Feb. 26, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Wildcats face intra-state rival Illinois in a 2 p.m. regular-season finale Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Northwestern, currently seventh in the conference standings, is at the mercy of several other teams' Sunday performances to determine its seed for the 2010 Big Ten Tournament. The Tourney gets underway on Thursday, March 4 when the seventh seed battles the 10 seed at 11 a.m. CT in Indianapolis, Ind. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com.
Fans wishing to stay up to date on the action in Sunday's game can do so by following the username @NU_sportsLIVE on Twitter. The game will be broadcast live on WNUR 89.3FM and streamed live at BigTenNetwork.com.
Opponent profile
Illinois Fighting Illini
2009-10 Record: 14-13, 6-11
Series History: 31-30, Northwestern
Last Meeting: February 11, 2010, 81-50, Illinois
Last Time Against The Fighting Illini
Feb. 11, 2010--Junior Amy Jaeschke scored 25 points, her 20th double-digit performance of the season, but it was not enough as Northwestern dropped a 81-50 decision to Illinois at Assembly Hall.
Illinois was close to unstoppable in the first stanza, shooting 76 percent from the field through the first 10 minutes of the game, led by Jenna Smith who had 20 of the Orange and Blue's first 30 points during that span. In total, Smith--the conference's third-leading scorer--was 11-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point range in the first half. As a team, Illinois, which averages 61.2 ppg, tallied 41 first-half points and cooled down to shoot 66.7 percent from the field.
Noting Illinois
Illinois enters Sunday's final regular season game with a record of 14-13, 6-11, most recently claiming a 61-57 victory against Purdue at home Thursday evening. Prior to that, the Illini dropped back-to-back road contests at Iowa (77-67) and at Michigan State (64-43).
The Fighting Illini have only managed one road conference victory all season (1-7), a 61-48 win at Minnesota back on Jan. 31.
Illinois is led by senior Jenna Smith who is third in the conference in scoring (18.2 ppg) and second in rebounding with 11.0 rpg. Karisma Penn joins Smith in double figures with 10.9 ppg.
A Helping Hand
As a team, Northwestern has focused on taking its time setting up the offense, reversing the ball and working the shot clock. As a result, the Wildcats are second in the league and 14th in the nation in assists per game (16.3), with 73 percent of its offensive production coming as a result of a help. Northwestern has handed out 456 assists which has resulted in 619 makes.
For complete game notes, please click on the PDF above.