Big Second Half lifts Illini Over Mastodons, 74-47

Women's Basketball December 17, 2006

Big Second Half lifts Illini Over Mastodons, 74-47

Dec. 17, 2006

Champaign, Ill. - Illinois returned to the Assembly Hall court on Sunday afternoon after eight days off for final exams and looked impressive in a 74-47 victory over the IPFW Mastodons. Sophomore Lori Bjork led four Illini in double-figures with 15 points as the Illini improved to 9-2 on the season. The win was the 200th at Illinois for head coach Theresa Grentz, who is now 661-301 in her career and 200-146 at Illinois.

Illinois had one of its best all-around games of the season, turning the ball over a season low nine times and holding a 50-36 rebounding edge for the game. The Illini were also stifling defensively, holding the 'Dons to just 27 percent shooting from the field (19-70) and 20 percent from beyond the arc (5-25), while holding IPFW leading scorer Johnna Lewis-Carlisle, who entered the game averaging over 17 points per game, to just seven points on 3-15 shooting. It was the fifth time this season the Illini have held their opponent under 50 points.

The Orange and Blue broke open tight game with a prolonged 28-7 run that began early in the second half. After Illinois led 31-24 at the break, IPFW (4-5) inched to within 35-33 with 17:24 remaining in the game, but Illinois took over from that point on, outscoring the Mastodons 28-7 in the next 9-plus minutes to open up a 63-40 lead with 8:20 remaining. The lead ballooned as large as 30 near the end of the game before settling at the 74-47 final.

Bjork, who twisted her ankle in practice on Wednesday and wasn't sure if she would be able to play today, ended up with a game-high 15 points in 28 minutes. Rebecca Harris (12), Jenna Smith (11) and Danyel Crutcher (10) all scored double-figures for the Illini, while Smith and Lacey Simpson led the way on the glass with eight boards apiece. Illinois had a big advantage from the free throw line, hitting 19-of-23 (.826) from the charity stripe for the game, while limiting IPFW to just four free throw attempts for the game.

The Fighting Illini wrap-up the non-conference season when they travel to Peoria, Ill. to face Bradley on Thursday, Dec. 21. They then have a week off for the holidays before opening Big Ten Conference play by hosting Penn State on Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. The Illinois-PSU game will be televised by Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

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