Feb. 17, 2004
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ILLINOIS-PURDUE SERIES NOTES
Purdue leads the all-time series, 35-14 and have won 11 straight and 29 of the last 31 meetings.
The last Illinois win came on Dec. 28, 1997, when Ashley Berggren hit the game winning shot in front of a sold-out Huff Hall crowd in the Big Ten opener.
Last season Purdue defeated Illinois 82-78 in Champaign and 79-67 in West Lafayette.
RECENT SERIES FULL OF NEAR MISSES
Even though Purdue has had control of the series, the Illini have had a few close calls against the Boilers of late. Earlier this year in Champaign, Illinois trimmed a 16-point deficit to just three (52-49) with 1:27 to play. Purdue won 58-49.
The Illini had Purdue on the ropes in the game in Champaign last season as well. The Illini led for the first 12 minutes of the second half before falling 82-78. Even after Purdue took the lead back, the Illini were down just 74-73 and 80-78 (with 26 seconds left). Cindy Dallas had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Purdue handed Illinois an 80-76 defeat in the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament in 1999, when Purdue went on to win the national title.
GUTHRIE COMING ON STRONG
Illinois junior guard Tiffanie Guthrie has been on a tear of late. Last week she was selected as Big Ten co-Player of the Week after leading the Illini to victories at Northwestern (76-52) and Indiana (64-52).
On Sunday Guthrie scored 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds vs. Minnesota.
Guthrie had 26 points and nine rebounds at Northwestern. The 26 points were a season-high and second-best scoring output of her career. Against Indiana, she added 19 points and nine rebounds. Her 35-foot shot at the halftime buzzer gave the Illini a big lift -- tying the score at 28-28. Over the last six games, she has 118 points (19.7 ppg) and 52 rebounds (8.7 rpg).
Guthrie has had a solid year, averaging 14.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while leading the team with 77 assists. She ranks sixth in the conference in rebounding and 13th in scoring. For her career, Guthrie has amassed 848 points and 395 rebounds. She is on the verge of entering the Top 25 in Illinois all-time career scoring.
Guthrie shares the honor with Janel McCarville of Minnesota.
FREE THROWS HAVE BEEN HOT, COLD FOR ILLINI
How good of a free throw shooting team is Illinois? That depends on which game you look at.The Illini have been nearly automatic in games with UCSB (12-15), Wisconsin (10-13), Penn State (9-11), Indiana (12-14), Michigan (21-23) and Minnesota (18-20 (the most recent game). On the other hand, the Illini have had trouble from the line in games with Wayne State (24-36), Oklahoma (8-15), at Minnesota (8-15), Michigan state (10-17), Northwestern (10-18) and Indiana (13-23).
Tiffanie Guthrie has had some of Illinois' best free-throw shooting games. Guthrie is coming off a 13-for-14 performance from the line. The 13 made free throws are the second most in Assembly Hall women's basketball history. Guthrie made 20 free throws in a row in December with 8-for-8 and 7-for-7 performances against Pepperdine and Alabama State, respectively. Guthrie was also 6-for-6 vs. Indiana and 9-for-9 vs. Michigan.
Illinois is shooting .683 from the line for the year.
ILLINI RIDES 3-GAME WIN STREAK
Illinois entered Sunday's game with Minnesota on a three-game winning streak with victories over Michigan (94-78), Northwestern (76-52), and Indiana (64-52). Here are some notes about the winning streak:
One of the key elements has been the assists to turnover ratio. Against Michigan, Illinois had 21 assists to 13 turnovers, then the Illini had 17 assists to just eight turnovers against Northwestern. Illinois had five assists and 13 turnovers in the first half against Indiana. That improved to 6 assists and 4 turnovers in the second half as the Illini pulled away.
The Illini played well in the second half of all three victories, outscoring opponents 135-88 in the second halves of the last three games. The shooting has also been great in those games. The Illini set a school record by shooting 73.3 percent from the field (22-30) and 10-10 from the line in the second half against Michigan; 53.1 percent from the field (17-32) vs. Northwestern and 45.2 percent (14-31) in the second half vs. Indiana.
