Nov. 13, 2006
Game 2 - Illinois-UIC Women's Basketball Notes in PDF Format
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Game 2: Illinois (1-0) at Illinois-Chicago (1-0)
November 14, 2006 * 7 p.m. * UIC Pavilion (8,000) * Chicago, Ill.
On The Air
Radio: Illini Radio Network - WDWS-AM 1400 - LIVE (Dave Loane, play-by-play; Mike Koon, analysis)
Internet: Fightingillini.com streaming audio and Gametracker
The Series
Illinois leads 11-3 - Last Meeting: Illinois 70, UIC 56 (Dec. 12, 1994 @ Champaign, Ill.)
The Coaches
Illinois: Theresa Grentz, 653-299 overall (33rd season), 192-144 at Illinois (12th season)
UIC: Lisa Ryckbosch, 60-56 overall and at UIC (5th season)
Quick Hits
* For Openers: Illinois heads to the Windy City to face its sister school, Illinois-Chicago, on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Flames are the second of three straight Horizon League opponents to open the 2006-07 campaign. The Illini began the season with a 65-47 win over Butler on Sunday at Assembly Hall. The Orange and Blue improved 20-13 all time in season openers and an impressive 15-1 in home openers. On Saturday, Illinois hosts Horizon League member Loyola at Assembly Hall.
* Early Touch: Illinois shot lights-out in the season-opening win over Butler. The Illini hit 27-of-48 (.563) from the field and 6-of-9 (.667) from behind the arc against the Bulldogs. The latter equaled the seventh-best single-game three-point percentage in Illinois history (min. six attempts).
* Simpson Sizzles: In her first regular season game after taking an injury redshirt last season, Lacey Simpson posted game-highs in points (17) and rebounds (7) in Illinois' win over Butler. The redshirt freshman hit 7-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from three point land, but was also a force defensively, tallying 3 steals. She sparked a 15-0 first half run with a three-pointer and a steal and lay-up to give Illinois the lead for good, and then sparked a 9-0 second half run with a three-pointer after Butler pulled with in one a 42-21.
* New Faces: Two players made their Illini debuts on Sunday. Freshman Jenna Smith and junior Rebecca Harris both saw action in the win over Butler. Smith, a 6-3 center from Bloomington, Minn., played 33 minutes off the bench and finished with 10 points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists in her first game donning the Orange and Blue. Harris, meanwhile, a 5-8 point guard who transferred from Rend Lake College, played five minutes and scored two points. She has been nursing an ankle injury suffered in the first exhibition game vs. Clarion.
Scouting the Flames
Illinois-Chicago is 1-0 on the season after a 87-83 won over Western Michigan on Saturday to open the season. Senior guard Kyrstal Hugelier had 22 points and five assists and freshman Jessie Miller added 21 points, six rebounds and six assists off the bench for the Flames, who forced 20 WMU turnovers. UIC was 16-14 a year ago and took third in the Horizon League with a 10-6 mark. All but one contributor returns from that team, including leading scorer LaShonda Grant (15.1 ppg). The Flames are coached by Lisa Ryckbosch, who is in her fifth season at UIC.
The Illinois-UIC Series
Illinois leads the all-time series 11-3, however, the two sister schools have not met since a 70-56 Illini victory on Dec. 21, 1994. The Illini have won the last eight in the series and have never lost to UIC in Chicago, going 4-0 there all-time. The Flames have not won a game in the series since the 1979-80 season.
Standing Tall
With nine of 12 players measured at 6-0 or taller, Illinois is one of the tallest teams in the country. Led by 6-5 freshman center Erin McCarthy, the Illini have an average height of 6 feet, 0.75 inches, which makes Illinois the third-tallest team in the nation. Wake Forest tops the list with an average height of 6 feet, 1.27 inches.
Below is a pre-season listing of the tallest teams in the country this season by average height:
Rk. Team Avg. Ht. (Inches)
1. Wake Forest 73.27
2. Marquette 72.82
3. ILLINOIS 72.75
4. Auburn 72.62
5. Texas 72.57
6. Duke 72.55
7. Florida State 72.42
8. UCLA 72.21
9. Stanford 72.11
10. Purdue 72.10
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.
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.
