Illini women stifle Huskers
By: Aaron Bennett
Updated: January 17, 2013
LINCOLN, Neb. (UI Release)
- Illinois forced Nebraska into a season-high 26 turnovers and held on
for a 62-52 win at the Devaney Center, as the Illini won their
third-straight Big Ten road game for the first
time since 2000-01 and collected the first victory in Lincoln in school
history.
Senior guard
Adrienne GodBold led all scorers, putting in 19 points in only 25
minutes while added seven rebounds. Senior forward Karisma Penn
contributed 12 points and 18 rebounds, including a career-high
10 offensive boards, for her ninth double-double of the season and 37th
of her career. Sophomore guard Ivory Crawford added 15 points, six
rebounds and four steals for the Illini.
"They're a really
good basketball team, so to come in here and win by double-digits, I'm
really proud of our team," Illinois head coach Matt Bollant said.
"Obviously, we're a different team with Adrienne
back. And I thought we did enough defensively to win. I thought our
'buzz' defense changed the game in the first half. Karisma got every
rebound down the stretch; when we had to have some rebounds, she went
and got them. And our bench - Taylor Tuck and Mckenzie
Piper - didn't score a whole lot, but they gave us a lift."
The Illini (10-7
overall, 3-2 in the Big Ten) scored the game's first nine points, taking
advantage of two turnovers and three missed shots by the Huskers, but
Nebraska (12-6, 2-3) responded by scoring
the next 14 points. Illini senior Adrienne GodBold picked up her second
foul just 3:06 into the game and headed to the bench, but Illinois
bounced back after a momentary lull, scoring four straight points to
start a 14-2 run that resulted in a 23-16 Illini
lead at the 7:26 mark.
With Illinois
ahead 25-18 at the 5:49 mark, GodBold was whistled for her third foul.
But the Illini held on for the rest of the half, holding a 27-20 lead at
the break. The Orange and Blue forced 16 Husker
turnovers in the first stanza, 1.2 more than NU's season average of
14.8.
Nebraska cut the
Illini lead to 35-32 on a jumper by Tear'a Laudermill, but Illinois
responded with a 9-0 run that included four from Crawford to go up 44-32
with 13:35 remaining in the game. The Illini
forced the Huskers' season-high 21st turnover with 10:11 left then
scored six straight points after NU had cut the margin to nine, pushing
the advantage to 50-35 with 8:45 on the clock.
Illinois led
56-43 when GodBold was whistled for going over the back on an Illini
miss, then Nebraska went the other way and drained a trey to get within
10 at the 3:06 mark. But the Huskers could get no
closer despite the fact that Illinois didn't make a field goal in the
game's final 7:42, as the Orange and Blue salted the game away at the
free-throw line, making 6-of-6. Illinois also held Nebraska to 1-of-6
from the field from the 3:20 mark to the 36-mark,
before NU made two buckets late.
The Illini return to Assembly Hall on Sunday to face Northwestern at 2 p.m.
