Jan. 19, 2012

Box Score | Photo Gallery

Champaign, Ill. - Illinois controlled most of the first half against preseason conference favorite and No. 21 Penn State and held the Lady Lions to just 39 percent from the field for the game. In the end, however, Penn State used a sizable advantage in offensive rebounds and connected on free throws down the stretch to pull away from the upset-minded Illini for a 71-65 victory Thursday night at Assembly Hall.

The Illini got a career-best 19 points from junior Adrienne GodBold and five three-pointers from sophomore Amber Moore (17 points) in giving Penn State all it could handle. However, Penn State had a 47-34 advantage on the boards and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds. The Illini also made just 58 percent of their free throws (18-31) while Penn State shot at a 75 percent clip (24-32).

"Any time you play a ranked team like Penn State, you must make free throws and you must rebound," Law said afterward. "Those are the two departments that they pretty much dominated."

Penn State has scored 100 points twice this season and was coming off a 93-point effort at nationally-ranked Nebraska, but the Illini's man-to-man held the Lions in check much of the game. Penn State hit just 30 percent of its shots in the second half.

At the start, it was Illinois that showed the offensive muscle, bolting to a 29-21 lead. Moore had four early three-point baskets forcing the Lions out of the zone.

"My teammates were finding me and I was just being aggressive," Moore said. "My whole thought process, though, was playing defense."

"Amber can be a pro," Law said of Moore. "I have to keep pumping confidence in her. She is so unselfish."

The Illini also were aggressive in taking the ball to the basket, using the driving and dish mentality for some inside points. At times GodBold was the disher, opening the lane for Karisma Penn, who had 13 points. Much of the night, however, GodBold was the recipient, scoring 11 second-half points and keying a big push midway through that half. GoldBold was often the answer when Penn was double teamed, and Penn responded with five assists.

"There were a lot times I was in the right place at the right time," GodBold said. "I wasn't really forcing it."

Despite playing strong in the first half, the Illini found themselves down 37-34 at intermission. Maggie Lucas (19 points) and Alex Bentley (15 points) showed why they are one of the top guard tandems in the country, keying a 12-1 run to end the half. Each player scored five points in the run.

Penn State (14-4, 4-2 Big Ten) used the momentum to open up a 45-36 lead three minutes into the second half, but Illinois hung tough, getting as close as 51-50 at the 8:22 mark. GodBold had 10 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half.

The Illini are the top three-point defensive team in the Big Ten and showed that again, holding the normally hot shooting long-range Penn State team to just three treys in 10 attempts.

In the end, however, Penn State got too many second chance points and Lucas made all 10 of her free-throw attempts while the Illini couldn't cash in on theirs, going just 12 of 23 (52 percent) from the line in the second half.

Illinois (6-13 overall, 0-5 Big Ten) has been in the last five games, but ultimately that isn't the goal.

"When I made the schedule, I told this team that we could do great things," Law said. "I'm not one of these coaches that is celebrating moral victories. I expected to win the game this night. I'm constantly pushing them, demanding more from them and raising the bar because I believe that we can win. They are starting to believe, but the little things are what we need to focus on."

Illinois will need those little things against another ranked opponent, No. 10 Ohio State, Sunday in Columbus.