Feb. 25, 2007
Box Score |
AP Gallery 
|
Photo Gallery
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - There was a lot riding on Sunday's regular season Big Ten finale between Illinois and No. 15 Purdue at Assembly Hall. The Boilermakers still had an outside shot at sharing the Big Ten title, while the Illini were trying to lock-up fourth place in the league and add another big win to its NCAA Tournament resume. Though Purdue emerged with a 58-48 victory to take second place in the league, the Illini (18-10, 8-8) still finished in sole possession of fourth place, its best conference finish since taking fourth in 1999-2000, and earned the No. 4 seed in next weekend's Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.
Erin Wigley, the lone senior on the Illinois squad, scored career points number 1,000 and 1,001 with a jumper at the 9:01 mark of the second half, becoming just the 20th player in Illinois history to reach the milestone. Freshman Jenna Smith also had a big game for the Illini, scoring a team-high 18 points while hitting 9-of-10 from the field.
Purdue (25-5, 14-2) came out of the gates hot, hitting five of it's first seven from the field to take an 11-6 lead in the opening minutes. Illinois turned up the defense after that and batted back to take a 20-18 lead at the three-minute mark of the first half, but All-American Katie Gearlds gave the Boilers the momentum heading into break with three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put PU up 23-20.
The Boilermakers then took control in the second half, pushing the lead to double-figures in the first six minutes and then putting the game away with a 13-0 run after Illinois pulled within 43-36 at the 8:23 mark. Purdue shot 60 percent in the second half and 46 percent for the game. Gearlds, the reigning Big Ten Co-Player of the Week, scored a game-high 21 points for PU.
For Illinois, Smith was the only player in double-figures. Sophomore Lori Bjork hit one three-pointer to extend her consecutive streak of games with a three to 35, but failed to hit two for the first time this season, ending her nation-leading streak of 27 straight games with at least two made threes. The Illini were led in rebounding by Smith and junior Danyel Crutcher, each with six caroms.
The Illini will face No. 5 seed Penn State on Friday, March 2 in the fourth and final quarterfinal game of the Big Ten Tournament, which should begin at approximately 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
