Illini Look To Rebound Against Hoosiers
January 4, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2008
Complete Illinois-Indiana Game Notes in PDF Format 
Game 15: Illinois (10-4, 2-1) at Indiana (8-6, 1-1)
Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008 // 2 p.m. ET / 1 CT // Assembly Hall (17,357) // Bloomington, Ind.
On The Air
Radio: Illini Sports Network - WDWS-AM 1400 (Dave Loane and Mike Koon)
*Tape-delayed after Illini men's basketball
Streaming Audio: Live on fightingillini.com (requires Illini All-Access subscription)
Live Stats: fightingillini.com GameTracker
The Series
Indiana leads 29-23 overall and 17-7 in Bloomington, Ind.
Last Season: Indiana won 2-0 - 71-64 on Jan. 7, 2007 in Champaign, Ill., and 81-68 on Feb. 18 in Bloomington, Ind.
The Coaches
Illinois: Jolette Law, 10-4 overall and at Illinois (first season)
Indiana: Felisha Legette-Jack, 84-83 overall (fifth season) and 27-20 at Indiana (second season)
Quick Hits
• The Game: Illinois (10-4, 2-1) will try to rebound from Wednesday's tough loss when it heads to Indiana (8-6, 1-1) on Sunday afternoon to play in the Hoosiers' Assembly Hall. Both teams had four game winning streaks snapped in their last game. The Illini are coming off a heartbreaking 49-48 loss at Penn State, while the Hoosiers fell at home, 55-49, to archrival Purdue on Thursday.
• Bjork Moves Into Second: With three three-pointers against Penn State on Wednesday, junior Lori Bjork moved into a tie for second place in the UI career three-point field goals list. She now has 168 career threes, equaling Mandy Cunningham's second place total of 168 and is within reach of Krista Reinking's school record total of 194.
• Streakin' Jenna: Sophomore Jenna Smith currently has the longest streak of double-digit scoring games in the Big Ten, with 16 (2 from last year). Ranking second behind Smith is Minnesota's Emily Fox, who has 15 consecutive games in double figures. Smith leads the Big Ten in scoring at 18.2 ppg and has led the Illini in scoring nine times this season.
• Big Ten Leaders: The Illini are at or near the top of several categories in the latest Big Ten statistical rankings. Jenna Smith leads the league in scoring (18.2) and ranks second in rebounding (9.6), defensive rebounds (6.64) and FG percentage (.571), while ranking in the top-five in four other categories. Lori Bjork is first in free throw percentage (.923) and third in three-pointers made (2.121), while Lacey Simpson leads in steals (3.14). As a team, the Orange and Blue top the league in FT percentage (.801) and rebounding defense (30.3) and rank second in scoring defense 55.6, scoring margin (+9.5), blocks (4.86) and FG percentage (.439).
• Jolette Law TV Show Debuts Jan. 6: The first installment of the Jolette Law TV Show will air on Sunday night, Jan. 6 at 11 p.m. on WCIA-TV in Champaign. The show will air weekly in that time slot immediate after the Bruce Weber show. It will also air nationally on the Big Ten Network Tuesdays at 1 p.m. CT. The show features game highlights and analysis, a preview of upcoming games and behind-the-scenes footage of some of your favorite Illini.
• Up Next: The Fighting Illini return home to Assembly Hall on Thursday night when they host the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 7 p.m. They'll have next weekend off before returning to action at Ohio State on Jan. 17.
Breaking Down The Hoosiers
Indiana has had an up-and-down year thus far, starting out 3-0, and then later having both a four-game losing streak and a four-game winning streak. The winning streak was snapped on Thursday with a 55-49 home loss to Purdue, while their most impressive win the on season came on Dec. 22, when they topped No. 13 West Virginia 79-66 in Bloomington.
Sophomore guard Jamie Braun (13.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg) leads a balanced IU attacked that has three others scoring in double figures. Junior forwards Amber Jackson (12.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, .581 FG%) and Whitney Thomas (11.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg), and junior guard Kim Roberson (10.5 ppg) are all potent weapons, while senior captain Nikki Smith (8.4 ppg, 27 3FGM) is dangerous from behind the arc.
The Illinois-Indiana Series
Indiana leads the all-time series 29-23 and, have sweeping both meetings last year, have won three in a row overall. The Hoosiers are 17-7 against the Orange and Blue in Bloomington's Assembly Hall and have won two straight there, including last year's 81-68 triumph last season.
Last Year Against the Hoosiers
In the first of two meetings, Illinois nearly came back from a 16 point second half deficit, but in the end the valiant effort fell short as the Hoosiers snapped the Illini's eight-game home winning streak with a 71-64 victory. Lori Bork and Rebecca Harris each scored 14 points to lead the Orange and Blue, while Kim Roberson poured in a career-high 28 for the Hoosiers.
