1/14- Illini Women Prep For Iowa

The Series Iowa leads 42-16 overall and 17-10 in Champaign Last meeting: Iowa 60, Illinois 58 on Jan. 21, 2008 in Champaign The Coaches Illinois: Jolette Law, 24-28 overall and at Illinois (second season) Iowa: Lisa Bluder, 513-247 overall (25th season) and 157-105 at Iowa (ninth season) Quick Hits * For Openers: The Fighting Illini (4-13, 0-6) will try to bounce back from Mondays loss to Ohio State when Iowa (9-7, 2-3) comes to town Thursday night. Illinois is trying to right the ship after seven-straight losses, while the Hawkeyes are looking for their second straight win after a 74-57 home win over Minnesota on Sunday. * Watch on the Web: Thursdays Illinois-Iowa game will be streamed live at BigTenNetwork.com free of charge. It is the fourth of six Illini games streamed online at BigTenNetwork.com, in addition to at least 11 UI games broadcast by BTN, CBS or ESPN2. * Law to Face Alma Mater: When the Illini face Iowa on Thursday night, head coach Jolette Law will be facing her alma mater for the second time as a head coach. As the Hawkeyes floor general, Law helped Iowa to four consecutive Big Ten titles and a record of 105-18 from 1987-90. She was a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection (1989 &1990) playing for former Hawkeye coach and long-time mentor C. Vivian Stringer. Law graduated from the University of Iowa in 1990 with a degree in sports studies/corporate fitness. * Tough Slate: Illinois has faced the third toughest schedule in the nation thus far according to RealTimeRPI.com. The Illinis 11 non-conference opponents have a combined record of 119-50 (.704) through games of Jan. 13, and overall, their opponents combine for a 184-81 record (.691). * Smith Named to Naismith Watch List: Junior center Jenna Smith has been named to the Naismith Award Watch list. She is one of 50 players nominated for the award, which is the most prestigious national award presented annually to college basketballs player of the year. * Illini Fans Pack the Hall: The "Pack the Hall" crowd of 7,052 at Assembly Hall on Jan. 3 was the largest to watch the Illini play at home since Jan. 27, 2002, when 8,967 watched Illinois battle Michigan. * Law Inks No. 3 Recruiting Class: Jolette Law signed the best recruiting class in school history on Nov. 12, the first day of the fall signing period. The class was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz on signing day, and moved to No. 3 at the end of the early signing period. See page 6 for more information on the recruits. Scouting the Hawkeyes Iowa, the defending co-Big Ten Champions, has had an up and down 2008-09 season after graduating three starters from last years NCAA Tournament team. The Hawkeyes recently snapped a three-game losing streak with a big home win over Minnesota last Sunday, moving their Big Ten record to 2-3. Prior to the win over the Gophers, the Hawkeyes lost two games against Purdue and on the road at Indiana. Iowa has played two top-10 teams this season, with losses to both Duke and California. Iowas five starters all average at least eight points per game, led by 6-6 senior center Megan Skoubys average of 13.6 points. Senior point guard Kristi Smith averages 11.3 points and 3.1 assists per game, while senior forward Wendy Ausdemore averages 10.3 ppg. Junior forward JoAnn Hamlin and sophomore guard Kachine Alexander lead the team in rebounding, with averages of 7.6 and 7.3, respectively. Iowa leads the Big Ten in both free throw percentage (.765) and three-point field goal percentage (.375), highlighted by Ausdemore shooting 90.0 percent from the charity stripe and Smith shooting 39.1 from behind the arc. * The Illinois-Iowa Series: The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series 42-16, also owning a 17-10 advantage over the Illini in games in Champaign. The teams met only once last season, with Iowa sneaking out of Champaign with a 60-58 win after a game-winning jumper by Hawkeyes guard Kristi Smith with 6.7 seconds remaining. Illinois has dropped seven of its last eight games against Iowa. Youth is No Excuse With seven years of Division I experience on the team this year (one senior and two juniors), Illinois is one of the youngest teams in the country. In fact, Illinois is tied with Tennessee as the fourth youngest team in the nation in terms of least returning experience. Smith is Double Trouble * A Model of Consistency: Junior All-American Jenna Smith has scored in double-figures in all 17 games this year and in 25 straight games dating back to last season, the second-longest current streak in the Big Ten and the 10th-longest in the nation. In all, she has scored in double-figures in 53 of the last 54 games dating back to her freshman year. Current Consecutive Games of 10+ points (Through games of 01/13/09) Rk Player, School Streak Next Game 1. Courtney Paris, Oklahoma 114 Jan. 14 2. Robyn Fairbanks, Utah Valley St. 68 Jan. 21 3. Megan Frazee, Liberty 51 Jan. 17 4. Rachele Fitz, Marist 50 Jan. 16 5. Morgan Warburton, Utah 49 Jan. 14 6. Jantel Lavender, Ohio State 47 Jan. 15 7. Sade Logan, Robert Morris 41 Jan. 17 8. Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State 40 Jan. 14 9. Carrie Biemer, Pennsylvania 27 Jan. 26 10. Jenna Smith, Illinois 25 Jan. 15 * On the Rebound: With seven boards against Ohio State, Smith passed Danyel Crutcher and moved into eighth place on the UI career rebounding list. Heading into Thursdays game against Iowa, the junior has 689 boards, next on the list is Ashley Berggrens seventh-place total of 779. * Jenna Blows By 1,000: Smith went over 1,000 career points when she poured in 29 during the season-opener at IPFW. 