Feb. 5, 2012

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

West Lafayette, Ind. - Junior Adrienne GodBold had a career-high 25 points and made a career-best five three-pointers for the Illini, but No. 15 Purdue won the rebounding battle and forced 19 Illinois turnovers in a 77-66 victory at Mackey Arena. The win keeps Purdue (19-5, 9-2 B1G) in first-place in the Big Ten. Both teams face Ohio State next. The Buckeyes visit Champaign Thursday night then hosts Purdue in a first-place showdown next Sunday.

Illinois (8-16, 2-9 B1G) got in early foul trouble with junior Karisma Penn picking her second foul just four-and-half minutes into the game and sophomore Alexis Burke picking up her third before halftime. Despite that, the Illini managed to hang with the Boilermakers, trailing just 33-28 at the intermission. GodBold had two steals and the Illini forced 12 first-half turnovers.

Illinois jumped to a 14-7 lead with Alexis Burke tallying seven of the first 14 points for the Illini. But Purdue out-rebounded Illinois 25-16 in the first half and fouls put Purdue on the line where the Boilermakers made 11 of 14 shots from the stripe in the first half.

Although Illinois never led in the second half, the Illini continued to put the pressure on. The Boilermakers scored the first five points of the second half in the span of 45 seconds, getting the lead to 10 points. It reached 44-30 on a three-pointer by Brittany Rayburn (12 points). GodBold had nine points in the first nine minutes of the second half, helping the Illini cut the deficit to 54-49 with just over 10 minutes to play. For the game, GodBold was 7 of 10 from the floor, including 5 of 6 from the three-point arc. She made 15 of 19 field goals in two games this week.

"I tell her all the time that she could be a pro," Law said of GodBold. "She plays so unselfish and has become a nice outside threat. I keep telling my team that we need a total team effort and players like Alexis Burke and Adrienne GodBold were really important for us today."

"I was just focused on playing well for a full game today," GodBold said. "I tried to let the game come to me. The outside shooting is something I always work on. It happened to pay off today."

Purdue's Courtney Moses (21 points) scored back-to-back buckets to extend the lead to 62-51 only to see Illinois use a 7-0 run to get to within 62-58 with seven minutes to play. GodBold hit her fifth three-pointer of the game and Lydia McCully finished a fast break after a GodBold steal.

Thanks to a strong inside presence by Purdue's Sam Osterello (21 points, 13 rebounds), however, the Boilermakers pulled away to lead by as 14 points at 76-62, using a 14-4 run, to close the game out.

Besides her offensive output, GodBold added eight rebounds and four steals. Burke added 17 points, her third straight game in double figures. The Illini also shot 78 percent from the line (14-18), but were out-rebounded 45-32.

"It was a physical game," Law said. "Every time we made a run, they were able to sustain it. We have to continue to fight. Rebounds and turnovers are the categories I see as the difference in the game. You have to win the rebound battle and limit turnovers against a team like Purdue."

In looking ahead to Thursday's rematch with Ohio State, Law added, "February is a statement month and right now we're focused on getting wins down the stretch to make that positive statement."