DEJA VU
One of the most memorable moments in Illinois sports happened March 5, 1989 when Nick Anderson hit a game-winning three-pointer to lift the Illini men to a 70-67 victory over Indiana in Bloomington. Although not near as dramatic, Guthrie's 35-footer at nearly the same location on the floor at the end of the half last Sunday looked eerily similar to the Anderson shot.
YANNI HAS KNEE SURGERY
Aminata Yanni had successful knee surgery on Feb. 11 in Indianapolis to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. Yanni suffered the injury late in the game with Ohio State on Jan. 8. This is the second ACL injury for Yanni, who tore her ACL in her left knee vs. Minnesota on Jan. 28, 2001, missing the rest of her freshman year. Yanni was averaging 15.5 points and was one three-pointer shy of 100 for her career. Yanni has 820 points for her career and was perhaps Illinois' top defender.
DALLAS BREAKS REBOUND RECORD
With eight rebounds against Northwestern on Feb. 5, Cindy Dallas broke the Illinois career rebounding record, breaking the previous mark held by Jonelle Polk. Dallas has won the Big Ten rebounding title each of the last two seasons, just the second player in Big Ten history to win it two straight times. If she repeats the feat, she'll be the first to win it three times. She leads the Big Ten at 10.5 rebounds per game.
DALLAS JOINS ELITE LIST
Cindy Dallas had her 200th career steal against Minnesota on Jan. 15, becoming 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. Dallas has 1,271 points, 945 rebounds and 209 steals.
DALLAS COULD FEEL GRAND
Dallas has a chance at reaching the 1,000-rebound mark. If she does, she'll become just the sixth player in Big Ten history to reach 1,000 rebounds and just the second since 1988. Andrea Garner of Penn State would be the other. Garner had 1,016 rebounds from 1997-00.
WIGLEY VYING FOR ALL-FRESHMEN
Erin Wigley has been one of the bright stars in the Big Ten this season. She has especially turned it on of late with 56 points and 27 rebounds in her last five games. She has a good chance of All-Freshman honors.
JUST THE STATS, PLEASE..
Here are a few statistical trends for the Illini.
Illinois is 8-2 when scoring at least 70 points, 9-2 when shooting at least 45 percent and 10-2 when opponents have as many or more turnovers than the Illini.
Cindy Dallas has 138 rebounds (11.5 rpg) in her last 12 games.
Illinois has 68 blocks in the last 14 games to give the Illini 102 for the season. The school record for blocks in a year is 137 in 2001-02.
Angelina Williams has scored in double figures in all but two games this season.
SCHEDULE STRENGTH UP TO 11
The tough Big Ten games and non-conference tits with the likes of No. 8 Louisiana Tech, No. 15 DePaul, and Oklahoma, the Illinois strength of schedule has risen to 11th toughest in the country.
This week seven 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.
WILLIAMS EXPLODES OF LATE, REACHES 1,000 POINTS
Angelina Williams scored 31 points on Sunday, giving her 1,002 career points. She became just the 17th player in Illini history to reach that mark. She now is 16th with 1,042.
Angelina Williams has moved to No. 6 in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.3 points per game during conference games.
Williams has put up some of her biggest games against some of the best teams on the Illini schedule -- 22 at DePaul, 19 at Oklahoma, 25 at Iowa, 21 at Minnesota, 24 at Penn State and 31 against Michigan State.
WHO'S LEFT?
This year's seniors are one of best, if not the best, in the history of the Big Ten. With the likes of Lindsey Whalen (Minnesota), Kelly Mazzante (Penn State) and Shereka Wright (Purdue) graduating this year, who will be some of the players to watch next year? Certainly Illinois' Angelina Williams and Tiffanie Guthrie rank high on that list. Williams is sixth in the Big Ten in scoring. and ninth in blocked shots. Guthrie has moved into13th in scoring and 3rd in the Big Ten in rebounding.
ILLINOIS COMPETITIVE
Despite its 4-8 record in the Big Ten and 10-13 overall mark, the Illini have been competitive in nearly every game. Seven of the Illini's 13 losses have been by single digits.
The Illini have led at halftime in four of the losses.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Illinois opened the season with an 85-50 after leading 52-12 at halftime. The 12 points tied for the fewest points allowed in a half at Assembly Hall.
