Nov. 10, 2006
Illinois-Butler Game Notes (PDF)
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Game 1: Butler (0-0) at Illinois (0-0)
November 12, 2006 • 2 p.m. • Assembly Hall (16,618) • Champaign, Ill.
On The Air
Radio: Illini Radio Network - WDWS-AM 1400 - LIVE (Dave Loane, play-by-play; Mike Koon, analysis)
Internet: Fightingillini.com streaming video, audio and Gametracker
Special Promotions
FB Ticket Stub Redemption: Fans can take their Illinois-Purdue football ticket stub to the ticket office for a free women's basketball ticket
Postgame Autographs: The Illini players will sign autographs on the court after the game.
The Series
Tied 1-1 Last Meeting: Butler 81, Illinois 65 (11/27/98 @ San Diego Masry and Vititoe Classic)
The Coaches
Illinois: Theresa Grentz, 652-299 overall (33rd season), 191-144 at Illinois (12th season)
Butler: Beth Couture, 307-183 overall (18th season), 49-66 at Butler (5th season)
Quick Hits
• For Openers: Illinois opens its 33rd season of women's basketball vs. Butler Sunday at Assembly Hall. Illinois is 19-13 all time in season openers and an impressive 14-1 in home openers. Theresa Grentz is 8-3 in season openers while at Illinois.
• New Faces: Sunday will be the first regular season action for Illinois' two newcomers, Jenna Smith and Rebecca Harris. Smith, a 6-3 center from Bloomington, Minn., was the 69th-ranked player in the class of 2006 according to Blue Star Report and was Minnesota's Ms. Basketball last season. Harris, a 5-8 point guard who transferred from Rend Lake College, was a junior college All-American last year and has junior eligibility.
Scouting the Bulldogs
Butler, led by fifth-year head coach Beth Couture, will also be kicking-off its season on Sunday. The Bulldogs were 15-14 last season and return nearly 95 percent of their scoring from that team. BU led the Horizon league with 223 three-pointers last season and its .393 3FG% ranked eighth in the nation. Top returnees include sophomore center Lade Akande (16.2 p, 8.0 r) and guards Jackie Closser (15.1 p, 5.2 a) and Ellen Hamilton (12.3 p, .466 3FG%). The Bulldogs were picked third in the Horizon League preseason coaches poll.
The Illinois-Butler Series
Sunday will mark the third meeting between the Illini and Bulldogs. The series is tied 1-1, with the last game an 81-65 Butler victory on Nov. 27, 1998 in San Diego.
Preseason Recap
Illinois rolled to easy victories in both of its exhibition games. The Illini topped Clarion, 86-30, on Nov. 3 and Lewis, 96-49, on Nov. 7. Illinois combined to shoot .590 in the two games, including .635 in the Lewis game, and out-rebounded the opposition 107-47 in the two games.
Sophomore Lori Bjork, redshirt freshman Lacey Simpson and true freshman Jenna Smith led the way in the exhibitions. Bjork led the team in scoring each game (26 and 19) and shot a sizzling .667 (10-15) from three-point land, even with the experimental 20'6" line. Simpson nearly had a triple-double in the Lewis game (15 p, 14 r, 7 a) and averaged 10.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.5 steals in the two games. Smith, meanwhile, averaged 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in only 17.5 minutes per game.
Illini Sign Two for 2007
Illinois signed two student-athletes to national letters of intent on Nov. 8, the first day of the early signing period. Chelsea Buher, a 5-11 guard from Lawrenceville, Ill., and Lydia McCully, a 5-9 point guard from Bedford Heights, Ohio, will both join the Fighting Illini for the 2007-08 season. McCully is ranked No. 46 in the senior class by Blue Star Report, while Buher comes in at No. 85 on the list. As a class, Blue Star ranks the duo 21st in the nation and fourth in the Big Ten. It is the eighth Top-25 recruiting class for Grentz in her 12 seasons at Illinois.
Illini Tabbed Seventh in Big Ten Preseason Poll
Illinois was picked seventh in both the coaches and media Big Ten preseason women's basketball polls. Ohio State was the top pick in both polls and OSU's Jessica Davenport was named Preseason Player of the Year by both sets of voters. Last season Illinois was picked ninth in the preseason poll and finished the season in seventh place.
Injury Report
• Senior center Audrey Tabon tore her ACL in her right knee in the Orange and Blue Scrimmage on Oct. 29 and will miss the entire 2006-07 season. Tabon started 26 games last season and ranked fifth in the Big Ten in rebounding (7.2 per game). The Pittsburgh, Pa., native has won the team's Most Improved award in each of the last two seasons. She intends to have surgery on the knee on Nov. 21 and return next season for a fifth-year.
• Redshirt-sophomore guard Megan Nyquist hasn't practiced yet because of a bad back. Nyquist sat out all of her freshman season with a torn ACL and missed all but four games in 2005-06 after re-injuring the knee. The Lee's Summit, Mo., native was the 74th-ranked senior in 2004 according to Blue Star Report.
05-06 review
• The Orange and Blue finished the 2005-06 campaign with a 16-15 overall record, ending the season with a 64-44 loss to Marquette in the WNIT. It was the program's ninth postseason appearance in the last 10 years and the fourth time it has taken part in the postseason WNIT. The Illini were 6-10 in Big Ten Conference play, finishing in seventh place.
• Illinois was the winner of the fourth annual Big Ten SuperFan Cup in 2005-06, which rewards the conference school that had the highest percentage attendance increase in league games from one year to the next. Illinois averaged 3,468 fans in eight Big Ten home games in 2005-06, compared to 2,034 in 2004-05 - an increase of 71 percent.
• On Feb. 26, 2006, Illini head coach Theresa Grentz became the 10th Division I women's basketball coach to reach the 650-win milestone. The Hall of Famer is 652-299 (.686) in her 32-year career entering 2005-06.
