Feb. 27, 2004
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ILLINOIS-IOWA SERIES NOTES
Illinois is 15-35 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.
Earlier this season, Iowa defeated Illinois, 91-73, in Iowa City behind 26
points from freshman Jamie Cavey. The Illini got 25 points from Angelina
Williams, the second most points ever by Williams.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois is coming off a 59-53 setback at home to Wisconsin. The Illini led
30-27 at the half. Angelina Williams (15 points), Tiffanie Guthrie (15) and
Cindy Dallas (14 points) scored 44 of Illinois' 53 points.
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 IN COMMAND OF BIG TEN REBOUND TITLE RACE
Heading into the final game of the Big Ten season, Cindy Dallas has a
virtual lock on the Big Ten rebounding title. Dallas has 162 rebounds (10.8
rpg) for the conference season, 21 more than second place Janel McCarville.
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.
GUTHRIE COMING ON STRONG
Illinois junior guard Tiffanie Guthrie has been on a tear of late. Two weeks
ago, 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).
The following game against Minnesota, Guthrie scored 24 points and pulled
down 12 rebounds.
She had 16 points and six rebounds vs. Purdue and 11 rebounds, four
assists, and three steals vs. Ohio State.
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 nine games, she has 154 points (17.1 ppg) and 74 rebounds
(8.62 rpg).
Guthrie has had a solid year, averaging 14.4 points and 7.54 rebounds per
game while leading the team with 84 assists. She ranks fifth in the
conference in rebounding and 14th in scoring. For her career, Guthrie has
amassed 884 points and 417 rebounds.
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.
LIFE WITHOUT YANNI
Aminata Yanni missed virtually a whole season in her career. She played in
just 20 games as a freshman and just 13 games this season.missing
essentially an entire season.
Yanni went down in the second half of the Ohio State game. The Illini
played perhaps their best half of basketball in jumping to a 32-15 halftime
lead and held on to win 52-51. Illinois improved to 7-6 with that win. Since
then Illinois is 3-10. Yanni was arguably Illinois' best defender and had
the best team speed. Along with Tiffanie Guthrie and Angelina Williams, they
provided three athletic players who can finish on the other end.
SENIOR DAY MEMORY
This is the second straight year that FoxSportsNet has broadcast the Illini
Senior Day. Last year, Janelle Hughes hit a fadeaway shot with 2.5 seconds
left to lift Illinois to a 60-58 victory over Northwestern. The Illini were
down by as many as 14 points in the first half, but rallied to win their
17th game of the season and lift them into the NCAA Tournament.
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.
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.
NOTES ON ILLINOIS' THREE-GAME WIN STREAK (Feb. 1-8)
Illinois won three games in a row from Feb. 1-8 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 was 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 Anderson's shot.
BIG TEN SEEDINGS AT STAKE
The Big Ten can be separated into four distinct groups this season. Purdue
and Penn State play Sunday with the winner guaranteed a Big Ten title. Ohio
State is third at 10-5 with Minnesota, Michigan State, and Iowa at 9-6.
Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin will finish 7th through 10th in
the standings and Northwestern will place 11th. With seedings on the line,
here is a look at the Big Ten tiebreaker:
Two-team tie:
1. Results of head-to-head competition during the regular-season.
2. Record vs. the team occupying the highest position in the final
regular-season standings continuing down through the standings until one
team gains an advantage.
Note: When comparing records against a single team or a group of teams, the
higher winning percentage shall prevail, even if the number of games played
against the team or group are unequal (i.e., 2-0 is better than
3-1); in the case of tied percentages vs. the team or group of 1.000 or
.000, the following shall apply: 2-0 is better than 1-0; 0-1 is better
than 0-2.
3. Won-loss percentage of all Division I opponents.
4. Coin toss
SCHEDULE STRENGTH AT 13
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 7th toughest in the country.
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.
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 seventh in the Big Ten
in scoring and eighth in blocked shots. Guthrie has moved into13th in
scoring and 5th in the Big Ten in rebounding.
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.
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.
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.
