Jan. 6, 2008

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Illinois dropped its second consecutive conference road game Sunday afternoon, falling 70-62 to Indiana at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Illini led for most of the second half, but could not hold on as the Hoosiers closed the game with a big run to drop Illinois to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in Big Ten play.

Down 29-21 at halftime, the Fighting Illini came out of the break fired-up, going on a 12-2 run capped by a Lacey Simpson jumper to take 33-31 lead at the 15:36 mark. The Orange and Blue equaled their first half total of 21 points just 7:17 into the second half and took a 42-35 lead, their largest of the game, at the 12:43 mark.

"I think we dictated more on defense and created a lot of opportunities," said Illinois head coach Jolette Law on why the team came out so well to start the second half. "The message at halftime was that we needed to make sure we're the aggressors. We started creating opportunities and once you start doing those things, shots start falling and the basket looks a little bigger."

Illinois still led 56-51 after a Chelsea Gordon three-pointer with 4:50 to play, but it would be all Hoosiers from there. The hosts went on a 12-0 run to take control of the game and then sealed it down the stretch by hitting 9-of-10 from the free throw line.

Illinois' posts dominated the game, as sophomore Jenna Smith finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds and four assists, while senior Danyel Crutcher scored 15 points and had nine rebounds before fouling out with 2:47 remaining.

Thanks to the Smith-Crutcher duo, Illinois controlled the paint, outscoring the Hoosiers 34-20 and out-rebounding them 38-28, but struggled to control the flow of the game as Indiana scored 24 points off turnovers.

Illinois shot a sizzling 59 percent in the second half and was at 47 percent from the game, but Indiana won the game at the free throw line, hitting 24-of-29 from the stripe (83 percent) to the Illini's 5-of-7 (71 percent).

"I think Indiana played a very intense game," Law said. "They played 40 minutes and they didn't let up. We had our opportunities to get a victory, but things just didn't work out in our favor."

Illini guard Lacey Simpson, who has been hampered recently by a sprained ankle, came off the bench and joined Smith and Crutcher in double figures with 11 points to go along with six assists, four rebounds and three steals. Indiana guard Jamie Braun had 14 of her 19 points in the second half, and added eight rebounds, while forward Whitney Thomas had 16 points and 12 boards.

The first half was back and fourth with five ties and nine lead changes. Illinois led 15-12 after a Smith jumper with 8:45 to go, but the Hoosiers (9-6, 2-1) took control with an 8-0 run to take the lead and extended it to eight at the break, 29-21. Smith had a double-double in the first half with 10 points and 11 rebounds, but as a team the Illini shot just 35 percent and turned the ball over nine times in the first 20 minutes.

The Fighting Illini will try to snap their two-game skid when they return home to Assembly Hall on Thursday night to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 7 p.m.