Feb. 21, 2005
Illinois IPFW and Iowa Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
GAME 25: Illinois (14-10, 6-8) vs. IPFW (4-19)
February 22, 2005 • 7 p.m. • Assembly Hall • Champaign, Ill.
GAME 26: Illinois at Iowa (17-8, 6-8)
February 24, 2005 • 7 p.m. • Carver-Hawkeye Arena • Iowa City, Iowa
On the Air
Radio: vs. IPFW: Illini Radio Network - WDWS AM 1400 (Dave Loane, play-by-play; Steve Layman, color analysis)
vs. Iowa: Illini Radio Network - WDWS AM 1400 (Dave Loane, play-by-play; Derek Neal, color analysis)
Internet: Fighingillini.com live video (IPFW game only) as well as live audio and Gametracker (both games)
The Series
IPFW: First Meeting
Iowa: Iowa leads 37-15 - last meeting Iowa 72, Illinois 58 (1/2/05 in Champaign, Ill.)
The Coaches
Illinois: Theresa Grentz, 633-281 overall (31st season), 172-126 at Illinois (10th season)
IPFW: Bruce Patterson, 271-182 overall (14th season), 25-81 at IPFW (Fourth season)
Iowa: Lisa Bluder, 446-199 overall (21st year), 90-57 at Iowa (5th year)
ILLINOIS (14-10, 6-8 Big Ten)
Probable Starters
Pos. No. Name Ht. Yr. PPG RPG Notes
G 21 Maggie Acuna 5-6 Jr. 1.7 3.3 Fourth in the Big Ten in steals (2.29)
G 22 Tiffanie Guthrie 5-10 Sr. 15.2 5.3 Averaging 7.0 rebounds in last six games
F 32 Danyel Crutcher 6-2 Fr. 6.3 6.2 Leads all Big Ten frosh in FG pct. (.588)
F 33 Angelina Williams 5-9 Sr. 19.0 4.5 Hit double-figures in BT best 18 straight
F 34 Erin Wigley 6-1 So. 8.2 4.3 10.8 pts., 7.2 rebs. in last 5 full games
Off the Bench
G 1 Janelle Hughes 5-8 Jr. 7.5 1.6 Career-high 21 pts., 9-13 FG vs. NU
F 15 Audrey Tabon 6-2 So. 2.3 3.7 Four pts., five rebs., two blocks vs. NU
G 25 Jeré Issenmann 5-10 Sr. 2.4 0.9 Ranks sixth on UI career 3FG made list
G 31 Kira Mowen 5-9 So. 1.7 0.3 Second on team in points per minute
F 44 Brittney Daugherty 6-2 Jr. 2.4 3.3 Career-high nine points vs. NU
F 50 Stephanie Chelleen 6-3 Fr. 2.1 2.6 Saw 10 minutes of action vs. NU
Injured
G 14 Megan Nyquist 5-10 Fr. -- -- Out for season with ACL injury
Quick Hits
• For Starters...: Illinois just snapped a three-game losing streak with a 68-33 win over Northwestern and is 14-10 on the season and 6-8 in the Big Ten, currently tied for sixth place with Iowa. The Illini and Hawkeyes both trail fifth place Purdue (8-6) by 2 games with two games to go. The top-five teams in the regular season get a bye in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
• A win over IPFW would...
...give the Illini a 9-2 record vs. non-conference foes.
...give Illinois its first two game winning streak since it won five in a row from Dec. 11-Dec. 30.
• A win over Iowa would...
...ensure at least a tie for sixth place in the Big Ten.
...avenge a 78-64 home defeat to the Hawkeyes on Jan. 2
...be the second for the Illini in Iowa City in the last last three years.
• Williams Drops in Scoring Ranks: With 11 points in the blowout win over Northwestern on Feb. 16, Angelina Williams dropped from her perch atop the Big Ten scoring charts for Big Ten games (19.6 - 2nd) and for all games (19.0 - 3rd). She is vying to become the first Illini to lead the league in scoring since Ashley Berggren in 1995-96 (27.5 ppg).
• Double-Trouble: Williams has the longest double digit scoring streak in the conference - 18 games. Teammate Tiffanie Guthrie's conference leading streak of 19 straight games of scoring 10 points or more ended on Feb. 10 at Wisconsin.
• More on Angel's scoring: Williams has been the Illini's top scorer in 16 of 24 games this year and has gone over the 20 point mark a Big Ten-leading 12 times.
• She can play `D' too: Williams collected her 100th career blocked shot at Wisc. on Feb. 10 and now has 107 for her career, which is fourth all-time at Illinois. She is also sixth on the career steals list with 186. She currently ranks fifth in the Big Ten in steals (2.21) and ninth in blocks (1.14).
• Illini Trends: This year the Fighting Illini are...
