Jan. 21, 2008
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's basketball team dropped another Big Ten heartbreaker, this time falling 60-58 to Iowa at Assembly Hall on Monday night. Illinois led throughout the game and had two chances to pull out the win late, but a short jumper by Hawkeye guard Kristi Smith with six seconds remaining let the Hawkeyes escape with a narrow victory. Illinois (11-7 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) was led by sophomore Jenna Smith's 21 points and 13 rebounds.
With the score tied 58-58 and just over 30 seconds to play, Illini forward Danyel Crutcher stole the ball from Iowa's Johanna Solverson. Illinois had a three-on-one break and chance to take the lead, but guard Lori Bjork had her pass to Crutcher under the basket tipped and picked off by Iowa's Krista VandeVenter, setting-up Kristi Smith's score in the final seconds.
After Iowa's go-ahead bucket and an Illinois timeout, guard Rebecca Harris pushed the ball up court, but was tied up by Iowa's Kachine Alexander as the clock ticked to 0.0. The officials conferenced for several minutes and reviewed replays to see if any time should be put back on the clock (the possession arrow pointed to Illinois), but in the end they ruled that time had expired on the play.
Illinois has now had three of its four Big Ten losses decided by two points or less, and all three have come down to the final possession. The Illini thought they had a last-second win at Penn State on Jan. 2, but Harris was called for a charge on a would-be game-winning shot as time expired. Last Thursday at #16 Ohio State, the Illini fell victim to a late three to fall 43-42 in Columbus, then tonight the game again came down to the final possession.
Smith collected her ninth double-double of the season, but she did most of her damage in the first half, when she racked up 16 points and eight boards. In the second half, the Hawkeyes primarily played a 2-3 zone that neutralized Smith on the inside and forced the Illini to play a perimeter game. That worked for a while, as junior guard Chelsea Gordon (14 points) had a career-high four three-pointers and Bjork (12 points) also drained four threes, but Illinois had trouble stopping the Hawkeyes on the defensive end.
Iowa (11-7 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) shot 50 percent for the game, 55 percent in the second half and 58 percent from three-point land, while Illinois shot just 35 percent for the game and 33 percent from behind the arc.
Illinois jumped all over the Hawkeyes in the early going behind Smith, who had 14 points in the first 10 minutes. The Orange and Blue would lead by as many as 11 in the first half, including 28-17 after a Smith lay-up at the 6:16 mark. However, the Hawkeyes went on a 10-0 run to trim the margin to 28-27 with 3:36 left. The Illini would extend the lead to 35-31 at the break thanks to an 11-0 advantage in second chance points in the first 20 minutes.
The Fighting Illini will continue their busy three-game week when they host Michigan State (11-9 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) on Thursday at 7 p.m. before heading to Purdue on Sunday, Jan. 27, for a 2 p.m. ET/1 CT tip.
