Nov. 23, 2005

Box Score

GREELEY, Colo. - The Northern Colorado (2-1) poured in three-pointers from all over the court in a stunning 65-55 victory over Illinois (1-1) Wednesday night in Greeley. The Bears buried 15 of 32 shots (46.9%) from behind the arc to take control early on and hold on for a victory against the favored Illini. Janelle Hughes led all scorers with 18 points and also added a career-high seven rebounds.

"Northern Colorado played well, they hit shots and did what they needed to do to win," said Grentz. "We knew they would jack-up 40 threes and they put 'em in every which way - you have to give them credit."

As hot has UNC's shooting was from downtown, Illinois' was equally cold. The Orange and Blue shot just 3-18 (16.7%) from long range and hit only 19-55 (34.9%) overall. Freshman sharpshooter Lori Bjork, who led Illinois with 13 points in last Friday's season opener, struggled in the thin air to the tune of 0-10 overall and 0-7 from downtown. Junior forward Erin Wigley also struggled from the field, hitting 4 of 12 shots before fouling out with 3:30 remaining with eight points.

Illinois jumped out to a 6-0 lead early after a lay-up by Hughes off the tip, a long jumper from Maggie Acuna and a lay-up by Wigley, but from that point on it was all Bears. UNC went on an 11-0 run, capped by a Molly McGrath three, and would never look back. Illinois went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal in the first half as Northern Colorado stretched the lead to double-digits at the break, 31-21.

An Audrey Tabon lay-up gave Illinois the first points of the second half but a Cindy McCarroll trey pushed the lead to 11 and the Illini would get no closer until the final minute. UNC pressed and pressured the Illini into 16 turnovers and its quick ball movement on offense created many open looks for the Bear shooters.

One bright spot for Illinois was its 14-16 (87.5%) shooting from the free throw line. Freshman Danielle Gratton also had a solid game, scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds in 12 second half minutes.

Up Next: Illinois now heads to Boulder to play in the 19th Annual Coors Classic at the University of Colorado. Illinois will face Utah State on Friday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. CT and then will face Colorado or Northern Iowa on Nov. 26 at either 6 or 8 p.m. (CT). Live audio of Friday's game can be heard on line at fightingillini.com.

Illinois' home opener will be on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. vs. Northern Illinois. The Nov. 29 game will precede a "Gamewatch" of the 14th-ranked Illinois men at North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on the Assembly Hall video board at 8 p.m.