Box Score
Shereka Wright scored 24 points and teammate Mary Jo Noon added 21 as No. 9 Purdue handled visiting Illinois, 79-67 in West Lafayette. Purdue improves to 20-4 overall, 9-3 in the Big Ten, while Illinois falls to 14-9 overall and 6-6 in conference play.
Aminata Yanni led Illinois in scoring with 16 points, including a 4-for-9 effort from three-point range. That marked the second straight game that Yanni has canned four treys. Angelina Williams and Karen Hagberg added 15 points apiece while junior Cindy Dallas, the Big Ten's leading rebounder had 12 points and eight boards.
Hagberg, the lone senior on the Illinois line-up, put up one of the best performances of her career with eight rebounds, two blocks and four steals to go along with her 15 points.
Illinois led just once in the game, at 4-2 after a Hagberg rebound bucket. Purdue methodically built its lead by going to Wright and Noon. Point guard Erika Valek, the other big Purdue gun, played just seven minutes due to foul trouble, but Purdue built a 44-31 halftime lead thanks to a 20-12 edge in rebounding and a combined 32 points from Wright (17 in the half) and Noon (15).
Illinois scored 10 points in the first three minutes of the second half, including a coast-to-coast lay-up from Williams, but Purdue answered each time and maintained the 13-point edge. A 7-0 Boilermaker run made it 59-41. The lead grew to as many as 20 points before Illinois scored the final seven points of the game to pull within 12 at the final buzzer.
Coach Theresa Grentz played 12 players on the night. Janelle Hughes started the second half and played a career-best 17 minutes. Hughes scored five points, including a three-point basket. Brenda Blackburn also saw a season-best seven minutes off the bench.
The Illini continued their stellar free-throw shooting, shooting 75 percent for the game. Karen Hagberg, the second leading free-throw shooter in the Big Ten, was 7-for-8, while Cindy Dallas made 4-of-5. Illinois committed just 15 turnovers while forcing 19 Purdue miscues. The difference of the game was a shooting percentage (49.1 percent for Purdue, including a 53.3 percent clip in the first half) and particularly rebounding, where the Boilers held a sizable 42-26 advantage.
Illinois returns home to meet Ohio State on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Illini are sponsoring the "Let's Do It for the Seniors" Night, attempting to pack Assembly Hall.