In the second meeting, the Illini fell on the road, 81-68, after leading by as many as seven in the second half. The Illini shot 50 percent in the first half and took a five point lead into the break, but shot just 21 percent in the second half. Lori Bjork hit two three-pointers to break Krista Reinking's single-season Illinois record for threes made in a season of 74. Bjork finished with 14 points and freshman Jenna Smith had a monster day, scoring 16 points and pulling down what was then a career-high 16 rebounds. For Indiana, Jamie Braun (27 points) and Kim Roberson (24 points) led the way.
Smith Enjoying Sophomore Surge
Illini forward Jenna Smith has taken off in her sophomore season. She took tournament MVP honors at the FIU Thanksgiving Classic and has been named Big Ten Player of the Week three times already this season. For the year, she is averaging 18.2 points and 9.6 rebounds and is shooting 57 percent from the field and 85 percent from the line. She has led the Illini in scoring and rebounding nine times in 14 games this season.
• Raking in the Honors: Smith has been collecting her share of early-season honors thus far. She has been named Big Ten Player of the Week on three occasions this season (Nov. 12, Nov. 26 and Dec. 24) and claimed Most Valuable Player honors at the FIU Thanksgiving Classic after leading Illinois to the title.
Smith is the first Illini in over 20 years to pick-up three player of the week honors in the same season. Jonelle Polk was honored four times in the 1985-86 season, which is the most for an Illini in a single season. Polk and Ashley Berggren share the career mark for Illinois, with five each.
• Double-Trouble: Smith has recorded double-doubles in seven of 14 games this season, which is the most in the Big Ten thus far. The sophomore has 13 double-dips in her career, which is tied for second in the Big Ten behind only Wisconsin senior Jolene Anderson's 20. Illinois has won all seven games in which Smith recorded a double-double this season and lost four of the seven in which she hasn't.
• Leading the League: Smith leads the Big Ten in scoring and ranks in the top-five in eight. She ranks second in rebounding (9.6), FG percentage (.571) and defensive rebounds (6.64), while ranking third in blocks (1.86), fourth in offensive rebounds (3.00) and minutes (36.29) and fifth in FT percentage (.851). Nationally, Smith ranks in the top-50 in four categories, most notably FG percentage, where she ranks 8th.
• Smith Holds Her Own vs. NPOY: Smith faced her toughest competition to date when last year's AP National Player of the Year Courtney Paris came to Assembly Hall Dec. 5. Smith more than held her own against the Sooner star, hitting 7-of-9 from the field for 15 points, pulling down eight rebounds and blocking two shots. Paris had her usual big numbers with 22 points and 14 rebounds, but Smith served notice that she will be a force to be reckoned with for the next few years.
• Career Day: Smith scored a career-high 32 points and had 10 boards against SIU on Nov. 18. She hit 13-of-19 from the field and scored 11 straight points for the Illini at one point in the second half.
The Race To 1,000
A pair of Fighting Illini are approaching the 1,000-point club this season. Junior Lori Bjork is the closest with 896 career points, while senior Danyel Crutcher also has a shot to reach the milestone with 834 points. Bjork is about to become the 23rd player in school history to crack the 900-point barrier. In its 34-year history, Illinois has produced twenty 1,000 point scorers.
Toeing the Line
Illinois has done an excellent job getting to the line this season, and an even better job of converting those chances. Illinois leads the league and ranks sixth in the nation in FT percentage (.802), having knocked down 210-of-262 from the charity stripe. Illinois has made 11 more FTs than its opponents have shot on the season (210-199). For the year, Lori Bjork leads the way from the line, shooting a Big Ten best 92.3 percent (36-of-39).
Pressure `D' Catching On
Jolette Law's pressure defense looks to be catching on fast with the Fighting Illini. Through the first 14 games Illinois is averaging 8.4 steals per game, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten. Sophomore Lacey Simpson leads the way, as she leads the conference in steals with 3.14 thefts per game. Last year, Illinois ranked last in the Big Ten in steals at 5.55 per game.
Big Ten Teleconference Starts Up Jan. 8
Coach Law will participate in the weekly Big Ten coaches teleconference every Tuesday morning beginning Jan. 8. Law will be available to take questions for eight minutes beginning at 9:32 a.m. (CST) each Tuesday. Media wishing to participate should call the Big Ten office for details (847-696-1010). Archived audio of each teleconference is available online at www.bigten.org.
Big Ten Tournament Tickets On Sale Now
All-session tickets for the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament, presented by Xbox 360 Live, are $65 and are available at all 11 Big Ten university ticket offices, the Conseco Fieldhouse box office, Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling Ticketmaster at (317) 239-5151. All-session tickets are available at the special discounted price of $45 for the first 45 days of public sales. The $45 promotion ends Jan. 7, 2008.
