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Women's Basketball
Illini Open At Temple Friday; Host Siena Sunday
Nov. 12, 2009
Game 1 - Illinois (0-0) at Temple (0-0)Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 // 7 p.m. ET / 6 CT // McGonigle Hall (3,900) // Philadelphia, Pa.On The Air The Series The Coaches ------------------------------------------------------------------- Game 2 - Siena (0-0) at IllinoisSunday, Nov. 15, 2009 // 4 p.m. CT // Assembly Hall (16,618) // Champaign, Ill.On The Air Promotions The Series The Coaches ------------------------------------------------------------------- Quick Hits • Illini in Openers: Illinois is 22-13 all-time in season openers and is 5-6 when starting on the road. This will be the third straight year the Illini start away from home as they won at Eastern Illinois, 86-56, in 2007 and at IPFW, 64-44, last season. Illinois is 14-1 when opening the season at home and 3-6 when starting on a neutral floor. When Illinois hosts Siena at Assembly Hall on Sunday, the Illini will be looking for their 12th straight home-opening win. The Orange and Blue are 29-6 all-time in their first home game of the season. • Smith Returns: Former All-American and preseason All-Big Ten selection Jenna Smith returns for her senior season after leading the Illini with 18.5 ppg and 8.6 rebounds per game last season. Smith is on the verge of several school records this season (see page 3). • Simpson Returns: Besides Smith, the Illini have another sensational senior returning in Lacey Simpson. Simpson had a breakout year in 2008-09, averaging 11.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.1 steals. She led the Big Ten in steals and was named third team All-Big Ten and to the Big Ten All-Defensive team last year. • High Five: All five starters from the second half of last season return this year. All-Big Ten performers Jenna Smith (31 starts) and Lacey Simpson (31) lead the way along with Lydia McCully (29), Fabiola Josil (25) and Macie Blinn (18). • No. 3 Freshman Class: This weekend marks the official Illini debut for Illinois' freshman class of Adrienne Godbold, Brianna Jones, Kersten Magrum, Amber Moore, Karisma Penn and Destiny Williams. The class was ranked No. 3 in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz and is expected to make a big impact this season. • Cermignano Makes Debut: In addition to the six new freshmen, assistant coach Lisa Cermignano will also be making her Illini debut this weekend. Cermignano joined Jolette Law's staff in the spring of 2009 after spending three seasons at Vanderbilt. Smith Again Named Preseason All-Big Ten Joining Smith on the preseason All-Big Ten teams are Michigan State's Allyssa DeHaan, Ohio State's Jantel Lavender and Samantha Prahalis, and Penn State's Tyra Grant. This marks the third consecutive year Illinois has had a representative on the preseason team. Preseason Big Ten Polls Scouting Temple • The Illinois-Temple Series: Friday marks the second meeting between the teams in the all-time series. Temple won at Assembly Hall last year, coming away with a 66-47 victory over the Illini on Nov. 23, 2008. Scouting Siena • The Illinois-Siena Series: Sunday marks the first-ever meeting between the two teams. They're Here Watch Out for Jenna • Record Breaker: Smith enters the season with 1,545 points making her the active Big Ten scoring leader and fifth on the UI career scoring list. She is 545 points shy of Ashley Berggren's Illinois career scoring record of 2,089 points, giving her a realistic shot of surpassing the mark (Smith has scored 640 and 573 points the last two seasons). In addition to blocked shots (which she already has) and points, Smith has a chance to be atop several career categories when all is said and done. Here is a look at Illinois records Smith has a chance to break this season: Stat Total Rank Record Needs Blocks 161 1 161 0 Rebounds 830 4 1,014 185 Double-Doubles 32 4 40 9 Points 1,545 5 2,089 545 FG Made 589 6 815 227• A Model of Consistency: Smith scored in double-figures in all 31 games in 2008-09 and enters her senior season on a streak of 37 straight games in double-figures dating back to the 2007-08 season. That streak is the third-longest in the nation heading into this season. In all, Smith has scored in double-figures in 67 of the last 68 games, with only a six-point outing against Michigan in Feb. 2008 getting in the way of a 68-game streak. Current Consecutive Games of 10+ points Rk Player, School Streak 1. Jantel Lavender, Ohio State 66 2. Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State 58 3. Jenna Smith, Illinois 39 4. Dawn Evans, James Madison 33 5. Janae Voelker, Oral Roberts 30• Cleaning the Glass: Smith steadily made her way up the UI career rebounding list in 2008-09, finishing the year in fourth place with a career total of 830. Smith led the Big Ten in offensive rebounds during conference games (3.39) last season and her 12 offensive boards against Iowa on Jan. 15 tied Cindy Dallas' UI single-game school record. • Rare Air: Smith is just the fourth player in school history to score over 1,500 points and 800 rebounds in a career, joining Jonelle Polk, Kendra Gantt and Tauja Catchings. Simpson Steals the Show • Steals Record Falls: Simpson broke Allison Curtin's career steals record last season and enters this year with 255. Her season total of 97 steals in 2008-09 ranks No. 2 on the UI single-season list and her nine steals vs. IPFW on 11/14/08 set a new career-high and equaled the second most in a game in school history. • Rare Company: Simpson was one of only three players in the nation to average at least 3.0 steals and 9.0 rebounds per game in 2008-09. The other two were Louisville's Angel McCaughtry (9.3 rpg, 4.2 spg) and IUPUI's Jernisha Cann (10.9 rpg, 3.6 spg). Simpson averaged 9.1 rpg and 3.1 steals per game on the season. • College Grad: Simpson, a fifth-year senior, earned her bachelor's degree in sport management last May and is currently pursuing a master's degree in human resource education as she completes her final year of athletic eligibility. Last Time Out: Exhibition vs. Lewis Senior Jenna Smith led the way with 13 points in 22 minutes and freshmen Karisma Penn (11 points, seven rebounds) and Brianna Jones (10 points, nine rebounds) nearly had double-doubles in their debuts. Senior Lacey Simpson had nine rebounds, four points and four steals for the Orange and Blue, who forced 23 Lewis turnovers. Illinois was sloppy early, committing 12 first-half turnovers, but still led by 10 at halftime after a three-pointer by freshman Amber Moore at the first half buzzer made the score 33-23 in favor of the Illini. Moore hit three three-points in the first half for nine points, equaling Smith's nine first-half points. The Orange and Blue pulled away in the second half, closing the game on a 34-7 run after Lewis got within 41-33 with 15 minutes to play. Illinois shot 45 percent from the field (33-of-73) and 38 percent from three-point range (6-of-16) while holding Lewis to 29 percent overall (14-of-49). Law tried several different lineup combinations in the game, as 12 of the 13 players saw at least nine minutes of action and no one saw more than 24. The freshman class combined for 38 points and 24 rebounds and, in all, Law got 40 points and 30 rebounds from her bench, a big contrast from a year ago when only six players played a bulk of the minutes. Illinois dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Flyers 52-26 and holding a 38-8 edge on points in the paint. The Orange and Blue turned the Lewis turnovers into 29 points on the other end and had a 21-6 edge in second chance points. Big Ten / Big 12 Challenge Starts in 2010
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