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 1,269 points in her career and ranks 14th on the Illinois all-time scoring list. Next on the list is Lynnette Robinson, who ranks 13th with 1,322 career points. * Block Party: Smith is just three blocks away from tying Jonelle Polk for second in the Illinois career blocks list. The junior has 132-career swats, just short of Polks total of 135, and is within reach of Kendra Gantts school record of 156 this season. Smith tied her career-high with five blocks against EIU on Nov. 16, putting her over 100 career blocks. She currently ranks fourth in the Big Ten in blocks at 2.0 per game. * Double-Trouble: Smith had her third double-double of the season on Dec. 28 against Penn State with 23 points and 12 rebounds. She now has 25 double-doubles for her career, which is third among the Big Tens active leaders and is fifth on the Illinois career list. * She Keeps Going and Going: Despite being the focal point of every defense this season and seeing constant double and triple teams, Smith has been the most durable player in the Big Ten. She leads the league in minutes at 38.1 per game and has played all 40 minutes nine times this season. She has also been one of the most consistent, scoring over 20 points seven times this season. * JennaSmith13.com: Stay up-to-date on Smiths 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. Simpson Stealing the Show * Tops in the Big Ten: Junior forward Lacey Simpson leads Big Ten and ranks 14th in the nation in steals per game (3.29). With four steals in the Big Ten opener against Purdue, she went over the 200 career steals milestone. She has already climbed to fifth on the UI career steals list with 214, just four behind fourth place. Her nine steals in the season-opener vs. IPFW set a new career-high and equaled the second most in a game in school history, just short of Shavonna Hunters school record of 10. * Milestones Falling: Simpson has already passed three major milestones this season and is close to reaching another. The junior recently surpassed 500 career rebounds with seven against Wisconsin on Jan. 1 and she went over 200 steals for her career against Purdue on Dec. 22. Then on Jan. 12, she went over 100 blocks and she needs just two three-pointers for 50 career treys. * All-Around Player: Simpson does it all for the Orange and Blue. She ranks in the top-15 in the conference in nine different categories, leading the way in steals and ranking fourth in minutes (35.24), fifth in defensive rebounds (5.59), seventh in offensive rebounds (5.59) and seventh overall rebounds (8.2). * Picking Up Where She Left Off: After stellar performances at the 2008 Big Ten Tournament and WNIT, Simpson has stepped her game up even more this season. Her 11.2 points per game is four points higher than her average last season and, defensively, she has taken it to another level. Simpson nearly had the second triple-double in school history with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine steals in the season-opener. She has also tallied three double-doubles on the season and has seven in her career. Breakout Blinn * Third Option?: Freshman guard Macie Blinn has shown flashes of being a dynamic scorer for the Orange and Blue. She reached double figures in two straight games after exploding for a season-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting against Minnesota on Jan. 3 and putting up 10 at Michigan on Jan. 8. She also had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in her third career game against Missouri and hit 3-of-5 from downtown for 12 points in Illinois win over Milwaukee. Blinn has shown signs of becoming another scoring threat to complement Jenna Smith and Lacey Simpson, but consistency will be the key for that to become reality. * Finding her Groove: Blinn has stepped up her game as conference play has unfolded. After six games of Big Ten play, Blinn ranks fifth in the conference among freshmen in scoring at 6.8 per game. Defense Continues to Be Laws Trademark Jolette Law teams have long been known for their defensive intensity and that is no different this season. In six Big Ten games the Illini have allowed more than 54 points just once. Their average of 55.2 points allowed per game is third best in the league, and opponents are shooting just 38.9 percent from the field. Last season, Laws first at Illinois, the Orange and Blue led the league in scoring defense at 57.2 points allowed per game. Junior forward Lacey Simpson has led the defensive charge, leading the league in steals (3.13spg). Last Time Out Illinois hung tough for a half against No. 16 Ohio State, but the Buckeyes pulled away in the second half for a 67-35 victory. The game featured two of the premier post players in the league in Jenna Smith and Ohio States Jantel Lavender. Smith finished with 14 points and seven boards, while Lavender also had 14 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. However, it was Ohio States Star Allen who made the difference inside with 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Illini jumped out to a 12-7 lead, but the Buckeyes took control with a 15-2 run midway through the first half to open up a 22-14 lead and took a 27-20 lead into the locker room. The Illini scored the first two points of the second half to pull within five at 27-22, but that would be as close as they would get as Ohio State went on a 10-0 run to break the game open and then pulled away down the stretch, leading by as many as 34 points in the final minutes. Looking Ahead The Illini head to Wisconsin on Sunday for their third game of the week. The game against the Badgers will tip off at 5 p.m. and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Illinois then heads to Columbus for a rematch with the Buckeyes on Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. ET/6 CT.