Indiana University Athletics
IU Beats Illinois in OT (3-2-03)
3/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 2, 2003
Hoosiers Head To Big Ten Tourney In Style
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Bloomington, Ind. - The Indiana women's basketball team wrapped up the regular season with a thrilling 85-82 upset win in overtime over Illinois at Assembly Hall in Bloomington on Sunday.
The Hoosiers improved to 12-14 on the year and finished Big Ten play with a 5-11 mark. Illinois fell to 17-10 overall and 9-7 in Big Ten play.
April Williams sunk the game-winner with 40 seconds remaining in overtime and Indiana's defense didn't allow Illinois to answer. Williams' game-winner was her only field goal of the game and was her first field goal since December 3 at Florida State (Williams missed eight games due to a partial tear of her MCL).
"I just wanted to help out," Williams said. "This is a good feeling for me."
The Hoosiers trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, but rallied behind Kristen Bodine and Lisa Eckart to eventually pass the Illini at 60-59 with 8:18 remaining. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of regulation, with neither team leading the game by more than three points from that point on.
"I was actually fired up going into the half," Indiana head coach Kathi Bennett said. "We just had to make some adjustments. We needed to get more ball pressure. Offensively, I thought we were playing well. Defensively, we could have made some changes and we did."
Eckart finished with an Indiana career-high 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Bodine added 19 points, six assists and no turnovers on a day when Indiana's seniors were honored.
"This couldn't have been better," Eckart said.
Angela Hawkins was another key for Indiana, scoring nine points and grabbing 12 rebounds, but more importantly, sinking 7 of 8 free throws in the final minutes to put the Hoosiers in a position to send the game to overtime.
The Indiana win, coupled with a Wisconsin loss at Penn State on Sunday will send the Hoosiers into the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 8 seed.
The Hoosiers face ninth-seeded Wisconsin at 3 p.m. on Thursday in opening round action of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The winner faces top-seeded Penn State the next day.
"It's been a long time since we've clicked like this offensively," Bodine said. "We are definitely improving."
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