March 16, 2007
Illinois WNIT Round Two Game Notes in PDF Format
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Illinois (18-11) vs. Utah (19-13)
WNIT Second Round // March 19, 2007 // 7 p.m. CDT // Assembly Hall // Champaign, Ill.
Illinois' Tournament Road
First Round: Bye
Second Round: Utah at Illinois // March 19 // 7 p.m. CDT
Third Round: Illinois-Utah winner vs. Kansas State-Southern Illinois winner // Date TBA // // Location TBA // Time TBA
For full tournament bracket, see page attachment
On The Air
Radio: Illini Sports Network - LIVE - (Dave Loane and Mike Koon)
Internet: Fightingillini.com live streaming video and audio, plus Gametracker
Tickets
All tickets are general admission: Adults $5, Students $4
Tickets can be purchased by calling the Illinois Athletic Ticket Office at 866-Illini-1
The Series vs. Utah
Illinois leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Illinois 73, Utah 58 (3/17/00 @ Ames, Iowa, in NCAA Tournament First Round
Head Coaches
Illinois: Theresa Grentz, 670-310 overall (33rd season), 209-155 at Illinois (12th season)
Utah: Elaine Elliot, 509-206 overall and at Utah (24th season)
Quick Hits
• Illini Back in Postseason: Illinois (18-11) is headed to the postseason for the 10th time in 11 seasons after garnering an invite to the 2007 Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). The Fighting Illini earned a first round bye and will host Utah (19-13) in round two at Assembly Hall on Monday, March 19 at 7 p.m. It will be the first game in over two weeks for the Orange and Blue, who last took the floor back on March 2, in a 61-49 Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal loss to Penn State. Utah defeated Montana, 78-70, in opening round play Wednesday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Down the Road: The winner of the Illinois-Utah contest will advance to the third round to face the winner of Kansas State-Southern Illinois game. The date and time for the round three game is not yet determined.
WNIT Expands to 48
The WNIT added eight more teams to bring the field to 48 for the first time this year. The top regular season finisher in each of the nation's 31 conferences who did not earn an NCAA Tournament bid received an automatic bid to the WNIT. Illinois received the automatic bid for the Big Ten by virtue of its fourth place regular season finish behind NCAA teams Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan State. The tournament featured 16 first round games and 16 teams, like Illinois, that received a bye into the second round.
Illinois in the WNIT
This marks Illinois' third straight and fifth overall appearance in the WNIT. The Illini are 3-4 overall in the four previous showings. Last season, Illinois beat Western Illinois, 58-37, at home in the preliminary round before dropping a 64-44 decision at Marquette in the first round. In 2005, the Illini dropped a first round road game to Indiana State, 72-60. In 2002, the Illini beat Western Kentucky in the first round, 91-84, before losing to Michigan State in the second round, 70-57. In '01, the Illini beat Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round, 96-79, and then fell to Mississippi State in the second, 86-77.
2006
Preliminary Round - Illinois 58, Western Illinois 37 (@ Illinois)
Round 1 - Marquette 64, Illinois 44 (@ Marquette)
2005
Round 1 - Indiana State 72, Illinois 60 (@Indiana State)
2002
Round 1 - Illinois 91, Western Kentucky 84 (@ Illinois)
Round 2 - Michigan State 70, Illinois 57 (@ Illinois)
2001
Round 1 - Illinois 96, Wisconsin-Green Bay 79 (@ Illinois)
Round 2 - Mississippi State 86, Illinois 77 (@ Illinois)
Grentz wins Eckman Award
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Illinois coach Theresa Grentz as the winner of the 2007 Carol Eckman Award. The award is presented annually to an active WBCA coach who exemplifies Eckman's spirit, integrity and character through sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose. The award is named in honor of the late Carol Eckman, the former West Chester State College coach who is considered the "Mother of the Women's Collegiate Basketball Championship".
Illini Headlines
• Postseason Streak: With this year's WNIT bid, Illinois has now advanced to postseason play in 10 of the last 11 years, with only 2003-04 being the odd year out. The Illini have advanced to the NCAA Tournament five times during that streak and to the WNIT the other five.
• Bjork Named Academic All-American: Illini sophomore Lori Bjork has been named to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America third team with a 3.94 GPA in political Science. She is the first Illini to earn the honor in 25 years and is one of only two sophomores on the first three teams, joining Tennessee's Candace Parker.
