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Women's Basketball
Game Notes for Illinois' Pink Zone Game vs. PSU on Sunday
Feb. 21, 2009
Complete Illinois-PSU "Pink Zone" Game Notes Game 27: Penn State (9-16, 4-11) at Illinois (8-18, 4-11)Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009 // 2 p.m. CT // Assembly Hall (16,618) // Champaign, Ill.On The Air The Series The Coaches Sunday's Promotions Quick Hits • Thinking Pink: Sunday's game is Illinois' third annual WBCA "Pink Zone" game to raise awareness for breast cancer research. The Illini will be wearing pink jerseys and shoes and all fans who wear pink will get in free. • Senior Day: Lone senior Chelsea Gordon will be honored for her contributions to Illinois basketball throughout her career prior to Sunday's game. Though she won't be playing due to injury, it will mark the last time Gordon steps onto the Assembly Hall court as a player.
• Honoring a Legend: Former Illini legend Ashley Berggren will have her #32 jersey raised to the Assembly Hall rafters during a ceremony at halftime. Berggren, who played for the Illini from 1994-98, was the 1997 Big Ten Player of the Year, a two-time All-American and is the school's all-time leading scorer. • Dynamic Duo: Juniors Jenna Smith and Lacey Simpson have been Illinois' go-to players all season, combining to average 29.3 points and 17.6 rebounds per game to form one of the most potent duos in the country. In the Illini's recent six-game stretch, where they've gone 4-2, Smith and Simpson have combined for 32.2 points and 20.3 rebounds per game. The duo ranks 1-2 in double-doubles during Big Ten play as Simpson has seven and Smith six. Simpson also does it on defense, as she leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth in the nation in steals (3.2). • Peaking at the Right Time: Last season, the Fighting Illini peaked late in the season, making a historic run to the Big Ten Tournament title game as the No. 9 seed before falling to Purdue at the buzzer in the championship game. This year, the Orange and Blue appear to be playing their best basketball as the season winds down once again. After struggling to an 0-9 Big Ten start, Illinois has won four of its last six and is looking to climb up the conference standings as the postseason approaches. • The Amazing Race: With Illinois and Penn State tied for eighth place entering the weekend, the winner will have an inside track at getting the No. 8 or possibly the No. 7 seed for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, while the loser may fall to the No. 9 or No. 10 seed. The race at the top of the conference is equally close, as Ohio State and Michigan State are deadlocked in first place at 12-3 and Purdue sits just a half game back at 12-4. • Law Inks No. 3 Recruiting Class: Jolette Law signed the best recruiting class in school history on Nov. 12, the first day of the fall signing period. The class was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz on signing day, and moved to No. 3 at the end of the early signing period. See page 6 for more information on the recruits. • McDonald's Girl: Illinois signee Destiny Williams was named to the McDonald's High School All-America Game this week. She will join 23 of the other top players in the nation for the game on April 1 in Miami. • Game Times Announced: Game times and broadcast information have been announced for Illinois' final two games this season. The Feb. 26 game at Iowa is set to tip at 8 p.m. CT and will air on the Big Ten Network, while the March 1 regular season finale at Minnesota will tip at 1 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on BigTenNetwork.com.
What to Watch For Scouting the Lady Lions The Lady Lions feature one of the most prolific scorers in the conference in junior guard Tyra Grant, who ranks second in the Big Ten at 19.9 points per game. Senior point guard Brianne O'Rourke averages 10.8 points and 4.5 assists per game, while senior Mashea Williams and sophomore Julia Trogele are also scoring threats at 8.6 and 8.0 ppg, respectively. • The Illinois-Penn State Series: The Lady Lions lead the all-time series 22-12 and have won three of the last four games against the Illini. Illinois holds a 9-6 advantage over Penn State at home, however, with a commanding 69-59 win at Assembly Hall last season. The two teams have already met once this year, with Penn State squeaking by with a 54-51 win in State College on Dec. 28. The last time the Lady Lions won in Champaign was on Feb. 13, 2005. • This Year vs. the Lady Lions: Illinois led most of the way, but couldn't hold on for the victory in a 54-51 defeat to PSU in University Park on Dec. 28. Juniors Jenna Smith and Lacey Simpson each had double-doubles for the Orange and Blue, as Smith poured in 23 points and had 12 rebounds and Simpson finished with 10 points and 12 boards, but it wasn't enough as the Lady Lions overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to pull the game out in the final minute. Illinois had a chance to tie it in the final seconds, but Smith's three-point attempt was just short. All-American Girl: Smith is Double Trouble Current Consecutive Games of 10+ points (Through games of 02/19/09) Rk Player, School Streak Next Game 1. Robyn Fairbanks, Utah Valley St. 75 Feb. 23 2. Megan Frazee, Liberty 59 Feb. 21 2. Morgan Warburton, Utah 59 Feb. 25 4. Jantel Lavender, Ohio State 57 Feb. 22 5. Sade Logan, Robert Morris 52 Feb. 21 6. Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State 50 Feb. 21 7. Jenna Smith, Illinois 34 Feb. 22 8. Chante Black, Duke 29 Feb. 22 9. Shavonte Zellous, Pittsburgh 28 Feb. 21 10. Maya Moore, Connecticut 27 Feb. 22• Perfect 10: Smith currently ranks 10th on the Illinois career scoring list with 1,439 points. She has a ways to go to climb further up the list as she's still 63 points behind Tajua Catching's ninth-place total of 1,502 points. Smith needs 97 points to crack the UI's top five in all-time scoring. • Doubling Up: Smith had her eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 boards against Purdue on Feb. 15. Smith now has 30 double-doubles for her career, which is tied for the Big Ten's active lead and is fourth on the Illinois career list. Her six double-doubles in Big Ten play this season are tied for second in the league behind only teammate Lacey Simpson. • Block Party: Smith is inching closer to Kendra Gantt's 24-year old Illinois career record for blocked shots. Smith's one block at Purdue brought her career total to 148, leaving her just nine swats from passing Gantt's record of 156. With 50 blocks this season, Smith is also nine blocks shy of equaling her own single season record of 59 from last season. Smith currently ranks third in the Big Ten and 52nd in the nation in blocks. • Cleaning the Glass: Smith isn't climbing up just the scoring and blocks lists, she also is steadily making her way up the UI career rebounding list. The junior has 781 boards after pulling down 13 on Sunday against Purdue, moving her past Ashley Berggren and into seventh on the Illinois all-time list. She has stepped up her rebounding in conference play, ranking fourth in the league in overall rebounding (9.1) and first in offensive boards (3.53) during Big Ten games. The season-high 18 boards she pulled down against Iowa on Jan. 15 is the third-highest total in the conference this season and was just one off her career-high of 19. • She Keeps Going and Going: Despite being the focal point of every defense this season and seeing constant double and triple teams, Smith has been the most durable player in the Big Ten. She leads the league in minutes at 38.62 per game and has played all 40 minutes 15 times this season. Smith has sat out just eight out of 600 minutes during conference play to average an incredible 39.5 minutes per game, and has rested just 41 out of 1045 minutes throughout the entire season. • Smith Named to Naismith Watch List: Smith has been named to the Naismith Award Watch list. She is one of 50 players nominated for the award, which is the most prestigious national award presented annually to college basketball's player of the year. • Grand Game: Smith went over 1,000 career points when she poured in 29 during the season-opener at IPFW, becoming the 22nd player in school history to reach the milestone and the seventh fastest to do so, accomplishing the feat in 66 games. • JennaSmith13.com: Stay up-to-date on Smith's season and her quest for All-America and Big Ten Player of the Year honors at jennasmith13.com. The site will be updated throughout the season with videos, photos, stats, news and much more. Sensational Simpson • Simpson Steals the Show: Simpson has racked up 20 steals in the last five games and is on pace to break the Illinois career steals record in less than three full seasons of play. She currently has 242 career thefts, leaving her four shy of Jill Estey's second place total of 246 and 10 short of the Allison Curtin's school record of 252. Her nine steals in the season-opener vs. IPFW set a new career-high and equaled the second most in a game in school history. • Double Take: Simpson is nearly averaging a double-double in conference play (10.7 ppg and 9.9 rpg) and leads the league with seven double-doubles in Big Ten play. She has racked-up double-doubles in four of the last five games and has nine on the season, which ranks third in the league. • Big Ten POW: Simpson was named the Big Ten Player of the Week (Feb. 10) after a pair of big games against Michigan State and Indiana. Simpson had 16 points, 14 boards and three steals to lead the Illini to an upset win at Indiana on 2/8 and also had a huge game against Michigan State on 2/5 with 12 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and four blocks. The Zion, Ill., native averaged 14.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 5.0 steals and 2.5 blocks while shooting 50 percent on the week. • Rare Company: Simpson is one of only three players in the nation that averages over 3.0 steals and 9.0 rebounds per game. The other two are Louisville's Angel McCaughtry (9.3 rpg, 4.9 spg) and IUPUI's Jernisha Cann (10.8 rpg, 3.7 spg). Simpson is averaging 9.2 rpg and 3.2 steals per game entering Sunday's game against Penn State. • All-Around Player: Simpson is one of the most versatile players not only in the Big Ten, but in the nation. She is one of just two Big Ten players to appear in the conference rankings in nine categories, joining Purdue's Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton. Simpson ranks in the top-10 in seven of those nine categories and leads the league in steals at 3.23 per game. She is the only player to rank in the league's top-10 in rebounding (second), assists (eighth) and steals (first). • Picking Up Where She Left Off: After stellar performances at the 2008 Big Ten Tournament and WNIT, Simpson has stepped her game up even more this season. Her 11.3 points per game is over four points higher than her average last season and, defensively, she has taken it to another level as evidenced by her steals, blocks and rebounding numbers. Simpson nearly had the second triple-double in school history with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine steals in the season-opener. • Working Woman: Simpson, a fourth-year junior, finished up her class work during the fall semester and is working as an intern in the Illinois Athletic Public Relations office this semester to complete her undergraduate degree. Simpson plans on taking the GRE this spring and beginning graduate school next year during her final year of athletic eligibility. • Lacing Up with Lacey: This semester Simpson is writing a weekly blog to keep Fighting Illini fans up-to-date on what's going on behind-the-scenes. In this week's installment of "Lacing Up," Simpson talks about senior day for Chelsea Gordon and the importance of the Pink Zone game in the Illini's home finale. And then There Were Eight Youth is No Excuse Bling, Blinn Tough Slate Looking Ahead
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