Jan. 19, 2006

Box Score

East Lansing, Mich. - Illinois stormed back in the second half, using a 25-7 run over 7:00, but it wasn't enough as No. 12/14 Michigan State won its 23rd straight game at home, 72-61, in front of 4,990 fans at the Breslin Center. Freshman Chelsea Gordon poured in a career-high 12 points for the Illini, including eight in that second-half spurt, and Erin Wigley led Illinois with 15 points and nine rebounds.

"We played well defensively in the first half, especially on Shimek," Illinois coach Theresa Grentz said. "I thought our scouting report was excellent. Our problem was offensively we just couldn't get anything going. I think we were a little nervous. When we're not hitting threes, we need to go inside more and penetrate more."

In fact, the Illini held All-American Liz Shimek to two points on 1-of-4 shooting. But Illinois trailed 27-17 largely because of 6-for-25 (.240) shooting and 1-for-9 (.111) accuracy from the arc. The five Illini starters combined for only six points on 1-for-16 shooting, but Danielle Gratton (Bethel Park, Pa.) led Illinois at the half with five points and Gordon (Erie, Pa.) had four, both off the bench.

Coming out of halftime, MSU scored the first six points and outscored the Illini 30-15 in the first 9:33 of the period to take a 57-32 lead. It was the second year in a row that Illinois fell behind by a large deficit, made a furious comeback, but fell short in the end. Much like last season, when the Illini found themselves down 17 in the first half and climbed back to within two points, Illinois had to dig themselves out of a 25-point hole with 10:27 remaining in the game.

Wigley (Moon Township, Pa.) started the comeback with a three-point play and a jumper to shave four points off the margin. After a Janelle Hughes (Country Club Hills, Ill.) basket, Gordon hit consecutive three-pointers to cut the lead to 15. A bucket by Acuna and another jumper by Gordon took the margin to 13, but Michigan State pushed it back to 15 with a jumper by Laura Hall. The Illini then pieced together an 8-0 run over 1:35 on a pair of free throws from Wigley, a Lori Bjork lay-up, two from the line by Maggie Acuna (Oak Brook, Ill.) and a Wigley jumper to bring the Illini within 64-57 with 3:01 remaining. But the Spartans scored eight of the last 12 points of the game to seal the victory.

"I really liked our fight, but they got a lot of momentum at the start of the second half," Grentz said. "Sometimes when you get that far down you start to play a lot looser and take more chances, and that's what happened tonight."

Illinois shot 50 percent in the second half to fuel the comeback, finishing 23-for-59 (.390) for the night. Three-point shooting, which has been solid all season for the Illini, failed them Thursday, going 4-for-17 (.235) from behind the arc. Despite being out-rebounded 41-31, the Illini led MSU in second-chance points (15-10) and had a 23-14 advantage in bench points thanks to Gordon's 12.

Up Next: There's no rest for Illinois (12-5, 4-2), as the Illini return home to face their second straight Top-15 opponent in No. 11 Purdue on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Assembly Hall. The Illini won the only meeting between the teams last season, 66-56, in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers enter the game 14-2 overall, 6-0 in the Big Ten after a 70-56 win over Penn State Thursday.