Nov. 24, 2010

Complete Illinois Game Notes for the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown

Highlights from Illinois' win over Cal Poly

ILLINOIS AT THE WAIKIKI BEACH MARRIOTT RAINBOW WAHINE SHOWDOWN

PARTICIPATING TEAMS
Gonzaga, Hawaii (Host), Illinois, Long Beach St, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Carolina Central, Washington St

ILLINOIS' TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Nov. 26 - Illinois vs. Long Beach State // 2:30 pm HT / 6:30 CT
Nov. 27 - Illinois vs. North Carolina or Washington St // 12:15 pm HT / 4:15 CT OR 4:45 pm HT / 8:45 CT
Nov. 28 - Illinois vs. TBD // Time TBD

Full Tournament Schedule

ON THE AIR
Video: None
Radio: None
Livestats: Livestats at fightingillini.com via hawaiiathletics.com
Live Blog: fightingillini.com

QUICK HITS
• Tip-off: Illinois (2-2) heads to Honolulu, Hawaii Thanksgiving weekend to play three games in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown at the University of Hawaii's Stan Sheriff Center Nov. 26-28. The Fighting Illini open with Long Beach State on Friday at 2:30 HT/6:30 CT and then will face either North Carolina or Washington State in Saturday's second round. The final game of the eight-team tournament will be on Sunday, Nov. 28. The four teams on the bottom of the bracket are Gonzaga, Hawaii, Mississippi and North Carolina Central.

• Illini Put Up 100: Illinois reached the century mark for the first time since in nine seasons in Monday's 104-63 rout of Cal Poly at Assembly Hall. The last time the Illini cracked 100 prior to that was a 101-91 win over Minnesota on Feb. 4, 2001.

• It's Raining Threes: Illinois has been on fire from three-point range in the last two games, hitting a combined 19-of 37 (.514) from behind the arc in wins over Bradley and Cal Poly. Junior guard Macie Blinn has led the way, hitting 9-of-12 from downtown in the last two games. For the season, the Illini are hitting 40 percent from three-point land, led by Blinn (.643, 9-of-14) and redshirt freshman Amber Moore (.370, 10-of-27).

• Penn Stepping Up: Sophomore Karisma Penn has stepped up as Illinois' go-to player this year in the absence of Jenna Smith and Lacey Simpson, last year's Illini senior stars. Penn poured in a career-high 30 points against Cal Poly and has two double-doubles in four games this season. Overall, she is averaging 18.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 blocks through four games, a significant increase in production from last year when she averaged 10.9 points, 5.5 boards and 1.7 blocks to earn Big Ten All-Freshman accolades.

• Where are the Seniors? Illinois is one of only seven Division I teams in the nation without a senior on its roster heading into the 2010-11 season, joining Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Murray State, Oral Roberts, Purdue and Rutgers. With the absence of senior leadership, Illini head coach Jolette Law has singled out redshirt junior Lydia McCully and sophomores Karisma Penn and Kersten Magrum as players who have stepped up as leaders this season.

SCOUTING THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
Gonzaga
2010-11 Record: 2-2
2009-10 Record (Postseason): 29-5 (NCAA Sweet 16)
Head Coach: Kelly Graves (11th season)
Series vs. ILL: Teams have never met

Hawaii
2010-11 Record: 2-1
2009-10 Record (Postseason): 10-20 (None)
Head Coach: Dana Takahara-Dias (2nd season)
Series vs. ILL: Teams have never met

Long Beach State
2010-11 Record: 0-4
2009-10 Record (Postseason): 13-17 (None)
Head Coach: Jody Wynn (3rd season)
Series vs. ILL: Tied 1-1 (last 63-54 LBSU in 1983)

Mississippi
2010-11 Record: 3-1
2009-10 Record (Postseason): 17-15 (WNIT First Round)
Head Coach: Renee Ladner (4th season)
Series vs. ILL: Miss leads 1-0 (last 75-50 Miss in 2006)

