Jan. 21, 2005
Illinois-Minnesota Notes in PDF Format
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GAME 17: Illinois (11-5, 3-3) vs. #12/13 Minnesota (15-3, 5-1)
January 23, 2005 • 2 p.m. • Williams Arena• Minneapolis, Minn.
On the Air
Radio: Illini Radio Network - WDWS AM 1400 (Dave Loane, play-by-play; Derek Neal, color analysis)
Internet: Fighingillini.com live streaming audio (College Sports Pass required) and Gametracker (free)
The Series
Illinois leads 26-18 - last meeting #5 Minnesota 63, Illinois 54 (2/15/04 in Champaign, Ill.)
The Coaches
Illinois: Theresa Grentz, 630-276 overall (31st year), 169-121 at Illinois (10th year)
Minnesota: Pam Borton, 134-64 overall (seventh year), 65-18 at Minnesota (third year)
ILLINOIS (11-5, 3-3 Big Ten)
Probable Starters
Pos. No. Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG Notes
G 21 Maggie Acuna 5-6 Jr. 2.3 3.6* Ranks 2nd in steals (3.3) in BT games
G 22 Tiffanie Guthrie 5-10 Sr. 15.6 4.4 Scored double figures in 14 straight
F 33 Angelina Williams 5-9 Sr. 18.9 4.3 20.0 scoring avg. tops in Big Ten games
F 32 Danyel Crutcher 6-2 Fr. 7.3 6.6 Ranks 2nd in Big Ten in FG% (.617)
F 44 Brittney Daugherty 6-2 Jr. 2.5 3.5 Earned seven straight starts
Off the Bench
G 1 Janelle Hughes 5-8 Jr. 6.8 1.6* Hitting .433 from three point land
F 15 Audrey Tabon 6-2 So. 2.5 4.4 Career-high 10 boards vs. Wisconsin
G 25 Jeré Issenmann 5-10 Sr. 3.2 0.9 Has hit 11 three-pointers on the year
G 31 Kira Mowen 5-9 So. 1.7 0.3 Second on team in points per minute
F 34 Erin Wigley 6-1 So. 8.1 3.4 9 points, 8 rebounds vs. Wisconsin
F 50 Stephanie Chelleen 6-3 Fr. 2.4 2.6 Second on team rebounds per minute
Injured
G 14 Megan Nyquist 5-10 Fr. -- -- Out for season with ACL injury
*Assists Per Game
Quick Hits
• For Starters...: Illinois is 11-5 on the season, 3-3 in the Big Ten and has won seven of its last 10 contests. Just over halfway into the 2004-05 season, the Illini have already surpassed last season's win total of 10 and will be looking to equal last year's Big Ten win total of 4 on Sunday.
• Road Warriors: The Orange and Blue head to Minneapolis with a 6-2 mark on the road this season. The loss to Penn State in State College on Jan. 13 snapped a string of five straight wins away from Assembly Hall.
• Giant Killers: Illinois will be gunning for its third win over a ranked opponent Sunday vs. #12/13 Minnesota. UI has already upset two ranked foes this season - No. 21 La Tech, 71-65 on Dec. 4, and No. 16 UCLA on Dec. 21. The Illini are 2-2 against ranked teams with the losses coming to #18 Iowa and #8 Michigan State.
•Bouncing Back: On Sunday the Illini will be looking to improve to 5-0 in games following a loss.
• The Magic Number is 40: Illinois is 10-0 when shooting 40% or better, and is 8-0 when holding opponents to less than 40% shooting.
•Double-Trouble: Illinois' senior duo of Angelina Williams and Tiffanie Guthrie have proven tough to handle for opposing teams. In Big Ten play the duo ranks first and tied for sixth in scoring respectively. Williams is currently scoring at a 20.0 clip in the league and 18.9 overall, while Guthrie is averaging 16.2 points in Big Ten play and 15.3 overall.