• Wigley Goes Over 1,000: With six points in the regular season finale on Feb. 25, senior Erin Wigley became the 20th player in Illinois history to reach 1,000 career-points. The Moon Township, Pa., native hit a 10-foot jumper in the second half for points number 1,000 and 1,001. Wigley then scored six points in the Big Ten Tournament loss to Penn State, giving her 1,007 career points and moving her into 19th on the UI career scoring list.
• Bjork Breaks Trey Record: Lori Bjork passed Krista Reinking's UI single season record of 74 three's made on Feb. 18 at Indiana. She now has 79 threes on the season, and leads the Big Ten and ranks 13th in the nation in 3FG per game (2.7).
• Giant Killers: After the 56-46 win over #20/20 Michigan State on Feb. 22, Illinois has now beaten at least one ranked opponent in each of the last 13 seasons. The Illini are 1-5 against ranked foes this season.
The Illinois-Utah Series
Illinois and Utah have met once before, in the First Round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament in Ames, Iowa. The No. 6 seeded Illini topped the No. 11 seeded Utes, 73-58, behind 22 points from Allison Curtin and 20 from Susan Blauser. The Illini raced out to a 28-7 lead and led by as many as 22 early in the second half, then held on for the 15-point win. Illinois would fall to No. 3 seed Iowa State, 79-68, in the second round.
Scouting the Utes
Utah earned the trip to Champaign with a 78-70 first round victory over Montana Wednesday night in Salt Lake City. Morgan Warburton had 19 points and dished out seven assists to help the Utes overcome a 12-point deficit and improve to 19-13 on the season. Marie Warner came off the bench to score 16 points and Kalee Whipple chipped in 13 points and nine boards.
The Utes finished fifth in the Mountain West Conference regular season with a 10-6 record and lost in the semifinals of the MWC Tournament to BYU. They had an up-and-down season, starting off 1-4, then winning 13 of their next 15 before finishing the season by winning just four of their last 11. Utah played one team on Illinois' schedule this year, picking up an 80-69 victory against Northwestern on Dec. 20, a team the Illini beat 77-49.
Warburton is the Utes top scoring threat, pouring in 16.0 points per game and nailing a team-best 50 threes on the season. Whipple also scores in double-figures (10.6 ppg) and is the team's top rebounder (6. 8 rpg). Utah is coached by Elaine Elliott, who is in her 24th season with the Utes.
Bjork, Smith Named to All-big Ten Teams
The Big Ten Conference announced its 2006-07 women's basketball award winners on Feb. 27, with the Illini duo of Lori Bjork and Jenna Smith collecting league honors. Bjork was a second team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and media, while Smith was an honorable mention selection to the All-Conference team and was picked to the coaches All-Freshman Team. Bjork was also chosen as Illinois' honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Bjork's Streaks Come to An End
Sophomore Lori Bjork's consistency from behind the arc has been remarkable this season. The Johnston, Iowa, native hit at least one three-point field goal in 35 straight games, which is now the third longest active streak in the nation, until she went 0-5 on the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal loss Penn State.
In the last game of the regular season, Bjork had her streak of making at least two threes in every game this season snapped when she went 1-of-5 from downtown against Purdue. That streak spanned 27 games and was the longest in the nation.
Block Party
Illinois had seven blocked shots against Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament to extend its school record for blocks in a season. The Illini now have 147 blocks, bettering the old record of 137 set in 2001-02. Lacey Simpson has a team-high 39 swats this year, which surpasses the Illinois freshman record of 37 previously held by Casey Leonhardt, and Jenna Smith is right on her heels with 37. The Illini tied a school record and set a new Kohl Center record with 11 blocked shots in the 70-62 win over Wisconsin at the Kohl Center on Jan. 14. The other time the Illini had 11 blocks was back on March 1, 1997 in a 98-76 win over Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.
D-D-D-Defense
Defense has been one of the keys to Illinois' solid play all season and that was no different in the upset of #20 Michigan State on Feb. 22. The Illini held the Spartans to a season-low 46 points in the victory and limited the previous week's Co-Big Ten player of the week, Alyssa DeHaan, to just eight points.
For the season, the Illini lead the league in 3FG percentage defense (.269), and rank 22nd in the nation and third in the conference in overall FG percentage defense (.361). They have allowed only six opponents to shoot over 40 percent this season.
