Feb. 4, 2010

Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Illinois battled back down the stretch, but it wasn't enough in a 53-48 road loss to Purdue Thursday night at Mackey Arena. The Illini held the Boilers 27 percent shooting and blocked a school-record 12 shots, but 23 turnovers and an almost eight minute second half scoring drought were too much to overcome for the Orange and Blue, who fall to 12-10 overall and 4-8 in the Big Ten.

"This wasn't a pretty game," said Illinois head coach Jolette Law. "I want to give Purdue a lot of credit. They played hard and grinded out a win, which is what you have to do at home. (Samantha) Woods hit a couple big three's for them and they capitalized off our turnovers. That was the difference."

Senior Lacey Simpson and freshman Kersten Magrum led the way offensively with 12 points each, and freshman Karisma Penn had 10 points and three blocks for the Orange and Blue. Simpson also pulled down 10 rebounds for her 16th career double-double, while Magrum hit 5-of-9 from the field to eclipse her previous career-high of seven points.

"I'll do whatever is asked of me to help win, but definitely feel very comfortable starting," said Magrum, who moved into the starting lineup three games ago. "I think I'm gaining confidence and my teammates are really helping me learn to play the guard position. I just have to keep pushing to get better and that starts in practice.

Senior Jenna Smith had seven of the Illini's 12 blocks to break the school record of six that was previously shared by Smith, Jonelle Polk and Kendra Gantt. However, Smith struggled on the offensive end facing constant double teams and finishing with eight points and 11 rebounds.

Illinois jumped out to an early 10-3 lead, but Purdue (12-11, 7-5) came back to lead 29-23 at halftime behind four three-pointers from Jodi Howell. The Illini shot 42 percent in the first half while holding the Boilers to 32 percent, but turned the ball over 14 times.

In the second half the Illini closed to within three, 38-35 at the 12:16 mark after back-to-back buckets by Smith, but they wouldn't score again until sophomore Lydia McCully hit a pair of free throws with 4:25 remaining. By then Purdue had built up a 47-35 lead after a 9-0 run. Illinois countered with a 7-0 run of their own to get back within 47-42 with three minutes left, but couldn't get any closer than five down the stretch.

"I think we played well defensively in the second half, but offensively we were going too fast," Law said. "We missed a lot of easy lay-ups and had some careless turnovers. I was just trying to tell everyone to stay calm. We need to become more mentally tough to win on the road in this conference."

Illinois shot just 30 percent in the second half and 36 percent for the game. Although Purdue shot just 21 percent in the second half, the Boilermakers hit 11-of-15 from the free throw line to keep the lead throughout.

McCully was hounded by PU point guard FahKara Malone for much of the game, but managed to tie her career-high with seven rebounds and dish out five assists before fouling out with 2:33 remaining.

The Fighting Illini will now return home to host Indiana on Sunday in Illinois' fourth annual WBCA Pink Zone game at 1 p.m. Any fan that wears pink to Assembly Hall will get in free and there will be a raffle hosted by the Courtsiders to benefit Coaches vs. Cancer.

Illinois Postgame Notes vs. Purdue
• Illinois broke the team record for blocked shots in game with 12 (the previous record was 11 on two occasions)
• Jenna Smith broke the school record for blocks in a game by a player with seven (the previous record was six held by Smith, Jonelle Polk and Kendra Gantt) and now has 201 career blocked shots
• Lacey Simpson became the program's career games played leader. She has played in 123 games as an Illini, surpassing Tauja Catching's record of 122
• Lacey Simpson moved into 10th place on the Big Ten's all-time steals list. She has 322 thefts in her career to pass former Iowa Hawkeye Franthea Price, who had 321 from 1987-90
• Kersten Magrum scored a career-high 12 points and is averaging 8.0 ppg since moving into the starting lineup three games ago
• Lydia McCully tied her career-high with seven rebounds