Nov. 9, 2007

Box Score

CHARLESTON, ILL. - New Illinois head coach Jolette Law picked up her first win as a head coach as a balanced Illini attack ran away from Eastern Illinois, 86-56, in the season-opener Friday night at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Ill. Lori Bjork led Illinois (1-0) with 22 points, Jenna Smith had a monster game with 16 points and 19 rebounds, and Chelsea Gordon chipped in 17 points, all in the second half, as the Fighting Illini showed off their new pressure defense en route to the win.

"It feels amazing," said Law of her first victory as a collegiate head coach. "I was a little nervous before the game, but I didn't want to let the girls see that. It wasn't pretty, but I'll take it. I'm just happy for the team to get off on the right foot and to get the first one under our belts."

The Illini never trailed in the game after jumping out to an 11-2 lead thanks to some early steals from Law's newly installed full court pressure that was unveiled at times on the night. The early run was capped by the first of Bjork's four three pointers. All of the junior guard's 22 points came from behind the arc, where she hit 4-of-8 threes, or at the free throw line, where she made all 10 of her attempts.

Smith was a monster in the paint, posting her sixth-career double-double with a career-high 19 rebounds, 10 of which were on the offensive end. Her 19 total boards equals the seventh-highest single-game total for an Illini and the most since Sonya Waters pulled down 21 boards on Dec. 21, 1989. Smith, a sophomore from Bloomington, Minn., also hit 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line for her 16 points and added three blocks and a steal.

Thanks in large part to Bjork and Smith, and a 10-foot bank shot at the first half buzzer by senior Stephanie Chelleen, the Orange and Blue took a 41-26 lead into the break. In the second half, Eastern Illinois (0-1) came out fired-up and closed the gap to nine early on, 45-36 at the 15:42 mark, but that's when Gordon, who had missed her first six shots of the game up to that point, found her groove. The junior from Erie, Pa., reeled off 12 straight points for the Illini, capped by a jumper with 11:36 left to play, to make the score 57-39 and give the guests some much needed breathing room.

In addition to the trio of Bjork, Smith and Gordon, sophomore Lacey Simpson had her usual solid all-around performance with nine points, six assists and five rebounds. Senior Danyel Crutcher chipped in eight points off the bench, while senior Audrey Tabon had six points, five boards and two steals in her first action since the 2005-06 season.

For the game, Illinois shot 52.4 percent from the field (30-of-57) and 79.2 percent from the line (19-of-24), while holding the hosts to just 31.4 percent shooting overall (17-of-54). The Orange and Blue dominated inside, out-rebounding the Panthers 46-24 and holding a 30-18 edge in points in the paint and a 25-6 advantage in second chance points.

The victory improved Illinois' record in season-openers to 21-13 and 4-6 in openers on the road. The announced crowd of 2,358 at Lantz Arena set a new attendance record EIU women's basketball.

Illinois will return to Champaign for a three-game home stand starting with Sunday's home opener against UW-Milwaukee at 5 p.m. The game will be part of a split doubleheader at Assembly Hall, as the Illini men host Northeastern at 1 p.m. Fans get in free to the women's game with their men's ticket, but will need to clear the arena after the men's game and re-enter for the women's game.