Dec. 6, 2004
Illinois-Bradley Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
GAME 6:
Illinois (4-1) vs. Bradley (4-2)
December 7, 2004 • 7 p.m.
Assembly Hall • Champaign, Ill.
On the Air
Television: Insight Cable (Ken Johnson, Play-by-play)
*Tape delayed 12-9 through 12-12 at 8:30 p.m. nightly (Ch. 2 C-U, Ch. 5 Springfield, Ch. 13 Decatur)
Radio: Illini Sports Network (Dave Loane, Play-by-play; Steve Layman, color analysis)
Internet: Fighingillini.com live video and audio webcast (College Sports Pass subcription required)
Series
Illinois leads 6-0 - Last meeting: Illinois 78, Bradley 50 (12/10/03, Champaign, Ill.)
Coaches
Illinois: Theresa Grentz, 623-272 overall (31st year), 162-117 at Illinois (10th year)
Bradley: Paula Buscher, 95-103 overall (8th year), 52-65 at Bradley (5th year)
Illini Shorts
• Saturday's win over No. 21/20 Louisiana Tech extended Illinois' streak of consecutive seasons with wins over a ranked team to 11.
• Senior Angelina Williams banked home a three-pointer with 2.7 seconds left to send the Illini and Lady Techsters to overtime in Saturday's upset win. William's finished with a game-high 24 points and also pulled down nine rebounds in the victory.
• Road Warriors: Illinois wrapped-up a grueling four-game road swing with the upset win over No. 21/20 Techsters. The Illini were 3-1 on the road trip, which took them to Philadelphia, Pa., New York City, Green Bay, Wisc. and Ruston, La. over the course of two weeks.
• The Orange and Blue are 31-22 all-time against the Missouri Valley Conference, including a 6-0 mark against Bradley.
• Illinois' 50-point win vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the season opener was the second largest home victory in school history, behind only a 52-point drubbing of Ball State in 1981, and was the fourth largest of all-time
• The 25 steals Illinois tallied in the season opener is a school record, topping the old mark of 24 set vs. St. Louis on 12/1/79.
Streak Busters
Illinois' win at Louisiana Tech ended a couple of impressive streaks for the Lady Techsters. Prior to Saturday, La Tech had won 161 consecutive home games against unraked teams and 30 consecutive home games overall - the second longest streak in the nation. The win by the Illini also helped bump La Tech out of the most recent AP Top-25 poll, ending a streak of 220 consecutive weeks on the poll. From a winning percentage standpoint, La Tech is the toughest place to play in women's basketball. The Techsters are 413-25 (.943) all-time in Ruston.
The win Saturday was not the first time Illinois ended a long home court winning streak for its opponent. On Dec. 30, 2000, the Illini knocked off No. 14 Auburn, 73-56, ending the Tigers 55 game winning streak against non-conference opponents at Beard-Eaves Coliseum.
Scouting Bradley
The Bradley Braves enter Tuesday's contest with a 4-2 record after a 95-66 win over Loyola-Chicago last weekend. 6-4 senior center Dena Williams had 23 points and seven rebounds in the in the win over Loyola and is averaging 14.3 points and 8.3 boards on the season. Also in double figures for the Braves is Genny Mueller, who is chipping in 12.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Bradley returns all five starters and all 14 letterwinners from last year's 9-19 squad. The Braves were picked seventh in the Missouri Valley Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Illinois-Bradley Series
Illinois leads the all-time series vs. Bradley 6-0, including a 78-50 triumph at Assembly Hall last season. Illinois is 4-0 against the Braves in Assembly Hall and is 2-0 in Peoria. Bradley is coached by Paula Buscher, who is 52-65 in her fifth year at the helm of the Braves.
Illini on the tube
Tuesday' Illinois-Bradley game at Assembly Hall be televised by local Insight Cable. The game will be shown tape-delayed at 8:30 p.m. nightly from Dec. 9 through Dec. 12 on Insight Ch. 2 in Champaign-Urbana, Ch. 5 in Springfield and Ch. 13 in Decatur.
2004-05 televised games:
Dec. 7 Bradley Insight
Jan. 13 at Penn State CSTV
Jan. 16 Wisconsin Insight
Jan. 27 Indiana FSN Chicago
Jan. 30 Ohio State Insight
Chelleen Sisters Square-off
Freshman forward Stephanie Chelleen will take the court against a familiar face when the Illini face Bradley Tuesday night - her sister Ashley. Ashley, a sophomore forward for the Braves, and her younger sister teamed up to lead Lincoln High School in Des Moines, Iowa to a 24-1 record in 2003, including a No. 1 State Ranking and a No. 7 national ranking during the season. So far this year Stephanie is averaging 2.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in just under nine minutes per game, while Ashley is averaging a point and a rebound per game in six contests for the Braves.
