the benefit of the
team. Case in point was the Pepperdine game in which Williams had three
points at the half and ended up with 14 after getting an opportunity to play
more inside. Guthrie likewise has played all five positions. This has caused
match-up problems for opponents.
ATTENTION DISH OWNERS
The Illinois-Minnesota game will be broadcast on FoxSportsNorth on Jan. 15.
That game can be seen in Champaign on satellite.
BLOCK I
Illinois had 10 blocks against Oklahoma, the second-most blocks in school
history. The record is 11 set against Minnesota on March 1, 1997. Illinois
has 46 blocks on the season, the second-most in the Big Ten. The school
record for blocks in a season is 137 in 2001-02, 4.7 blocks per game.
Angelina Williams leads Illinois with 12 blocks on the season, giving her 59
for her career, one behind Alicia Sheeler for 10th on the Illinois all-time
list.
WIGLEY STRONG OUT OF GATES
Freshman Erin Wigley has been instrumental in the early going, starting the
first ten contests. Wigley is fifth on the Illinois team in scoring (6.9)
and fourth in rebounding (5.3).
Wigley had 14 points against DePaul.
Illinois great Ashley Berggren didn't get her first start until her ninth
game.
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 811 career rebounds. She
needs 123 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
fifth on the all-time steals list with 191 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
(93) is fifth, followed by Jer? Issenmann (8th, 66). Tiffanie Guthrie (41)
and Angelina Williams (38) are 10th and 12th, respectively.
DALLAS TO JOIN ELITE LIST
Cindy Dallas has 1,100 points, 811 rebounds and 191 steals. She is just the
sixth Illinois player with 1,000 points and 800 rebounds and would be just
the second player in Illinois history with 1,000 points, 800 rebounds and
200 steals. The other player is Tauja Catchings who had 1,502 points, 825
rebounds and 211 steals.
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.
Grentz Show RETURNS JAN. 4
The new season of the Theresa Grentz Show returns this Sunday at 10 a.m. on
WCIA (Channel 3). The new season features Coach Grentz going on the streets
to get your view on what's in the news and a Tip of the Week from the Coach.
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.
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.
Double Trouble
Tiffanie Guthrie had her second career double-double with 23 points and 11
rebounds vs. Louisiana Tech. Also that night Angelina Williams recorded her
first career double-double with 11 points and 13 boards. Guthrie has added
double doubles against Bradley (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Pepperdine (18
points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists). Cindy Dallas had her 14th career
double-double (23 points and 11 boards) vs. Alabama State.
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.
