Nov. 12, 2009
Complete Game 1&2 Notes (PDF) 
Game 1 - Illinois (0-0) at Temple (0-0)
Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 // 7 p.m. ET / 6 CT // McGonigle Hall (3,900) // Philadelphia, Pa.
On The Air
Radio: Internet only at fightingillini.com (Brian Moline)
Livestats: fightingillini.com and owlsports.com
The Series
Temple leads 1-0 Last Meeting: Temple 66, Illinois 47 on Nov. 23, 2008 in Champaign
The Coaches
Illinois: Jolette Law, 30-36 overall and at Illinois (third season)
Temple: Tonya Cardoza, 21-10 overall and at Temple (second season)
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Game 2 - Siena (0-0) at Illinois
Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 // 4 p.m. CT // Assembly Hall (16,618) // Champaign, Ill.
On The Air
Radio: Live on WDWS-AM 1400 and online at fightingillini.com (Brian Moline and Mike Koon)
Video: BigTenNetwork.com streaming video - $2.99 fee
Livestats:
Promotions
Bring a ticket stub from Friday's Men's Basketball game or Saturday's Football game for a free GA ticket.
The Series
Sunday will me the first meeting between Illinois and Siena
The Coaches
Illinois: Jolette Law
Siena: Gina Castelli, 299-245 overall and at Siena (20th season)
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Quick Hits
• Tip-off: Illinois opens its 36th season of women's basketball Friday night when it faces the Temple Owls in Philadelphia. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. The Illini then return home to host Siena at Assembly Hall on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.
• Illini in Openers: Illinois is 22-13 all-time in season openers and is 5-6 when starting on the road. This will be the third straight year the Illini start away from home as they won at Eastern Illinois, 86-56, in 2007 and at IPFW, 64-44, last season. Illinois is 14-1 when opening the season at home and 3-6 when starting on a neutral floor.
When Illinois hosts Siena at Assembly Hall on Sunday, the Illini will be looking for their 12th straight home-opening win. The Orange and Blue are 29-6 all-time in their first home game of the season.
• Smith Returns: Former All-American and preseason All-Big Ten selection Jenna Smith returns for her senior season after leading the Illini with 18.5 ppg and 8.6 rebounds per game last season. Smith is on the verge of several school records this season (see page 3).
• Simpson Returns: Besides Smith, the Illini have another sensational senior returning in Lacey Simpson. Simpson had a breakout year in 2008-09, averaging 11.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.1 steals. She led the Big Ten in steals and was named third team All-Big Ten and to the Big Ten All-Defensive team last year.
• High Five: All five starters from the second half of last season return this year. All-Big Ten performers Jenna Smith (31 starts) and Lacey Simpson (31) lead the way along with Lydia McCully (29), Fabiola Josil (25) and Macie Blinn (18).
• No. 3 Freshman Class: This weekend marks the official Illini debut for Illinois' freshman class of Adrienne Godbold, Brianna Jones, Kersten Magrum, Amber Moore, Karisma Penn and Destiny Williams. The class was ranked No. 3 in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz and is expected to make a big impact this season.
• Cermignano Makes Debut: In addition to the six new freshmen, assistant coach Lisa Cermignano will also be making her Illini debut this weekend. Cermignano joined Jolette Law's staff in the spring of 2009 after spending three seasons at Vanderbilt.
Smith Again Named Preseason All-Big Ten
Senior center Jenna Smith was selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team by both the coaches and media for the second straight year. A former All-American and a first team All-Big Ten selection in each of the last two years, Smith enters 2009-10 as the conference's active leader in points and rebounds. A unanimous selection by the coaches, Smith averaged 18.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in 2008-09.
Joining Smith on the preseason All-Big Ten teams are Michigan State's Allyssa DeHaan, Ohio State's Jantel Lavender and Samantha Prahalis, and Penn State's Tyra Grant. This marks the third consecutive year Illinois has had a representative on the preseason team.
