Illini Impressive in Final Preseason Tune-up

Women's Basketball November 7, 2006

Illini Impressive in Final Preseason Tune-up

Nov. 7, 2006

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's basketball team appears to be ready for the regular season after a 96-49 thrashing of Lewis Tuesday night at Assembly Hall in the second and final exhibition game before the regular season begins. Sophomore Lori Bjork hit 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point land to lead the Illini with 19 points, while redshirt freshman Lacey Simpson had a monster game with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Illinois opens the regular season this Sunday, Nov. 12, when Butler comes to Assembly Hall for a 2 p.m. tip.

The Illini jumped out to leads of 9-0 and 22-3 in a dominating first half that saw them shoot a sizzling 25-of-34 from the field (.735). Illinois out-rebounded Lewis 27-9 in the opening stanza en route to a 57-24 halftime lead. The second half was more of the same as Lewis shot just .286 from the field and .214 from behind the arc.

With the game comfortably in hand most of the way, Illini head coach Theresa Grentz was able to get all nine active player plenty of action. Rebecca Harris sat out the game after injuring her ankle in last Friday's exhibition win over Clarion, Meg Nyquist missed her second straight game with a back injury and Audrey Tabon is out of the season after suffering an ACL tear in the Orange and Blue Scrimmage on Oct. 29.

With all the injuries, Bjork saw plenty of action at the point guard position but managed to lead all scorers for the second straight game. In Friday's exhibition vs. Clarion, Bjork scored 26 points, and in both exhibitions combined she hit 16-of-23 (.696) overall and 10-of-15 (.667) from downtown.

In addition to her double-double, Simpson added seven assists, three steals and a blocked shot and dazzled the crowd with a nifty behind-the-back lay-up in the first half. Freshman Jenna Smith poured in 18 points, on 8-of-10 shooting, and grabbed seven rebounds in just 17 minutes. Chelsea Gordon nearly had a double-double of her own with nine points and 12 boards.

For the game, Illinois shot .635 from the field (40-of-63), .556 from behind the arc (5-of-9) and .733 from the line (11-of-15). The Orange and Blue also dominated the glass to the tune of 61-17 and held a 42-14 advantage in points in the paint.

In two games with the experimental 20'6" three-point line Illinois hit 14-of-24 treys for a .583 clip. The line will go back to 19'9" for the regular season.

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