Dec. 21, 2006
Box Score
Peoria, Ill. - Illinois' defense was outstanding in a 57-41 road victory over the Bradley Braves Thursday night at Robertson Field House in Peoria, Ill. The win closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule at 10-2 for the Illini, marking the best non-conference record in school history. Illinois has finished non-conference play with only two losses three times before (9-2 in 2004-05, 8-2 in 1996-97 and 7-2 in 1986-87), but had never reached 10 wins before Big Ten play.
Trailing 21-18 at the half, the Fighting Illini defense took over from there, keeping the Braves without a field goal for the first 11:29 of the second half. During that stretch, Bradley missed 17 consecutive field goals while Illinois went on a 21-5 run to take control at 39-26 with under nine minutes to play. The Braves would get no closer than nine after that as Illinois shot 50 percent in the second half to pull away. For the game, Illinois held BU to just 23 percent from the field (14-62), including 13 percent from behind the arc (2-15) and 17 percent in the second half (6-35).
Danyel Crutcher had a monster game for the Orange and Blue with a career-high 15 rebounds to go along with her 11 points. It was her seventh career double-double and her second of the season. Lori Bjork had an off night shooting the ball (4-12 overall, 2-7 from three), but still led all scorers with 16 points and extended her double-digit scoring streak to 10 games, which is the second longest streak in the Big Ten. Jenna Smith was also in double figures with 11 points and added eight boards, while Lacey Simpson pulled down 10 rebounds and had five steals despite playing only 22 minutes due to foul trouble.
Illinois dominated play inside, out-rebounding Bradley (4-7) by a count of 51-41, marking the fourth straight game the Illini have pulled down 50-plus boards. Illinois also outscored the Braves 28-14 in the paint and blocked a season-high nine shots, three of which came from Jenna Smith.
The Orange and Blue now ride a four game winning streak as they head into Big Ten play after the Holidays. The Illini have a week off before opening conference play by hosting Penn State at Assembly Hall on Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. The Illinois-PSU game will be televised by Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