Preseason Big Ten Polls
Illinois was picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten Conference preseason coaches and media polls, which were released at the annual Big Ten media day in Chicago on Oct. 29. See full game notes (PDF) for a complete look at both polls.
Scouting Temple
Illinois begins its 2010-11 campaign on the road against the Owls, a team that has been selected to the NCAA Tournament in seven of the past eight seasons. A perennial power in the Atlantic 10, Temple finished second in the league last season and is picked to finish fifth this year. The Owls feature two preseason All-Conference selections in senior guard LaKeisha Eaddy and sophomore forward Kristen McCarthy. Eaddy is the team's leading returning scorer, averaging 11.4 points and 5.5 assists per game in 2008-09, while McCarthy averaged 8.6 points and 4.3 rebounds as a freshman. Head coach Tonya Cardoza is in her second year after leading the team to a 21-10 record a year ago.
• The Illinois-Temple Series: Friday marks the second meeting between the teams in the all-time series. Temple won at Assembly Hall last year, coming away with a 66-47 victory over the Illini on Nov. 23, 2008.
Scouting Siena
The Saints open their season on Sunday at Assembly Hall, coming off of a 10-18 record in 2008-09. It will be a homecoming for Siena senior Allie Lindemann, who is a Champaign native and a graduate of Central High School. Lindemann transferred to the Saints from Kirkwood Community College prior to last season and is the team's top returning scorer (10.6 ppg) and top three-point threat as she hit 68 threes at a 35.4 percent clip in 2008-09. Siena competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic conference, finishing sixth in the league a year ago. Head coach Gina Castelli is looking for her 300th career victory on Sunday.
• The Illinois-Siena Series: Sunday marks the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
They're Here
This year's highly-touted, six-player freshman class, ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation, will take the floor for the first time as Fighting Illini this weekend. Highlighted by McDonald's All-American and USA U19 World Championship gold medalist Destiny Williams (No. 8 HoopGurlz) and Karisma Penn (No. 18 HoopGurlz), Jolette Law's second recruiting class at Illinois is the best in school history and is expected to make a major impact this season. Also in the talented class are Adrienne Godbold (No. 36 Hoopgurlz), Brianna Jones (No. 43 Blue Star), Kersten Magrum (No. 149 Blue Star) and Amber Moore (No. 109 Blue Star).
Watch Out for Jenna
• National Radar: Senior center Jenna Smith, a former All-American and two-time first team All-Big Ten honoree has been selected to three different national watch lists heading into the 2009-10 season. Smith is a preseason candidate for the State Farm Wade Trophy for Division I player of the Year, the Wooden Award, which also goes to the player of the year, and the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which focuses on the student-athlete on and off the court.
• Record Breaker: Smith enters the season with 1,545 points making her the active Big Ten scoring leader and fifth on the UI career scoring list. She is 545 points shy of Ashley Berggren's Illinois career scoring record of 2,089 points, giving her a realistic shot of surpassing the mark (Smith has scored 640 and 573 points the last two seasons).
In addition to blocked shots (which she already has) and points, Smith has a chance to be atop several career categories when all is said and done. Here is a look at Illinois records Smith has a chance to break this season:
Stat Total Rank Record Needs
Blocks 161 1 161 0
Rebounds 830 4 1,014 185
Double-Doubles 32 4 40 9
Points 1,545 5 2,089 545
FG Made 589 6 815 227
• A Model of Consistency: Smith scored in double-figures in all 31 games in 2008-09 and enters her senior season on a streak of 37 straight games in double-figures dating back to the 2007-08 season. That streak is the third-longest in the nation heading into this season. In all, Smith has scored in double-figures in 67 of the last 68 games, with only a six-point outing against Michigan in Feb. 2008 getting in the way of a 68-game streak.
