Nov. 28, 2005
Complete Illinois-NIU Notes in PDF Format
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Quick Hits
• For Openers: Illinois, 2-2 after finishing its Colorado Thanksgiving trip with a 1-2 mark, opens its home season against Northern Illinois (1-3). Illinois is 25-6 all-time in home openers and has a current string of seven home-opening wins in a row.
• UI-NIU Series: Illinois leads the all-time series 7-3. Illinois has lost three of the last four, but the most recent meeting - a 110-93 NIU victory in DeKalb - was in 1990.
• Doubleheader Tuesday: The game vs. NIU will be the front end of a UI basketball doubleheader at Assembly Hall. After the women's game, a Game Watch Party featuring the Illini men at North Carolina will be shown on the Assembly Hall video board. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge match-up is a rematch of the 2005 NCAA Championship game. The ESPN broadcast is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
• Illini on Rocky Mountain Low: After stumbling in two of the three games on the western swing, the Illini look to rebound at home against NIU. Illinois shot 39 percent on the road trip but made 19 fewer three-pointers than its opponents.
• Getting Defensive: Illinois held Loyola to just 12 points in the first half of the opener and forced 36 Rambler turnovers for the game. On the season, Illinois is holding opponents to 54.5 points per game, third lowest in the Big Ten.
• Going Inside: The Illini held a 42-8 advantage over Loyola in points in the paint.
• The Big 5-0: Illinois' 50-point second half at Loyola was the most the Illini scored in a half since Illinois torched Michigan for 54 points in the second half of a 94-78 victory on Feb. 1, 2004.
Scouting the Huskies
Northern Illinois enters Tuesday's match-up having lost three straight and with an overall record of 1-3. After a five-point opening win over North Dakota State, NIU has dropped games to Wisconsin-Green Bay, Western Illinois and Illinois State in the past week. The Huskies are led in scoring by junior guard Stephanie Raymond (13.5 ppg), who is shooting a sizzling .586 from the field and .636 from downtown. Sophomore center Kristin Wiener is a force inside, averaging 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. NIU is coached by Carol Owens, who is in her first year with the Huskies.
All-Around Acuna
Senior point guard Maggie Acuna has done it all so far this year. In addition to running the show at the point, Acuna has led the team in rebounding in three of four games and currently leads in rebounding (5.5) and steals (4.0) and is second in steals (2.5). The Oak brook, Ill. native has even given the Illini a lift in the scoring department. A career 1.0 point per game scorer, Acuna hit for a career-high 11 points in the opener and is currently averaging 5.5 points while shooting .636 from the field and hitting both of her three point attempts. She currently ranks in the top-12 in the Big Ten in five categories, including steals (fourth) and defensive rebounds (fifth).
Bjork All-Tournament
Freshman phenom Lori Bjork has made quite an impact early in her UI career. The Johnston, Iowa, native was named to the Coors Classic All-Tournament Team after leading the Illini in scoring for both tournament games, averaging 14.0 points and shooting .583 from the field. Bjork is currently second among Big Ten freshmen in scoring average (11.3) and has led the Illini in scoring in three of four games thus far.
Instant Offense
Sophomore forward Stephanie Chelleen has made the most of her limited minutes so far. The Des Moines, Iowa, native has provided a spark off the UI bench, averaging 3.3 points per game in only 5.5 minutes of action. Chelleen had a three point play to jump-start the offense after a sluggish start at Loyola and scored six points in just six minutes of action vs. Northern Iowa. For the season, Chelleen is shooting .750 from the field and is averaging 23.6 points per 40 minutes.
Frosh Start
Illinois' highly touted freshman class is off to a fast start so far this season. All five active freshmen played and scored in the opener. Lori Bjork has started all four games and leads the team in scoring (11.3) and minutes played (29.75). Chelsea Gordon, Erin McCarthy, Lacey Simpson and Danielle Gratton all average over 10 minutes per game and, combined, account for nearly 15 points per game. Freshman Victoria Arndt has decided to redshirt the 2005-06 and redshirt-freshman Megan Nyquist is recovering from a knee injury.
Season of Youth
With nine underclassmen on the roster, the Illini register as one of the youngest teams in the country. The Illini have six true-freshmen, joining sophomores Stephanie Chelleen and Danyel Crutcher and redshirt freshman Megan Nyquist as underclassmen. That total ties Illinois as the 15th youngest team in the country in terms of most underclassmen on the roster.
Watch Illinois on fightingillini.com
For the second straight season, fans unable to make it to Assembly Hall can catch live streaming video of Illinois women's basketball home games on the web. All 11 home games and post-game press conferences can be viewed with the purchase of an Illini All-Access subscription ($6.95 per month, $49.95 per year).
Subscribers will have access to all Illinois multimedia offerings, plus broadcasts for any other teams within the College Sports Network (over 140 schools). All audio and video is archived on the site. For more information, go to fightingillini.com and look for the "Audio/Video" link on the left-hand menu. As always, GameTracker, as well as statistics, box scores, recaps, game notes, feature stories and much more is updated daily on fightingillini.com.