Illinois & ranked opponents
With the 71-65 OT victory over No. 21/20 Louisiana Tech this year, the Illini have now defeated a ranked opponent in 11 straight seasons. In those 11 seasons, Illinois has knocked off a ranked team on 24 occasions.
Illini Wins Over Ranked Teams During the Streak (24):
1-15-1995 #24 Minnesota H W, 68-54
12-19-1995 #23 Florida N W, 67-53
1-9-1996 #14 Arkansas H W, 88-64
12-29-1996 #16 Wisconsin A W, 73-67
1-8-1997 #10 Arkansas A W, 100-81
3-2-1997 #20 Michigan St. N W, 77-66
11-30-1997 #15 Duke N W, 77-65
12-28-1997 #22 Purdue H W, 78-76
12-30-1997 #11 Wisconsin H W, 83-75
1-4-1998 #21 Colorado H W, 88-48
11-6-1998 #19 Stanford A W, 76-58
12-14-1998 #14 Florida H W, 97-77
1-22-1999 #17 Penn State H W, 94-85
2-28-1999 #15 Penn State H W, 77-75
11-22-1999 #18 Boston College H W, 73-62
11-27-1999 #6 Notre Dame H W, 77-67
12-18-1999 #20 Kansas N W, 61-59
1-2-2000 #5 Georgia H W, 82-65
12-30-2000 #14 Auburn A W, 73-56
1-7-2001 #10 Penn State H W, 75-71
12-28-2001 #12 Michigan A W, 85-81
1-26-2003 #10 Minnesota H W, 94-80
1-8-2004 #20 Ohio State H W, 52-51
12-4-2004 #21 Louisiana Tech A W, 71-65 (OT)
Annual SAAC Clothing Drive at Bradley Game
Help someone stay warm this winter by bringing any article of clothing to the women's basketball game on Wednesday, December 7. Members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be collecting clothing items at the door for the Warm A Kid Foundation operated by Unit 4 schools.
Illini In the Rankings
Illinois appears in the receiving votes column of the most recent Associated Press Top-25 Poll for the first time this season. The Illini received four votes to rank 39th overall. LSU is the unanimous No. 1 in the poll, receiving all 45 first place votes, while Ohio State is the top-ranked Big Ten team, coming at No. 10.
Big Ten Rankings
Several Illini are at or near the top of the most recent Big Ten statistical rankings. Senor Angelina Williams ranks second in scoring (17.8 ppg), fourth in 3FG percentage (7-15, .467) and seventh in blocked shots (1.6 bpg), while freshman Danyel Crutcher is the league's fourth ranked rebounder (8.4 rpg). Senior Tiffanie Guthrie is tops in the conference in FT percentage (17-18, .944) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.12). Junior Maggie Acuna is fifth in steals (2.8 spg) and is eighth in assists (3.8 apg).
As a team, Illinois ranks first in blocked shots (6.40 bpg) and fourth in scoring defense (56.0 ppg), FT percentage (66-88, .750) and 3FG percentage defense (21-74, .284).
Watch Illinois on the Web
A new feature to fightingillini.com this year, fans unable to make it to Assembly Hall can catch live streaming video of Illinois women's basketball action on the web. Home game action and post-game press conferences can be viewed with the purchase of a College Sports Pass subscription ($6.95 per month, $49.95 per year).
In addition to video, subscribers will have access to live audio of all Illinois games - home and away, in addition to broadcasts for any other teams within the College Sports Network (over 60 schools). All audio and video is archived on the site. For more information, go to fightingillini.com and look for the "Live Coverage" box on the right-hand side.
As always, GameTracker, as well as statistics, box scores, recaps, game notes, feature stories and much more is updated daily on fightingillini.com.
Guthrie Approaching 1,000
Senior Tiffanie Guthrie is well on her way to becoming the the 18th Illini to score 1,000 career points. The Trotwood, Ohio native currently has 969 points, which ranks 19th all-time. Fellow senior Angelina Williams is already a member of the 1,000 point club. She has poured in 1,195 points in her career, which ranks 13th all-time entering Tuesday's contest.
Looking ahead: Pacific
The Illini's next opponent will be the University of the Pacific on Saturday morning at the United Center in Chicago. The game will be the front end of a double header with the Illini men, who will face Oregon at 1 p.m. Pacific is 2-2 on the season and is currently ranked No. 12 in the RPI rankings. Their most recent game was a 86-30 loss to No. 10 Duke. Saturday's game will be the first ever meeting between the two teams.
