Nov. 18, 2008

GameTracker

Complete Illinois-Missouri Notes (PDF)

Game 3: Missouri (0-1) at ILLINOIS (2-0)

On The Air
TV: Big Ten Network - Live (Steve Schlanger - play-by-play, Jenean Ford - analyst, Sarah Kwasinski - sideline)
Radio: Illini Sports Network - WDWS AM 1400 (Brian Moline, play-by-play)
Internet: Fightingillini.com live streaming audio (All-Access) and Gametracker (free)

The Series
Illinois leads 7-3 overall and has won seven straight
Last Meeting: Illinois 66, Missouri 52 (12/19/07 in Columbia, Mo.)

The Coaches
Illinois: Jolette Law, 22-15 overall and at Illinois (second season)
Missouri: Cindy Stein, 225-166 overall (14th season) and 160-143 at Mizzou (11th season)

Quick Hits
• For Openers: Illinois (2-0) continues its three-game homestand by hosting border rival Missouri (0-1) Wednesday night at Assembly Hall. The game will be Illinois' first TV appearance of the season, as the game will air live on the Big Ten Network at 8:30 p.m. CT. Steve Schlanger, Jenean Ford and Sarah Kwasinski will call the action.

• Warm-A-Kid: The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) will be collecting items for the Warm-A-Kid program at Wednesday night's game. Any fan who brings a coat, hat, scarf or gloves to donate will get a free general admission ticket (1 item for 1 admission).

Warm-A-Kid helps make sure children keep warm during the winter months by distributing the items to children and families in need prior to Christmas break. Illinois student-athletes from several sports will be collecting items at the Assembly Hall entrances.

• Jenna Reaches 1,000: Junior All-American center Jenna Smith went over 1,000 career points when she poured in 29 at IPFW on Nov. 14. Smith is the 22nd player in school history to reach the milestone and is the seventh fastest to do so, accomplishing the feat in 66 games. Smith now has 1,017 points on the season and ranks 21st on the Illinois all-time scoring list, just six behind 19th.

• The win over Eastern Illinois on Sunday was the 200th for the Illini at Assembly Hall. Illinois is 200-104 all-time in the building (.657). To compare, Illinois' all-time record at Huff Hall is 38-22 (.633).

• Law Inks Highly Ranked Recruiting Class: Jolette Law signed the best recruiting class in school history last Wednesday, the first day of the fall signing period. The class is ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz. See page 5 for more information on the recruits.

Illini Open Strong
Illinois opened the season strong with two victories in very different ways. In the season opener at IPFW, the Illini jumped all over the hosts early, going up 14-3 in the opening minutes and extending the lead to 23 at halftime, 44-21, before cruising in the second half for a 20-point victory. The Illini are now 22-13 in season openers and improved to 5-6 in season openers on the road.

In Sunday's home-opener against Eastern Illinois, the Orange and Blue were sluggish early, trailing by 12 at halftime, 28-16, and went down by as many as 14 before turning on the screws defensively for a come-from-behind 49-45 win. With the victory, Illinois won its 11th straight home-opening game and improved to 29-6 all-time in the season's first home game.

Simpson Starting Fast
Junior forward Lacey Simpson is picking up where she left off at the end of last season. After stellar performances at the 2008 Big Ten Tournament and WNIT, Simpson has stepped her game up even more this season. She nearly had the second triple-double in school history with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting, nine rebounds and nine steals in the season-opener. The nine steals set a new career-high and equal the second most in a game in school history, just short of Shavonna Hunter's school record of 10.

Then in Sunday's win over EIU, Simpson tallied her fifth career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds despite seeing limited minutes with foul trouble. On the season, Simpson leads the Big Ten in steals (5.0) and ranks in the top-10 in both scoring (15.5) and rebounding (10.0).

Jenna Climbs the Charts
• Block Party: Joining the 1,000-point club isn't the only milestone All-American Jenna Smith surpassed during the opening weekend. Her five blocked shots against Eastern Illinois not only tied her career-high, but also put her over 100 career blocks. She is the fifth player in school history to crack that barrier and the school record of 156 career blocks is well within reach of the junior center.

• 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.

Defense Continues to Be Law's Trademark
Jolette Law teams have long been know for their defensive intensity and that is no different this season. In two games, the Illini have held opponents to just 44.5 points per game and 33 percent shooting and are limiting them to just 28.5 rebounds per game, which ranks first in the Big Ten. Last season, Law's first at Illinois, the Orange and Blue led the league in scoring defense at 57.2 points allowed per game.

Scouting Mizzou
The Missouri Tigers come to Assembly Hall with a record of 0-1 after falling to South Dakota State, 55-50, at home in its season opener on Friday. The Tigers were picked 12th in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches poll after going 10-21 last season. They return all five starters from last season and are led by the trio of Alyssa Hollins, Jessra Johnson and Shakara Jones, all double-figure scorers from a year ago.