Scouting the Gophers
Illinois will face its second straight ranked team when they hit the road to face the No. 12/13 Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sunday afternoon. UM is led by All-American center Janel McCarville, who is averaging 15.6 points and a Big Ten-leading 10.3 rebounds per game. Forward Jamie Broback (13.2) and guard Shanon Schonrock (10.6) are also scoring in double figures. Schonrock and guard Shannon Bolden complement McCarville's inside presence with dead-eye marksmanship from beyond the arc. Bolden leads the Big Ten in 3FG percentage (.486), while Schonrock leads the league in 3FGs made per game (2.4) and is fourth in percentage (.426). The Gophers are coached by Pam Borton.
The Illinois-Minnesota Series
Illinois leads the all-time series vs. Minnesota 26-18, but the Gophers have won five of the last six, including the last three in Minneapois. The Illini dropped both meetings with the Gophers last season, 74-59 in Minneapolis and 63-54 in Champaign.
Last Time vs. Minnesota
Tiffanie Guthrie scored 24 points, but it was not enough as Illinois could not overcome 28% shooting in a 63-54 loss to #5 Minnesota on Feb. 15, 2004 at Assembly Hall.
Illinois lead a 33-32 lead mid-way through the second half, but Minnesota responded with consecutive three pointers and would not look back from that point on. Besides Guthrie, Angelina Williams was the only other Illini in double figures (12 points). Minnesota was without leading scorer Lindsay Whalen. The Gophers were led by Shannon Schonrock and Kelly Roysland, who each scored 14 points.
More UI Storylines
• Number 9-0-0: Illinois' win over Central Michigan on Dec. 28th was 900th game of Head Coach Theresa Grentz's Hall of Fame Career. She is 630-276 (.695) all-time.
• Shooting Stars: UI has shot .500 or better in seven games so far this season, something it accomplished only four times a year ago. The team's .608 shooting percentage vs. No. 16 UCLA marked the first time a UI team shot .600+ since 3/14/02 vs. W. Kentucky (.600).
• Getting Defensive: On Dec. 11 at the United Center, Illinois held Pacific to 13 points in the second half and just 31 for the game, the lowest point total for a Big Ten opponent at the time.
• Stealing the Opener: Illinois set a school record with 25 steals, six by Maggie Acuna, in the season opening win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Williams Passes 1,400 Barrier
With 12 points in the loss to #8 Michigan State, senior Angelina Williams became the ninth UI player to surpass the 1,400 point barrier. She now has 1,408 career points, which is good for ninth place on the UI all-time scoring list. Next on the list is Tauja Catchings (1996-2000) with 1,502 career points.
This season, Williams is leading the team and is second in the Big Ten with an 18.9 scoring average. In Big Ten games she is tops in the conference with a 20.0 average. Williams has exploded for games of 30 (UCLA), 27 (at ISU), 29 (at Michigan) and 28 (vs. Wisconsin) this season and currently ranks in the top-10 in the conference in scoring (2nd), 3FG pct. (10th) and steals (10th).
Clutch Angel
Angelina Williams hit an eight-foot baseline jumper with 7.5 second left to give Illinois a 65-63 win in the Big Ten opener at Michigan on Dec. 30. It was Williams' second clutch shot in the final seconds of an Illini win this season. On Dec. 4 at No. 21 Louisiana Tech, Williams hit a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to send the game into OT, where the Illini eventually won 71-65.
Guthrie Doubling her Fun
A career 10.6 point per game scorer entering the season, senior Tiffanie Guthrie is scoring at a 15.6 clip so far this season and has notched double figures in 14 straight games. She has been even better in Big Ten Play, ranking sixth in the conference with a 16.2 scoring average. On Dec. 11 vs. Pacific, she became the 18th Illini to score 1,000 career points and currently has 1,154 career points, which ranks 15th on the Illinois all-time scoring list. Prior the the UCLA game, Coach Grentz presented the Pacific game ball to Guthrie to commemorate her 1,000th point.
