Illini make school history in win at Wisconsin
Updated: February 3, 2013
MADISON, Wis. (UI Release)
- Illinois hit 6-of-7 free throws down the stretch and held Wisconsin
without a field goal in the game's final 5:49 to pull out a 64-56 win in
front of an announced crowd of 7,614 at
the Kohl Center on Sunday. The win marked the first time the Illini have
ever won five consecutive Big Ten road games in the same season, was
Illinois' third straight victory - all in the last seven days - and its
sixth in the last eight games. The Illini improve
their record to 13-8 overall, 6-3 in the Big Ten and tied for third
place.
The victory tied
the school record for Big Ten road wins (five) and marked Illinois'
first win in Madison since 2007. It snapped a six-game losing streak on
Super Bowl Sunday that dated back to 2004 and
the Illini's 6-3 Big Ten record equals their best start to a conference
season since 1997-98.
Adrienne GodBold
led the Illini with 18 points - 14 in the first half - and grabbed 13
rebounds, including six on the offensive end, for her third
double-double of the season. She also had six steals, one
more than the entire Wisconsin team. Karisma Penn added 15 points - 10
in the second half - six rebounds and five steals, and Amber Moore put
in 14. Ivory Crawford contributed 10 points, her 15th game in double
figures this season. Wisconsin's Morgan Paige
scored a game-high 23 but Illinois held her to only five points on
0-of-3 shooting in the second half.
"Today was kind
of a grind-it-out day as our third game in a week," Illini head coach
Matt Bollant said. "Wisconsin is a very physical team that tries to
control the tempo, so today was one of those days
where you just have to find a way (to win). We lost a couple of those
games in the first semester, so for us - for three games in a row, now -
to step up and make the plays and defend well down the stretch (is
great)."
Illinois forced
27 Badger turnovers - including 15 in the second half - and recorded
steals on 19 of them. The Illini also out-scored Wisconsin 15-3 off
turnovers in the second half and 21-10 for the game.
Five of the seven Badgers who saw action had negative assist-to-turnover
ratios and the Illini finished the game on a 10-5 run. Illinois also
held Wisconsin to 29.4 percent (5-of-17) shooting in the second half and
limited the Badgers to 38.6 percent (17-of-44)
for the game.
"The last two
games, we've made some adjustments to (the "buzz" defense) late in games
that have really helped us," Bollant said. "We did a much better job of
finding their shooters in the second half.
And when we did go man, Adrienne got a big steal and layup for us.
"Winning on the
road takes a mentality and that's one of the ways our players have grown
a great deal. We beat Ohio State - they had won 31 straight at home -
and that kind of got our swagger going and
we started calling them 'Road Warriors' and you could just see them take
that identity on. For us to win five in a row (in the Big Ten) is just
huge."
After trailing
12-10 at the game's first media timeout, the Illini cranked up the
effort on defense and on the boards, putting together a 10-2 run that
resulted in a 20-14 advantage at the 10-minute mark.
But Wisconsin scored seven of the next 10 points, pulling within 23-21.
A three-pointer
by Crawford pushed the lead back to three, but Morgan Paige drained a
trey of her own, tying the game at 26. Illinois soured the next four
points and held off a persistent Badger squad to
lead 34-31 at halftime, with GodBold scoring 14 in the first 20 minutes.
The second half
was a slug-fest, with neither team able to grab an advantage early and
Illinois holding onto a 44-42 lead with 11:50 left. The Illini expanded
the lead to 54-49 and had the ball after the
media timeout with 3:51 on the clock, but Crawford's runner rimmed out
and Wisconsin made two free throws to cut the margin to three.
Amber Moore was
fouled going around a screen and missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but
Wisconsin's Cassie Rochel was whistled for a lane violation, allowing
Moore another attempt. She then sank both freebies,
pushing the lead to 56-51 with just over two minutes left.
With the Illini
leading 58-53, Wisconsin's Tiera Stephen stole the ball from Moore and
raced the other way. But Alexis Smith slid into position on the low
block just in time, drawing a charging foul with
1:17 remaining. Wisconsin cut the margin to five with 48 seconds left,
but Smith drained two free throws, Paige made just 1-of-2 from the line
and Moore drained a pair for the final 64-56 margin.
The Illini return
to action on Thursday, when they travel to Michigan for a 6 p.m. tilt
with the Wolverines at Crisler Arena. The game will be streamed live on
the Big
Ten Digital Network on Fighting Illini All-Access.
