The Fighting Illini are now 8-4 in the Big Ten with Monday’s win. This is the first time since 1999-2000 that they were 8-4 in conference play. The win also means that Illinois swept the season-series against the Badgers. The last time they swept Wisconsin was during the 2000 conference schedule.

Illinois played very well in the first half on Monday night. They shot 31.6% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. Defensively, they were able to hold the Badgers to 8-of-23 from the field and 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.

However, the Illini slumped a tad in the second half. They only made nine shots from the field, but were able to go 11-of-12 from the charity stripe.

January 22, 2012; Columbus, OH, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Adrienne GodBold (24) takes a foul shot against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena. Ohio State won 96-84. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

Illinois’ two main scorers were Karisma Penn and Adrienne GodBold. Penn recorded her twelveth double-double this season. She scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. She went 8-of-20 from the field, but was able to go to the foul line for 9-of-11 free throws.

GodBold scored 16 points and hauled in seven rebounds in the game against Wisconsin on Monday.

GodBold and Penn were clearly the main reasons why Illinois won the game. They combined to score 42 of Illinois’ 60 points while going 15-of-33 from the field. The rest of the Illini only made 6-of-33 field goals.

Wisconsin had three players score in double-figures against Illinois. These players were Morgan Paige, Nicole Bauman, and Cassie Rochel.

Paige came into Monday’s game ranked seventh in the Big Ten in scoring.

She went 4-of-16 from the field and 2-of-10 from beyond the arc while scoring 14 points. Bauman and Rochel scored 14 and 11 points respectively for the Badgers.

On the boards, Wisconsin was led by Tiera Stephen and Rochel. Cassie Rochel led the Badgers with 12 rebounds (only Wisconsin player to record a double-double). Stephen also added ten rebounds of her own.

This was a nice win for the Fighting Illini, but they will need to get ready for their next game against the Big Ten’s best team on Wednesday night.

The Fighting Illini are now 15-9 overall and 8-4 in the Big Ten.

Their next game will be against the Penn State Nittany Lions on February 20th. The Nittany Lions are 21-3 overall and 11-1 in the Big Ten. They defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, 81-69, in their last game.

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The Illini are coming off of a ten-point victory against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 62-52. They also played their best game defensively as they forced Nebraska to turn the ball over 26 times.

Both senior leaders for the Fighting Illini are coming off of good games against Nebraska. Karisma Penn scored 12 points and hauled in a career-high ten offensive rebounds. Adrienne GodBold went 7-of-14 from the field and led the team in scoring with 19 points.

The Wildcats are currently riding a four game losing streak. They are 0-4 in the conference and lost to #25 Michigan, 53-67, in their last game.

Dec 3, 2011; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Christine Flores (50) attempts a shot as Northwestern Wildcats forward/center Dannielle Diamant (31) defends during the second half at Mizzou Arena. Northwestern won 74-70. Mandatory Credit: Dak Dillon-USA TODAY Sports

Northwestern still has five players averaging double-digits.

These players are sophomore guard Karly Roser (10.6), freshman forward Lauren Douglas (11.3), senior center Dannielle Diamant (12.4), freshman forward Maggie Lyon (13.1), and senior forward Kendall Hackney (14.6).

Hackney ranks 11th in the Big Ten in scoring and 11th in three-point field-goal percentage (.358).

Dannielle Diamant fuels the Wildcats on defense and the boards.

She ranks fifth in the league in rebounding (7.8 rebounds per game) and is seventh in blocked shots (1.4 blocks per game).

Karly Roser has the most assists on the team with 107 assists this season. She is second in the league in assists (6.3 per game).

This will be the 68th meeting between the Fighting Illini and the Wildcats. Northwestern leads the series 34-33.

These two teams last met on January 10th in Evanston, Illinois. The Illini beat the Wildcats, 65-47. GodBold led all scorers with 20 points in the game. Illinois played well defensively as a team. They forced Northwestern to commit 34 turnovers and recorded 24 steals.

Defense will be the key for the Illini in their second game against the Wildcats. They played great defense in the first meeting this season. Northwestern only had one player reach double-digits and that was Hackney (14 points).

Expect the Illini’s “buzz” defense to be just as good (if not better) in Sunday’s game. Illinois seems to be clicking defensively and even showed it in their game against Nebraska where they forced 26 turnovers.

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It was a great night defensively for the Illini as they forced the Cornhuskers into a season-high 26 turnovers. Illinois was able to record 16 steals as a team in the game. They were led defensively by senior Adrienne GodBold and sophomore Taylor Tuck. Both GodBold and Tuck recorded a team-high four steals apiece.

After the game, 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” (Source: fightingillini.com).

January 22, 2012; Columbus, OH, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Adrienne GodBold (24) takes a foul shot against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena. Ohio State won 96-84. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

Illinois had three players finish with double-digits. Godbold led the team in scoring with 19 points. She went 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in 25 minutes.

The second leading scorer on the team was sophomore Ivory Crawford who scored 15 total points and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.

Senior Karisma Penn had a bounce back game on Thursday night by scoring 12 points.

Penn was also a monster on the boards. She pulled down a team-high 18 total rebounds and a career-high 10 offensive rebounds in route to her ninth double-double of the season.

Bollant commented that Penn “got every rebound down the stretch; when we had to have some rebounds, she went and got them” (Source: fightingillini.com).

As a team, Illinois got to the foul line quite a bit against the Cornhuskers. They went 14-of-15 from the foul line and the only player to miss a free throw was Karisma Penn.

Nebraska only had one player reach double-digit points in the game. Junior Jordan Hooper took a total of 22 shots for the Cornhuskers and only made six of them. However, she finished the game with 17 points.

The Fighting Illini are now 10-7 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten. All three of the Illini’s conference win have come while on the road.

Their next game will be against the Northwestern Wildcats on January 20th. The Wildcats are 8-9 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten. The Illini have already beaten the Wildcats once this season, 65-47.

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