• Braggin' Rights: Illinois leads the overall series against MU 7-3 and have won the last seven meetings with the Tigers, including last year's 66-52 victory in Columbia. The teams played three times (2000-02) as part of the Braggin' Rights series between the Illinois and Missouri men in St. Louis, with the Illini taking all three meetings. The last time the teams met in Champaign was on Dec. 6, 1995, a 72-54 Illini victory.

• Homecoming: A pair of Mizzou coaches will be facing their alma mater when they battle the Illini on Wednesday. Head coach Cindy Stein and Associate Head Coach Lynette Robinson both played for the Fighting Illini and earned their degrees from the University of Illinois.

Stein, a native of Peoria, Ill., played two seasons for the Illini from 1981-83 after transferring from Illinois Central College. She amassed 323 assists with the Orange and Blue, which still ranks sixth on the UI career assists list. She earned a degree from Illinois in 1984 and returned to Champaign as an assistant coach from 1993-95.

Robinson played for the Illini from 1978-82 and still appears on several career and single season lists. She is the UI single season rebounding leader with 335 in 1980-81 and is 13th on the all-time scoring list. Robinson was a CoSIDA Academic All-America honorable mention pick as a senior and was named to the Illinois All-Decade team in 1991.

In With the New
Six players made their Illini debuts during the opening weekend. Freshmen Fabiola Josil and Macie Blinn, and junior college transfer Whitney Toone each started at least one game over the weekend, while redshirt freshman Lydia McCully and freshmen Lana Rukavina and Eboni Mitchell each made their Illinois debuts and contributed to the Illini victories as well.

Illinois Signs No. 2 Recruiting Class in the Nation
On Nov. 12, 2008, Illinois head coach Jolette Law and her staff signed one of the greatest recruiting classes in Illinois history. The class, which consists of Adrienne GodBold, Brianna Jones, Kersten Magrum, Amber Moore, Karisma Penn and Destiny Williams, is ranked as high as No. 2 in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz and is ranked No. 4 by Blue Star and No. 6 by USA Today. They will all join the Orange and Blue for 2009-10.

Adrienne GodBold
5-11 // Forward // Chicago, Ill. (Marshall HS)
Notes: Ranked No. 36 in the nation and No. 1 in the state of Illinois by HoopGurlz ... Led Marshall to the 2008 IHSA 3A State Championship ... Averaged 14.9 pts., 9.1 rebs. as a junior.

Brianna Jones
6-2 // Forward // Toledo, Ohio (Toledo Central Catholic HS)
Notes: Ranked No. 43 in the nation by Blue Star ... Averaged 14.1 points and led team to a 23-5 record as a junior ... Plays for same AAU team (Michigan Crossover) as Destiny Williams.

Kersten Magrum
6-1 // Forward // Frankfort, Ill. (Lincoln-Way East HS)
Notes: Ranked No. 149 in the nation by Blue Star ... Averaged 17.6 point and 6.9 rebounds per game as a junior to earn first team All-State honors.

Amber Moore
5-10 // Guard // Detroit, Mich. (Country Day HS)
Notes: Ranked No. 109 in the nation by Blue Star and No. 2 in the state of Michigan (behind Destiny Williams) ... Averaged 13.5 points to lead team to 2008 Michigan Class B state title.

Karisma Penn
6-2 // Forward // Shaker Heights, Ohio (Shaker Heights HS)
Notes: Ranked No. 18 in the nation and is the No. 3 forward according to HoopGurlz ... Averaged 19.4 points, 12.3 rebs. and 3.2 blocks per game to earn All-State honors.

Destiny Williams
6-3 // Forward // Benton Harbor, Mich. (Benton Harbor HS)
Notes: Ranked No. 8 in the nation and No. 1 in the state by HoopGurlz ... Michigan Class A Player of the Year after averaging 24.5 pts., 13.9 rebs., 4.2 blocks and 3.7 steals as a junior.

Smith named Preseason All-Big Ten
Big things are expected in 2008-09 from junior center Jenna Smith, as she was selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team by both the coaches and media at Big Ten Media Day. A first team All-Big Ten selection last year, Smith is the leading returning scorer and second returning rebounder in the conference, averaging 18.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in 2007-08.

Joining Smith on the preseason All-Big Ten team are Michigan State center Allyssa DeHaan, Minnesota guard Emily Fox, Purdue forward Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and Ohio State center Jantel Lavender, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year. This marks the second consecutive year Illinois has had a representative on the preseason team, as guard Lori Bjork was a selection a year ago.

For complete Illinois-Missouri game notes, click the link at the top of the page.