Current Consecutive Games of 10+ points
(entering 2009-10 season)
Rk Player, School Streak
1. Jantel Lavender, Ohio State 66
2. Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State 58
3. Jenna Smith, Illinois 39
4. Dawn Evans, James Madison 33
5. Janae Voelker, Oral Roberts 30
• Cleaning the Glass: Smith steadily made her way up the UI career rebounding list in 2008-09, finishing the year in fourth place with a career total of 830. Smith led the Big Ten in offensive rebounds during conference games (3.39) last season and her 12 offensive boards against Iowa on Jan. 15 tied Cindy Dallas' UI single-game school record.
• Rare Air: Smith is just the fourth player in school history to score over 1,500 points and 800 rebounds in a career, joining Jonelle Polk, Kendra Gantt and Tauja Catchings.
Simpson Steals the Show
• Getting Defensive: Senior forward Lacey Simpson led the Big Ten and ranked ninth in the nation in steals, averaging 3.13 per game last season. She became the first Illinois player named to the Big Ten's All-Defensive Team since the honor began in 2005-06.
• Steals Record Falls: Simpson broke Allison Curtin's career steals record last season and enters this year with 255. Her season total of 97 steals in 2008-09 ranks No. 2 on the UI single-season list and her nine steals vs. IPFW on 11/14/08 set a new career-high and equaled the second most in a game in school history.
• Rare Company: Simpson was one of only three players in the nation to average at least 3.0 steals and 9.0 rebounds per game in 2008-09. The other two were Louisville's Angel McCaughtry (9.3 rpg, 4.2 spg) and IUPUI's Jernisha Cann (10.9 rpg, 3.6 spg). Simpson averaged 9.1 rpg and 3.1 steals per game on the season.
• College Grad: Simpson, a fifth-year senior, earned her bachelor's degree in sport management last May and is currently pursuing a master's degree in human resource education as she completes her final year of athletic eligibility.
Last Time Out: Exhibition vs. Lewis
Jolette Law's Fighting Illini took the Assembly Hall floor for the first time last Sunday, cruising to a 75-40 exhibition win over Lewis University. All 13 Illini that dressed saw extensive playing time, including five freshmen who took the court for the first time in an Illinois uniform.
Senior Jenna Smith led the way with 13 points in 22 minutes and freshmen Karisma Penn (11 points, seven rebounds) and Brianna Jones (10 points, nine rebounds) nearly had double-doubles in their debuts. Senior Lacey Simpson had nine rebounds, four points and four steals for the Orange and Blue, who forced 23 Lewis turnovers.
Illinois was sloppy early, committing 12 first-half turnovers, but still led by 10 at halftime after a three-pointer by freshman Amber Moore at the first half buzzer made the score 33-23 in favor of the Illini. Moore hit three three-points in the first half for nine points, equaling Smith's nine first-half points.
The Orange and Blue pulled away in the second half, closing the game on a 34-7 run after Lewis got within 41-33 with 15 minutes to play. Illinois shot 45 percent from the field (33-of-73) and 38 percent from three-point range (6-of-16) while holding Lewis to 29 percent overall (14-of-49).
Law tried several different lineup combinations in the game, as 12 of the 13 players saw at least nine minutes of action and no one saw more than 24. The freshman class combined for 38 points and 24 rebounds and, in all, Law got 40 points and 30 rebounds from her bench, a big contrast from a year ago when only six players played a bulk of the minutes.
Illinois dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Flyers 52-26 and holding a 38-8 edge on points in the paint. The Orange and Blue turned the Lewis turnovers into 29 points on the other end and had a 21-6 edge in second chance points.
Big Ten / Big 12 Challenge Starts in 2010
The Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences have announced the formation of an annual inter-conference challenge for women's basketball, which will span at least two years and will begin in the fall of 2010. The series will feature a home-and-home format over the initial two-year agreement. Illinois had been matched up with Colorado for the first two years. In 2010, the Illini will travel to Boulder and then in 2011 the Buffs will return the trip to Champaign. This challenge represents the second inter-conference series for the Big Ten, which also participates in an annual challenge with the ACC.
