March 9, 2008

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Championship Game Post Game Notes (PDF)

Illinois Postgame Quotes (PDF)

INDIANAPOLIS - Illinois fell in the Big Ten Tournament championship game in heartbreaking fashion, as a basket at the buzzer by Lakisha Freeman gave Purdue a 58-56 victory Sunday night at Conseco Fieldhouse. The loss brought an end to the Illini's memorable tournament run, where they won three games in three days and became the first No. 9 seed to ever advance to the Big Ten Tournament title game.

Illinois (19-14) tied the game 56-56 with 2:55 to play on a three-pointer by senior Rebecca Harris, and both teams failed to score on their next two possessions. With 58 seconds remaining, Illini sophomore Jenna Smith blocked Purdue forward Keshia Mosley's putback attempt and got the rebound. After an Illinois timeout, the Illini went to their star in Smith, but her lay-up was blocked by Freeman and Purdue got the ball back with 29 seconds remaining. Malone then held the ball until there were eight seconds on the clock, but her driving lay-up attempt in the lane was blocked by Smith with 3.1 ticks left. After a Purdue timeout, Freeman missed an 18-foot jumper from the right wing but got her own rebound and put up the game-winning shot just before the clock turned to 0.0.

Freeman's heroics denied Illinois of its first Big Ten Tournament title in its third try. Purdue has now won back-to-back tournament championships and earns the Big Ten's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Smith had her 16th double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds while also adding three blocks. Sophomore Lacey Simpson ended her stellar tournament play with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Harris had 12 points.

Illinois led by five points four times during the second half, the last coming with the score 48-43 and 9:02 remaining after two free throws by Smith. Purdue took its first lead of the half after a steal and lay-up by Malone gave the Boilermakers a 50-48 advantage with 7:46 to go. Purdue scored six of the next eight points to take a 56-50 lead at the 4:17 mark, but clutch three-pointers by Smith and Harris tied the game before Freeman's winning bucket.

Both teams struggled from the field in a defensive battle, as the Illini shot 36 percent (21-of-59) to the Boilers' 37 percent (21-of-57). Illinois made 50 percent of its three-pointers (7-of-14) and held Purdue to just 13 percent (2-of-15). The Boilermakers' won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding the Illini 42-35.

The Illini started the game shaky, trailing 10-2 after the first five minutes before going on a 10-2 run of their own to tie the game 12-12 with 10:18 to go in the first half sparked by six points, a steal, a block and two rebounds by Simpson.

After Purdue (18-14) pushed out to a 22-14 lead on a bucket in the post by Mosley at the 5:57 mark, the Illini caught fire from behind the arc. Smith, Simpson and junior Lori Bjork connected on three-pointers on consecutive possessions to bring the Illini within one point, 24-23, with 3:54 to play in the half. The Illini took their first lead of the game on a jumper by Simpson with 3:24 to make the score 24-23. Illinois ended the half on with an 18-foot jumper by Bjork with seven seconds left to put the Illini up 30-28 at half.

In the second half, the Illini stretched the lead out to five on four different occasions. The last was 48-43 with just over nine minutes to play, but Purdue countered with a 7-0 run to retake the lead. Illinois tied it at 50 on jumper by Smith with 6:58 left but the Boilers would score six straight to lead 56-50 with less than five minutes left.

At that point Smith hit one of her two three-pointers as the shot clock expired to cut the led to three with 4:17 left and Harris' three tied it at 56 on the next possession.

The loss added to the incredible list of heartbreaking defeats the Illini have suffered this season. With tonight's loss at the buzzer, Illinois has now had seven of its 11 losses against Big Ten opponents decided on the final possession of the game. All seven were decided by three points or less and all seven ended with either a buzzer-beater by the opposition or a miss by the Illini.

Smith and Harris were both named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team. Smith averaged 17.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and nearly broke the tournament record for total rebounds with 37 (the record is 38 by Purdue's Stacey Lovelace in 1996). She also hit 5-of-7 from three-point land (.714). Harris averaged 15.8 points during tournament play and nailed 7-of-15 three-point shots (46.7%).

Illinois will now wait to see its postseason fate. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday, March 17, and the WNIT field will be put together later that night after the NCAA field is announced.