Jan. 27, 2008

Box Score

Illini Fall to Purdue On the Road, 71-59 Smith leads three Illini in double figures with 20 points

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Illinois had Purdue on the ropes early in the second half, but a big run by the Boilermakers gave the hosts a 71-59 victory over the Illini Sunday afternoon in front of over 9,000 pink-clad fans at Mackey Arena. Sophomore Jenna Smith led three Illini in double figures with 20 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn't enough to keep the Illini from dropping their fourth straight game and falling to 11-9 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten.

After a sluggish first half, Illinois surged in front early in the second with an 11-4 run, capped by back-to-back threes by freshman Chelsea Buher and senior Rebecca Harris, to take a 40-37 lead with 14:32 remaining. However, after a Purdue timeout, the Boilermakers went on a decisive 14-0 run over the next three minutes to take control of the game. Purdue went 6-for-6 from the field during the run to go up 11, 51-40, and the Boilers would not trail from that point on.

The Illini wouldn't go away, however, as Chelsea Gordon's hot hand kept them close until the final minute. Gordon scored 10 consecutive points for the Illini at one point, helping close the gap to just three, 57-54, with 5:45 left, but Purdue's Natasha Bogdanova hit two backbreaking threes down the stretch, the biggest with 2:47 left and the Illini still within five, to put the game away for the hosts.

Illinois was without senior forward Danyel Crutcher, who averages 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She did not travel with the team to West Lafayette due to a coaches decision. However, Buher and senior forward Stephanie Chelleen filled in admirably in Crutcher's absence. Both players saw career highs in minutes played (Buher 20 and Chelleen 24) and they combined to score 11 points, grab three boards and tally three steals.

In the first half, Illinois shot just 23 percent from the field, but trailed by only four, 29-25, at the break. Defensively, the Illini held the Boilers to 35 percent first-half shooting and forced 10 turnovers to stay in the game. However, in the second half, Purdue (10-10, 6-3 Big Ten) caught fire, hitting 64 percent from the field to finish at 50 percent for the game.

Harris scored 11 points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds for her first-career double-double, and Gordon scored all 12 of her points in the second half to join Smith in double figures.

For the game, Illinois shot 35 percent and was out-rebounded 36-33 by the Boilers.

Next, the Fighting Illini return home to Assembly Hall on Jan. 31 for a Thursday night clash with No. 15 Ohio State at 7 p.m.