Dec. 27, 2004

Illinois senior forward Angelina Williams was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week the conference announced Monday.

Williams came up huge for the second straight game as the Illini came back from a 15-point first half deficit to beat Illinois State, 82-72. She scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting, 2-of-4 from behind the arc and 5-of-5 from the line. She also added eight rebounds, a career-high five blocks, four assists and one steal in the victory.

In the last two games (Illinois State and No. 16 UCLA), Williams is averaging 28.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 3.0 bpg and 2.0 spg and has shot .500 (20-40) from the field, .455 (5-11) from the perimeter and .909 (10-11) from the line. Williams is currently tied for second in the Big Ten in scoring and has eclipsed 20 points on four occasions this year.

This is Williams' second career Big Ten Player of the Week honor as she earned the accolade on December 30, 2002. She is the first Illinois player to earn the award since Tiffanie Guthrie on February 9, 2004.

Williams shared the award with Michigan State guard Kristin Haynie. Haynie nearly had a triple-double in only 27 minutes of action versus Vermont last week, totaling 13 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals.