Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Illinois
IU Claims Crucial Big Ten Win Over Illinois, 63-48
1/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2006
Box Score
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - In a crucial Big Ten matchup, the Indiana women's basketball team dominated Illinois, 63-48, on Jan. 26 at Branch McCracken Court at Assembly Hall. Indiana moved to 11-8 on the year and 5-3 in the Big Ten, while Illinois fell to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in conference action.
"Tonight's game was pivotal," head coach Sharon Versyp said. "Illinois is a great team and I felt that we were evenly matched. A lot of the stats in the Big Ten are kind of even all the way through, and it's really important that we protect our home court. I think the key to the game tonight, for us, was our bench play. It was very significant as well as the rebounding."
Off the bench, junior center Sarah McKay led the Hoosier scoring attack with 13 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Jenny DeMuth (12) and senior forward Angela Hawkins (11) also finished in double-figures for the Hoosiers. Freshman forward Whitney Thomas corralled a game-high 12 rebounds, while Hawkins grabbed seven in the IU victory.
Indiana sat in the drivers seat from the opening possession. IU forced nine turnovers by Illinois in the first 12 minutes of play and pushed its lead to nine at 19-8. After a basket by Janelle Hughes at the 12:25 mark, the Fighting Illini went on a 10-minute scoring drought. IU capitalized on the dry spell to extend its lead to 24-8 with two minutes left in the opening stanza.
Audrey Tabon broke the Illinois drought, converting on a three-point play to put the Fighting Illini in double-digits for the first time all game at 24-11. The Hoosiers went into the locker room with 29-14 lead. McKay provided a spark off the bench, adding nine of her season-high 13 points in the first half.
The second half played no different for the Hoosiers who continued to dominate on both ends of the court. At the 5:39 mark, IU took its largest lead of the night at 59-30 after a layup from Hawkins.
The Hoosiers utilized its entire bench and had its second-highest bench scoring contribution of the season of 25 points.
Offensive rebounds proved to be a key factor in the outcome, as the Fighting Illini did not record an offensive board until four minutes into the second half. In the end, Indiana out-rebounded Illinois, 44-31.
Hughes and Erin Wigley led Illinois in scoring with 11 points apiece, while Tabon and Wigley finished with a team-high seven rebounds.
Next up for the Hoosiers is a matchup against 16th-ranked Michigan State on Sunday, Jan. 29 in East Lansing, Mich. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. (EST) and can be heard locally on WHCC-FM 105.1, while WXLW-AM 950 will also pick up the game and fans can also follow the game on Gametracker via IUHOOSIERS.com.
