Feb. 28, 2010
2010 Big Ten Tournament Bracket 
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Illinois women's basketball team just seems to have Northwestern's number. Jolette Law's Fighting Illini defeated the Wildcats for the 21st consecutive time with a convincing 58-48 win at Welsh-Ryan Arena Sunday afternoon in Evanston. Senior Lacey Simpson led the way with 17 points and six steals, while fellow senior Jenna Smith had 15 points and 12 boards for the Orange and Blue, who close the regular season tied for eighth place in the Big Ten with a 15-13 overall record and a 7-11 conference mark.
The Illini head in to next week's Big Ten Tournament on a roll, having won two straight after a 61-57 win over Purdue last Sunday and today's victory. Illinois will be in familiar territory in Indianapolis as it will be the No. 9 seed for the third consecutive season.
On Sunday in Evanston the Illini were focused right from the start, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Illinois jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening minutes and used a 15-3 run later in the half to open up a 20-8 lead following a steal and fast break lay-up by freshman Karisma Penn with 4:45 left to play. From the 14:54 mark to the 3:31 mark of the first half, the Illini defense allowed just one Northwestern field goal. For the half, the Illinois defense limited the hosts to just 17 percent shooting en route to a 23-13 halftime lead. The 13 points allowed are a season-low for an Illinois opponent.
Northwestern (16-13, 7-11) opened the second half with a three-point play to close with in 23-16, but Illinois countered with an 11-0 run, capped by a steal and fast break lay-up by Simpson, to take command of the game, 34-16, with 16:34 remaining. The `Cats would get no closer than nine the rest of the way as Illinois shot lights-out in the second half, hitting 12-of-19 from the field (63.2 percent).
For the game, Illinois shot 52.4 percent and held NU to 28.1 percent from the field. The Illini also dominated in the paint, outscoring the `Cats 28-10 inside, and held a 12-0 edge in fast break points thanks mostly to Simpson's six steals and Penn's three thefts.
Simpson was magnificent, hitting 7-of-12 from the field for her game-high 17 points, while also adding seven rebounds, six steals, three assists and three blocks. She locked up her second straight Big Ten steals title and climbed up to fourth on the Big Ten's career steals list. Smith, meanwhile, picked up her 16th double-double of the season and moved up two spots on the Big Ten career rebounding list. She's now the third-best rebounder in the history of the conference with 1,138 career boards.
The Illini freshmen also came up big in today's game. Penn had a solid all-around game with 10 points, six rebounds, a career-high six assists, four blocks and three steals. She moved into sole possession of the Illini freshman blocks record as she now has 43 to move out of a tie with Smith and Simpson for the record. Adrienne GodBold also provided a spark with seven first-half points during a stretch when the UI offense needed a boost. Kersten Magrum also contributed to the win with four points, while sophomore Lydia McCully had a solid game with five points, four rebounds and three assists while playing a full 40 minutes.
The Illinois win evened up the overall season series between the two teams at 31-31, though Illinois has dominated lately, winning 24 of the last 25 against the Wildcats.
The Fighting Illini will now head to the Big Ten Tournament March 4-7 in Indianapolis to try to earn the Big Ten's automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Illinois will be the No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 seed Indiana the third and final game on Thursday (approx. 4:30 p.m. ET).
Postgame Notes - Feb. 28 at Northwestern
1. Illinois beat Northwestern on Sunday for the 21st straight time, extending the longest current winning streak of one Big Ten team over another. The Illini have now won 11 straight road games vs. the Wildcats and how not dropped a game to NU in Evanston in 14 years.
2. Jenna Smith's 15 points bring her career total to 2,051. She now needs 39 points to break Ashley Berggren's Illinois career scoring record of 2,089. She also passed former Minnesota Golden Gopher Laura Coenen (2,044) for 12th on the Big Ten's all-time scoring list.
3. Smith's 12 rebounds bring her career total to 1,138 and move her into third place on the Big Ten's career rebounding list past former Michigan State Spartan Liz Shimek (1,130) and former Minnesota Golden Gopher Molly Tadich (1,135).
4. Smith's double-double was her 16th of the season and the 48th of her career.
5. Lacey Simpson had three blocks to bring her career total to 159, which moves her sole possession of second on the UI career blocks list. She entered the game tied with Kendra Gantt. She is now behind only Smith's Illinois career record of 213.
6. Simpson had six steals on the day to up her career total to 348 and move her into fourth on the Big Ten career steals list. She passed former Michigan State guard Kristin Haynie's total of 346 today.
7. Simpson's 17 points up her career scoring total to 1,104 points and move her past Alicia Sheeler (1,091) and into 19th place on the Illinois all-time scoring list.
8. Karisma Penn became Illinois' freshman blocked shots record holder with four swats on the day. She now has 43 blocks on the season to move out of a tie with Smith and Simpson for the Illini rookie record.
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