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Women's Basketball
WBB Game 4 Notes: Bradley at Illinois
Nov. 20, 2009
Complete Game 4: Illinois-Bradley Game Notes Game 4 - Bradley (1-1) at Illinois (2-1)Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 // 1 p.m. CT // Assembly Hall (16,618) // Champaign, Ill.On The Air The Series The Coaches Quick Hits • What to Watch For: A few things to keep an eye on during Sunday's game... • Watch Online: Sunday's game will be streamed live by the Big Ten Network at video.bigtennetwork.com for a fee of $2.99. It is the third of at least 23 Illini games that will be either televised or streamed live by the Big Ten Network this season. • Picking Up Where She Left Off: Former All-American and preseason All-Big Ten selection Jenna Smith hasn't missed a beat during the first part of her senior year. She torched Central Michigan for 31 points and 12 boards, her third double-double in three games, and for the season she's averaging 21.7 points and shooting 59.1 percent from the field. • Offensive Explosion: After averaging just 52.8 points per game last season, the Illini are averaging 80.0 ppg this year and are shooting a sizzling 51.1 percent from the field for the season. The team's 62.5 percent shooting against Siena equals the fourth-best single-game shooting performance in school history. • She Did What?: Its not unusual for senior Lacey Simpson to put up a double-double (she had 10 last season and has 15 for her career), but the way she did it on Wednesday against CMU certain was. Simpson collected 16 rebounds and dished out 11 assists in the UI victory. Only an off shooting night (1-8, 2 points) prevented her from getting the second triple-double in school history. In fact, Simpson's feat marked the only time besides Kim Brombolich's triple-double in 1982 that and an Illini player posted double-figures in two statistical categories other than points. • Not Wasting Time: Freshman forward Karisma Penn has wasted no time making her presence felt with the Illini. Ranked as the No. 18 player in the country coming out of high school, Penn has started all three games this season and scored in double-figures in each of those games. Her stat line on Wednesday against CMU was impressive: 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five blocks. • Utilizing the Bench: Coach Jolette Law has taken advantage of her full roster this year after being limited to only nine players a year ago. All 14 Illini played in the season-opener at Temple, and all 12 who dressed in the last two games have played significant minutes. Law is getting 25.0 points per game from her bench this season. Last year, the Illini bench averaged only 6.3 points per game and the season-high was 17. • Moore Out: Freshman guard Amber Moore tore the ACL in her left knee late in the season-opening overtime loss at Temple and will miss the rest of the season. Moore had eight points in 22 minutes of action before going down with 4:01 left in the overtime period. An MRI on Nov. 15 confirmed the tear. Scouting the Braves • The Illinois-Bradley Series: Illinois leads the all-time series with Bradley 8-2, also owning a 4-1 advantage in games played at Assembly Hall. The Braves beat the Illini last season on Dec. 6, winning 71-53 at the United Center in Chicago. Watch Out for Jenna • Big Ten Leader: With 1,610 career points and 862 career rebounds, Smith is the Big Ten Conference's active leader in both stat categories. • Record Breaker: Smith's 1,610 career points places her fifth on the UI career scoring list. She is 29 points behind Angelina Williams' fourth-place total of 1,639 and is 479 points shy of breaking 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). Smith already has the UI career blocked shots record of 164 and has a chance to finish atop several more categories when her career comes to a close. Take a look at Illinois records Smith has a chance to break this season. Smith in the Illini Record Book Stat Total Rank Record Needs Blocks 164 1 162 0 Double-Doubles 35 3 40 6 Rebounds 862 4 1,014 153 Points 1,610 5 2,089 480 FG Made 615 6 815 201• Miss Consistency: Smith has extended her streak of consecutive double-digit scoring games to 42 this season. That streak is the third-longest current streak in the nation behind only Ohio State's Jantel Lavender (70) and Oklahoma State's Andrea Riley (61). The streak started on Feb. 28, 2008, during her sophomore season and continued through all of last season. In all, Smith has scored in double-figures in 70 of the last 71 games, with only a six-point outing against Michigan on Feb. 24, 2008, getting in the way of a 71-game streak. Current Consecutive Games of 10+ points Rk Player, School Streak 1. Jantel Lavender, Ohio State 70 2. Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State 61 3. Jenna Smith, Illinois 42 4. Dawn Evans, James Madison 34 5. Janae Voelker, Oral Roberts 32 Monica Wright, Virginia 32• Double Trouble: Smith has posted double-doubles in the first three games of her senior campaign, going for 24 points and 10 boards against Temple, 10 points and 10 rebounds against Siena and then 31 points and 12 boards against CMU to bring her career double-doubles total to 35. That total is second among active Big Ten players behind only Ohio State's Jantel Lavender. Smith's next double-double will move her into sole possession of third place on the UI career-list and past Cindy Dallas. She's just five shy of reaching Jonelle Polk's school record of 40 double-doubles. • Cleaning the Glass: With 32 rebounds through the first three games of this season, Smith has upped her career total to 862, which is good for fourth place on the UI career list. She is 35 rebounds shy of passing Lynnette Robinson for third on the list. Smith is also climbing up the school's offensive rebounds list as she currently sits in fourth place with 298, just ahead of Sarah Sharp's fourth-place total of 296. • Rare Air: Smith is just the fourth player in school history to score over 1,500 points and grab 800 rebounds in a career, joining Jonelle Polk, Kendra Gantt and Tauja Catchings. Simpson Steals the Show • Triple-Double Waiting to Happen: Simpson is still looking for that elusive triple double, but has been close several times in her career, especially recently. Wednesday against Central Michigan, only an off shooting night (1-of-8 for 2 points) kept her from getting one as she pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds and dished out 11 assists. The game before against Siena, Simpson had seven points, six assists and six steals in only 14 minutes against the Saints, leaving one to wonder what kind of numbers she could have put up for a whole game. • Outside Improvement: Known primarily for her defense, Simpson worked hard on her offensive game, particularly her outside shot, in the offseason. That work has paid off thus far, as she's shooting 50 percent from the field (10-of-20) and 44 percent from downtown (4-of-9). Simpson made just eight threes last season and shot 22 percent from behind the arc. • Getting Defensive: Simpson led the Big Ten and ranked ninth in the nation in steals, averaging 3.13 per game last season. She became the first Illinois player named to the Big Ten's All-Defensive Team since the honor began in 2005-06. So far this year, she is averaging 4.33 steals per game. • Steals Record Falls: Simpson broke Allison Curtin's career steals record last season and currently has 268 for her career. 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. Fresh Impact • Karisma Penn has started all three games and is averaging 15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game. She scored a game-high 18 points and had four steals in the win over Siena on Sunday and followed that up with 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five blocks against CMU. She's shooting 51.2 percent from the field and is taking some pressure away from All-American center Jenna Smith on the inside. • Adrienne Godbold has started all three games and is averaging 7.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field. She broke out for 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 2-of-2 from downtown against Siena. • Kersten Magrum has played 40 minutes in the first three games and is contributing 2.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. • Brianna Jones played 26 minutes during the opening week and chipped in 3.0 points and 1.0 rebounds per game while hitting 3-of-6 from the field.
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