No. 14/15 North Carolina
2010-11 Record: 4-0
2009-10 Record (Postseason): 19-12 (NCAA First Round)
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (36th season)
Series vs. ILL: UNC leads 3-0 (last 68-59 UNC in 2008)

North Carolina Central
2010-11 Record: 1-1
2009-10 Record (Postseason): 11-18 (None)
Head Coach: Joli D. Robinson (14th season)
Series vs. ILL: Teams have never met

Washington State
2010-11 Record: 0-4
2009-10 Record (Postseason): 8-22 (None)
Head Coach: June Daugherty (4th season)
Series vs. ILL: Teams have never met

LAST TIME OUT: ILLINI RUN ALL OVER CAL POLY
Karisma Penn poured in a career-high 30 points to lead Illinois (2-2) to a 104-63 victory over Cal Poly (2-2) Monday afternoon in front of 2,534 screaming school children on Youth Day at Assembly Hall. Penn hit 14-of-22 from the field and also pulled down 10 rebounds to help the Illini break the century mark for the first time since 2001.

Penn wasn't the only Illini to have a career day against the Mustangs. Lydia McCully had a career-high 17 points and tied her career-high with seven assists. Macie Blinn continued her hot shooting, going 4-of-4 from three-point range and finishing with 16 points. Eboni Mitchell also had a big game, dishing out a career-high eight assists, while freshmen Alexis Burke (17 points) and Centrese McGee (10 points, nine rebounds) also had big days.

Illinois went on a 9-0 run early in the game to turn a 6-6 tie into a 15-6 lead and would never look back. The Illini pushed the lead out to 18 at the break, 48-30, behind Penn's dominance inside.

Illinois outrebounded the guests 44-32, held a 54-26 edge on points in the paint, and shot 61.6 percent from the field (45-of-73) and 58.8 percent from three-point range (10-of-17). The Fighting Illini shared the ball exceptionally well, totaling 28 assists on the team's 45 made baskets.

Notes from the Cal Poly Win
• The 104 points mark the first time Illinois broke 100 since 2/4/01 vs. Minnesota are the most for an Illini squad since a 112-73 win over W. Michigan on 11/15/99.
• Illinois' 28 assists are the most in a game since Dec. 5, 1987, when they had 31 dimes against Ball State, and tied the six-highest total in school history.
• Illinois' 45 made field goals equal the second-most in a game for an Illini team behind only the school record of 50 vs. Bradley in 1982.
• The 10 made threes by the Illini ties for the fourth most in school history and is the most since hitting 12 vs. Auburn in 2003.
• The 41-point win marked Illinois' largest margin of victory since beating IPFW by 49 (86-37) on 2/22/05.

YOUTH DAY A SUCCESS
Illinois' first ever Youth Day at last Monday's game vs. Cal Poly was a success. Over 2,500 grade school and junior high students attended the game, cheered for the Illini and listed to Coach Law and the Illini players speak after the game about sportsmanship, teamwork, quality education, anti-bullying, fitness and more, all components of Illinois' statewide public service announcement campaign called Tough Enough, Smart Enough.

The unusual 11 a.m. weekday start allowed for schools to attend the game as a field trip and students were allowed to bring their lunched inside Assembly Hall for the game. Illinois hopes to make Youth Day an annual event at women's basketball.

FRESH FACES
Four newcomers show up on the Fighting Illini roster this season, two players and two coaches. Jolette Law and staff welcome two freshman players to the squad in Centrese McGee (Calumet City, Ill.) and Alexis Burke (Bainbridge, Ga.), while redshirt freshman Amber Moore (Detroit, Mich.) is back in the mix after missing all but one game last season with a torn ACL. All three players have made a big impact early in the season as the three freshmen are combining to average 21.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per game thus far. New on the sidelines are assistant coaches Michael Peck and Usha Gilmore.