Stealing the Show
Junior point guard Maggie Acuna has been leading the Illini with her solid all-around play all season, but recently, she has literally stolen the show. Acuna has tallied four steals in threee consecutive games and currenlty ranks fourth in the Big Ten (2.62) in steals, second in conference games only (3.33). She also leads the squad in assists (57), and despite being the shortest player on the team at 5-6, has led the team in rebounding on four occasions. While always trying the get her teammates involved, Acuna has even started to score when needed. She exploded for a career-high 10 points, including a clutch basket in the final minute, during UI's 65-63 win in the Big Ten opener at Michigan on 12/30. Then on Sunday vs. Wisconsin she notched five big points as the Illini picked up their 11th win of the season.
Tabon Cleaning the Glass
Coming into the season one concern was how Illinois would cope with the loss of three-time Big Ten rebounding champ Cindy Dallas. Early on, freshman Danyel Crutcher filled the void with seven double-digit rebound games in the first 10. With Crutcher slumping lately though, 6-2 sophomore Audrey Tabon has emerged as an animal on the boards. Tabon pulled down a career-high 10 boards in 25 minutes on Sunday vs. Wisconsin, just two games after grabbing nine boards at Northwestern. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native is averaging 4.4 rebounds per game on the season in just 14.9 minutes per game. She currently leads the team in rebounds per minute (66 rebs. in 224 minutes).
Wigley Has Big Second Half
At halftime of Sunday's win over Wisconsin, sophomore Erin Wigley had two points and two rebounds in only four minutes of action. She came out fired up in the second half, however, sparking the Illini to a 13-point victory and finishing with nine points and eight rebounds. She followed up that performance with a solid nine points Wednesday vs. MSU. Wigley has shown some flashes of brilliance so far this year, scoring a career-high 19 points vs. Bradley on Dec. 7 and notching 14 points vs. Iowa on Jan. 2, but she has yet to live up to expectations after a strong freshman season in 2003-04 that saw her start 26 of 28 games and average 7.3 points per game.
Illini Among NCAA Leaders
Illinois ranks among the national leaders in a couple categories according to the Jan. 18 NCAA statistics. As a team, Illinois ranks 20th in FG percentage (.461) and 19th in blocks per game (5.3). Individually, Angelina Williams is the nation's 25th ranked scorer (19.3).
Illinois & Ranked Opponents
When Illinois topped No. 21/20 Louisiana Tech, 71-65 in OT on Dec. 4 it marked the 11th straight season in which the Illini have beaten a ranked opponent. Since then the Illini have also beaten No. 16/17 UCLA and are now 2-2 vs. ranked teams this season. During the 11-year streak Illinois has knocked off a ranked team on 25 occasions.
Streak Busters
Illinois' win at Louisiana Tech on Dec. 4 ended a couple of impressive streaks for the Lady Techsters. Prior to Saturday, La Tech had won 161 consecutive home games against unranked 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 vs. La Tech was not the first time a Grentz led Illinois squad 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 home winning streak against non-conference opponents. Also, on Jan. 17, 1997 in Grentz' second season with Illinois, the Illini handed No. 25 Penn State its fist ever Big Ten home loss, ending their string of 34 straight conference wins in University Park, Pa. with an 85-74 victory.
Moving on Up
Several Illinois players are moving up the Illini's career statistical lists this season, most notably Angelina Williams. In addition to currently standing ninth on the career points list with 1,408, Williams is also fifth on the career blocks list with 93, fifth in career FG made with 575, ninth in three-point field goals made with 68, 11th in steals with 171, 14th in rebounding with 556 and 16th in assists with 236.
Tiffanie Guthrie also appears on several Illinois career lists. The senior guard currently is 10th in three-pointers with 51, 10th in FT made with 286, 12th in blocks (55), 14th in steals (144), 15th in career points (1,154), 16th in FG made (408) and 19th in assists (223), and rebounds (499). Senior sharpshooter Jeré Issenmann is sixth in career three-pointers made with 91.
Angel Honored by Big Ten
Angelina Williams was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week the conference the week of Dec. 27 after coming up huge for the Illini in an 82-72 win over Illinois State. 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. It was Williams' second career Big Ten Player of the Week honor as she earned the accolade on December 30, 2002. Williams shared the award with Michigan State guard Kristin Haynie.