Domination on the Glass
Illinois has been dominant on the glass this season, leading the Big Ten in rebounding offense (40.6) and defensive rebounds (28.79), while ranking second in rebounding margin (+6.1) for all games. Individually, freshman Jenna Smith led the Big Ten in offensive rebounds (3.60) and was third in overall boards (8.5) in Big Ten play. The Illini have out-rebounded their opponent in 15 of the last 21, including two ties and twice losing the battle by a margin of one.
Trey-Mendous
Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten in 3FG made per game (5.31) and fourth in 3FG percentage (.349). Lori Bjork leads the way, hitting 79-of-200, which makes her the conference leader and ranks her 13th in the nation in three's made per game (2.72), and fourth in the conference and 25th in the nation in 3FG percentage (.395).
RPI Rankings
Illinois is ranked 74th in the RPI according to the March 11 CollegeRPI.com report and has a schedule strength of No. 81 according to the site. Utah had an RPI ranking of 86 and strength of schedule ranking of 78.
Big Ten Pace Setters
In all games, the Illini lead the league in three categories: 3FG% defense (.269), reb. offense (40.6), and def. rebounds (28.79); while ranking in the top-five in 13-of-19 categories. In Big Ten games, Illinois led the league in two categories: rebounding margin (+5.3), and def. rebounds (27.63). The Illini ranked in the top-five in 13-of-19 statistical categories.
Bjork Makes Point
• Second team All-Big Ten selection Lori Bjork has hit 79 three-point FGs on the season, surpassing the old single season school record of 74 held by Krista Reinking (1995-96). Additionally, her 132 career threes in less than two seasons already puts her fourth on the UI career 3FG made list. She is on pace to easily break Reinking's career mark of 194.
• Bjork was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America third team on Feb. 27 with a 3.94 GPA in political Science. She is the first Illini to earn the honor since Lisa Robinson was a first teamer in 1982. Bjork is one of only two sophomores on the first three teams this year, joining Tennessee's Candace Parker. She was named to the Academic All-District first team on Feb. 8 after a vote by SIDs.
• Bjork hit a career-high six threes on 2/1 against Michigan, equaling the third-best single game 3FG total in UI history.
• For all games, Bjork leads the conference in threes made per game (2.72), ranks second in minutes (35.07), fourth 3FG percentage (.395), and and sixth in scoring (14.4). In Big Ten games, she led the league in threes made per game (3.00), ranked third in minutes (36.20) and FT percentage (.875), fourth in 3FG percentage (.417), and eighth in scoring (14.9).
• Bjork has made the transition to point guard this season after the Illini lost Maggie Acuna and Janelle Hughes to graduation last spring. She has flourished in the role, leading the team in scoring (14.4), three-point field goals (79), FT percentage (.829) and minutes (35.1), while ranking second in assists (75).
Freshman Phenom
• Big Ten All-Freshman team member Jenna Smith is topped all league rookies in rebounds (8.5 rpg) and ranked third in scoring (11.9) during conference games. She also led the conference in offensive boards (3.60) in league games.
• Smith pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds, including seven offensive boards, at Indiana on Feb. 18. That total was the most by an Illini in over three seasons.
• She could break the Illinois freshman records for rebounding and blocked shots. She's just 12 boards shy of the rookie record of 226 by Kendra Gantt (1982-82) and is just two blocks behind teammate Lacey Simpson, who 39 this season and has already broken the old record of 37 (1996-97).
• Smith's has five double-doubles on the season, including four during Big Ten play, tops among league freshmen.
• For the season, Smith is averaging 11.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, which rank second and first on the team, respectively. Her .502 shooting percentage is second on Illinois and ranks seventh in the Big Ten.
Simpson Steals The Show
• Redshirt freshman Lacey Simpson has proven to be one of the top all-around players in the Big Ten this season. She has nearly recorded triple-doubles in two games, with 12 pts, 11 rebs and 7 asst. at Purdue on 2/8, and then posting a line of 18 pts, 8 rebs and seven asst. at Iowa on 2/15.
• She been the team's top defender all season, but also leads the team in assists (95) and is second on the team in three-pointers made (23) and third in 3FG percentage (.348)
• Simpson ranks in the top-12 in the Big Ten in six categories for all games: steals (4th - 2.31), blocks (8th - 1.34), assists (10th - 3.28), defensive rebs. (10th - 4.66), A/TO ratio (11th - 1.09), and overall rebs. (12th - 6.7). She's also finished in the top-12 in the same six categories during Big Ten play.
• The Zion, Ill., native played four games early last season before missing the rest of the year after having internal surgery and taking a medical redshirt.