...9-0 when scoring 70 or more points
...8-0 when allowing fewer than 60 points
...10-0 when shooting 45% or better
...12-1 when leading at halftime
...13-2 when shooting better than their opponent
...11-2 when holding opponents under 40% shooting
...12-3 when out-rebounding their opponent
• Lucky `13' on the Boards: The Illini out-rebounded Northwestern 46-33 on Wednesday, marking the second straight game with a +13 rebounding margin. The Illini outrebounded Penn State 45-32 (+13) on Feb. 13 - a 29-board turn-around from when the two teams met the first time this year. PSU held a +16 margin (40-24) over the Illini on Jan. 13 in University Park, Pa. Illinois is sixth in the Big Ten with a +3.0 rebounding margin.
Scouting the Mastadons
Illinois closes out its non-conference schedule by hosting IPFW on Tuesday night. IPFW, an independent team, enters the game at 4-19 overall. The Mastadons have won two of their last three, including a recent 63-62 over Texas A&M Corpus Chrisi. They are led by a pair of double-digits scorers, freshman guard Johnna Lewis-Carlisle (10.9) and sophomore guard Ashley Johnson (10.1). Lewis-Carlisle scored 18 points to lead the Dons in the win over TAMUCC. IPFW is coached by Bruce Patterson, who is in his fourth season with the Dons. Tuesday will be the first ever meeting between the two teams.
Scouting the Hawkeyes
Illinois and Iowa both enter Thurday's showdown with 6-8 Big Ten marks, tied for sixth place and desperate for a win to boost their NCAA Tournament Chances. After strolling out of Assembly Hall as the final unbeaten team in the country following a 72-58 vicotry in early January, the Hawkeyes have lost eight of their last 12 to fall to 17-8 overall and put themselves in a vunerable position come NCAA selection day. The Hawkeyes are 3-4 at home and have lost three in a row at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. They are coming off a 78-59 win at Michigan on Sunday. Iowa is led by senior C Jamie Cavey (16.5 points, 6.6 rebounds), junior G Crystal Smith (16.3 points, 34 3FGM) and junior F Johanna Solverson (11.0 points, 4.2 assists).
The Illinois-Iowa Series
Iowa leads the all-time series 37-15, has won the last three in a row and has been dominant at home. Illinois is 4-20 all-time in Iowa City and had lost 17 in a row there before an 82-72 victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 2003. The Illini dropped a 78-64 decision to the Hawkeyes on Jan. 2.
Last Time vs. Iowa (1/2/05)
Iowa's Jamie Cavey scored seven of her 19 points during a 14-7 second-half run to lead No. 18 Iowa (13-0, 2-0) past Illinois (9-2, 1-1) 72-58 on Jan. 2 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 the Hawk'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.
Hughes Has Career Game
Junior guard Janelle Hughes continued her recent hot play with a break-out performance against Northwestern last Wednesday. The Country Club Hills, Ill. native knocked down 9-13 from the field for 21 points, both career-bests, and also tied career-bests with four rebounds and three three-pointers made. In one 3:10 stretch in the first half, Hughes scored 10 straight points to push the UI lead from 16-8 to 26-8.
She is averaging 12.8 points per game over the last five contests and currently leads the team in three-point shooting (.422). Also, after starting the season a dismal 4-12 (.333) from the free-throw line during the pre-conference schedule, Hughes has rebounded to hit 14-17 (.824) from the charity stripe in Big Ten play.
Steady Wigley
Aside from an injury shortened game at Wisconsin (6 minues), Erin Wigley has become a consistent threat for the Illini in recent games. The Moon Township, Pa. native have been averaging 10.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in the last five games, not counting the Wisconsin contest. Against Penn State on Feb. 13, Wigley scored 14 points and grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds for her first ever double-double.
Angel Among All-Time Best
It looks like Angelina Williams will finish her career as the fourth best scorer in Illinois history. Angel made a huge leap up the UI scoring charts with her 26 point performance at Wisconsin on Feb. 10 to leap-frog past four Illini greats and jump from eighth to fourth on the all-time list. After 11 points on Sunday, she now has 1,563 career points, just head of Sarah Sharp (1,516), Kendra Gantt (1,526), Allison Curtain (1,529) and Mandy Cunningham (1,536). With just four regular season games left plus the post-season, Williams won't have enough time to catch Lisa Robinson (1978-82) for third place (1,906).
Guthrie Inching up Scoring Chart
After scoring 14 points in Wednesday's win over Nothwestern, senior Tiffanie Guthrie upped her career scoring total to 1,269 and remained in 13th place on the Illinois career scoring list. She is still has a ways to go before catching Lynnette Robinson (1,322 points) for the 12th position.
Acuna Stealing the Show
Junior point guard Maggie Acuna has been leading the Illini with her solid all-around play all season, especially on the defensive end. Acuna has tallied four or more steals seven times this season and currently ranks fourth in the Big Ten (2.29) in steals for all games and also in conference games only (2.36). She also leads the squad in assists (76), and despite being the shortest player on the team at 5-6, has led the team in rebounding on four occasions.
