FightingIllini.com
The Official Home of University of Illinois Athletics
- Men's Sports
- MEN'S SPORTS
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cheerleading
- Football
- Golf
- WOMEN'S SPORTS
- Basketball
- Cheerleading
- Golf
- Gymnastics
- Soccer
Big Crowd Sees Fighting Illini Effort Come Up Just Short
  |
|
Macie Blinn scored a career-high 16 points in front of over 7,000 Illini faithful on Saturday.
|
Jan. 3, 2009
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's basketball team dropped another close contest, falling 52-48 to Minnesota on Saturday afternoon in front of a season-high crowd of 7,052 orange-clad fans at Assembly Hall. The game was billed as "Pack the Hall" and was nationally televised on CBS. The crowd was the largest to watch women's basketball at Assembly Hall since 8,967 fans witnessed Illinois defeat Michigan on Jan. 27, 2002.
Freshman Macie Blinn came off the bench to lead the Illini (4-11, 0-4 Big Ten) offensively, pouring in a career-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Junior All-American Jenna Smith had 11 points to score in double figures for the 23rd straight game, while junior Lacey Simpson had a standout defensive game, grabbing 12 rebounds and tying her career-high with five blocked shots. As a team, the Orange and Blue had 10 blocks, one off the school record of 11. Smith blocked three shots and senior Chelsea Gordon had two along with Simpson's five.
Minnesota freshman guard Kiara Buford was the difference in the game, scoring 14 points off the bench and hit the game's keys shot, a three-pointer with 46 seconds left, allowing the Gophers (10-4, 2-1) to sneak out of Assembly Hall with the win. Illinois took a 46-45 lead after a jumper by freshman Fabiola Josil with 1:59 to play, but Buford immediately hit a jumper on the other end to put Minnesota up 47-46 with 1:38 remaining. After a missed shot by Smith, Buford answered with the three-point dagger that gave the Gophers a 50-46 lead. Blinn scored on a lay-up on the Illini's next possession to put them within two, 50-48, with 38 seconds to play, but two free throws by Minnesota's Emily Fox iced the 52-48 Gophers' victory.
The spirited Illini shot a season-best 48.8 percent on 20-of-41 shooting, including shooting 55 percent in the second half (11-of-20). Minnesota shot 35.2 percent (19-off-54), held the rebounding advantage over Illinois 30-28 and recorded 11 steals to the Illini's three. The Orange and Blue held the Gophers to just 26.7 percent shooting (4-of-15) from behind the arc, well below Minnesota's season average of 38.8 percent.
Illinois led by three at halftime, 23-20, thanks to a balanced offensive attack and stingy defense. The Illini led by as many as eight, 22-14, but the Gophers finished the half on a 6-1 mini-run. Blinn led the Orange and Blue with seven points, Josil added six and Smith four as Illinois shot 43 percent in the first half. Defensively, the Illini held Minnesota to just 31 percent shooting, led by Simpson's four blocks.
The Gophers took a 28-26 lead early in the second half, but the Illini responded with an 8-0 run. Simpson got it started with a jumper to beat the shot clock buzzer, then Smith and redshirt freshman Lydia McCully followed with lay-ups and Blinn capped it with a break-away lay-up after a Simpson steal to give the Illini a 34-28 lead with 13:10 left to play. After trading baskets, the Orange and Blue still led by six, 41-35, with 7:18 remaining. The Gophers followed with a 9-2 run capped by a three-point play by Buford to retake the lead, 44-43, with 4:17 to go.
Illinois will next hit the road and try to snap a five-game losing streak with a contest at Michigan on Thursday, Jan. 8. The Orange and Blue then return home to play nationally ranked Ohio State on Monday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.