During the weekend of the Wayne State, the Illini welcomed back 200 former female athletes who competed prior to 1974 when there were varsity athletics as Illinois. Those women received their Varsity "I" letter.
Cindy Dallas had 18 rebounds in the Illini's 75-72 victory over Mississippi State in Starkville on CBS.
Illinois built a 16-point lead and held on to defeat #20/22 Ohio State
With 31 points against Michigan, Angelina Williams reached 1,000 points, the 17th Illinois player to do so.
With wins over Michigan, Northwestern and Indiana in February, the Illini won three straight Big Ten games for the first time in three years.
ILLINOIS AND THE BIG TEN
Illinois has an 80-60 record in Big Ten play under Theresa Grentz. The Illini have six winning Big Ten seasons in the last seven years. Prior to Coach Grentz, the Illini had a combined 88-146 record in conference play and posted just two winning Big Ten seasons (12-6 in 1986 and 11-7 in 1987).
Illinois has an 12-5 record vs. Minnesota under Theresa Grentz. Minnesota is just one of those teams that the the Illini have done a turnaround against. Prior to Coach Grentz, the Illini were 14-13 vs. the Gophers. Grentz is also 11-3 vs. Ohio State (4-23 prior), 12-2 vs. Northwestern (7-29 prior), and 11-5 vs. Michigan State (13-18 prior).
ILLINI & RANKED OPPONENTS
The win over Ohio State gives Illinois a win over a ranked team in eight straight seasons.
The Illini have also defeated a team ranked in the top 10 three of the last four years.
The Illini have 22 wins over ranked teams under Theresa Grentz after posting only 13 wins over ranked teams in the previous 21 years of the program.
In 2002-03, Illinois defeated #10 Minnesota, 94-80.
In 2001-02. the Illini downed #25 Penn State, 81-75.
In 2000-2001, the Illini downed #14 Auburn (73-56) and #9 Penn State (75-71)
In 1999-2000, the Illini defeated #6 Notre Dame (77-67), #20 Kansas (61-59), and #5 Georgia (82-65)
In 1998-99, Illinois downed #17 Stanford (76-58), #13 Florida (97-77), #17 Penn State (94-85), and #15 Penn State (77-75).
In 1997-98, Illinois defeated #15 Duke (77-65), #22 Purdue (78-76), #11 Wisconsin (83-75) and #21 Colorado (88-48)
In 1996-97, Illinois defeated #16 Wisconsin (73-67), #10 Arkansas (100-81), and #20 Michigan State (77-66).
In 1995-96, Illinois downed #23 Florida (67-53) and #14 Arkansas.
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.
Big Ten Tournament Information
Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament - March 4, 5, 7 and 8 (All Times CST)
Thursday, March 4 - Session One
2:00 p.m. -- No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed
4:30 p.m. -- No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed
7:00 p.m. -- No. 6 Seed vs. No. 11 Seed
Friday, March 5 - Session Two
11:00 a.m. -- No. 1 Seed vs. Winner Game 1
1:30 p.m. -- No. 4 Seed vs. No. 5 Seed
Friday, March 5 - Session Three
5:00 p.m. -- No. 2 Seed vs. No. 7 Seed
7:30 p.m. -- No. 3 Seed vs. No. 6 Seed
Sunday, March 7 - Session Four
2:30 p.m. -- Q1 Winner vs. Q2 Winner
5:00 p.m. -- Q3 Winner vs. Q4 Winner
Monday, March 8 - Session Five
Championship Game - 7 p.m.
TICKET INFORMATION:
All-session tickets for the general public will be on sale for $55 beginning in mid-November at all Ticketmaster outlets, including the Conseco Fieldhouse box office, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone numbers (317-239-5151 in central Indiana) and www.ticketmaster.com.
All-session ticket orders for the women's tournament can be placed for $55 with the university athletic ticket offices. Fans should contact the appropriate Illinois athletic ticket office (217) 333-3470
WHERE:
Indianapolis, Ind., Conseco Fieldhouse (1999), capacity 18,345
ACCOMMODATIONS:
Contact the Big Ten Tournament Housing Bureau at 1-800-556-INDY (4639), 1-317-684-2573 or housing@indianapolis.org to reserve your hotel room.
