Jan. 2, 2005

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Iowa's Jamie Cavey scored seven of her 19 points during a 14-7 second-half run to lead No. 18 Iowa past Illinois (9-2, 1-1) 72-58 Sunday in front of 1,843 fans at Assembly Hall.

Illinois led briefly in the first half but was down by seven, 41-34, at the break. An 8-5 Illinois run to start the second half, six of which came from reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Angelina Williams, closed the gap to 46-42, but Cavey's 3-point play with 15:28 to go started Iowa's decisive run and Iowa's Crystal Smith held Williams scoreless the rest of the way.

Tiffanie Guthrie led Illinois with 18 points. Erin Wigley scored 14 and Angelina Williams had 12 as the Illini had their five-game winning streak snapped. The Fighting Illini were 0-12 from 3-point range and were out-rebounded (41-32) for the first time in six games.

Cavey had only two points at halftime after spending several minutes on the bench with an ankle injury, but she was 8-of-10 from the field and 1-for-1 from the free-throw line after the break. The Hawkeyes (13-0, 2-0 Big Ten) also got 12 points from Crystal Smith and 10 from Tiffany Reedy. Iowa is off to its best start since the 1987-88 team won its first 22 games.

Illinois will be back in action one week from today when it faces Northwestern in Evanston next Sunday, January 9 at 2 p.m. The Illini are 5-1 on the road thus far, their best road start in school history.