Purdue Fort Wayne
Illinois
IPFW Falls in Season Opener 64-44
11/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2008
Fort Wayne, IN – The IPFW women’s basketball team dropped their season opening match to the Fighting Illini of Illinois by a 64-44 final score. Freshman Anne Boese poured in 17 points in her debut effort, hitting half of her 10 three-point attempts in the game.
Boese was the only ‘Don in double figure scoring, although Courtney Reed finished with nine after hitting three first-half three-point baskets. Jordan Zuppe pulled down a team-best seven rebounds, as she, Eva Ivanova and Nan Moore dished out a trio of assists. Ivanova and Moore each led the team with two steals as well.
Illinois jumped onto the scoreboard first with a jumper by All-American Jenna Smith, before IPFW took its first and only lead of the game at 3-2 following a Reed three-point basket. The Fighting Illini answered by scoring the next 11 points, giving them a 14-3 lead. IPFW twice cut the deficit to single digits, the first time at 14-6 following a Tina Moen three-point basket, and the second after a jumper by Moen, making the score 16-8. Six straight points by Illinois gave the visitors a 22-8 lead, as the defending Big Ten Tournament runner-ups ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 44-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The IPFW offense struggled coming out of halftime, as they tallied just three points in the first ten minutes of the second half, as Illinois increased their lead to 32 at 56-24. IPFW made a furious late-game rally, scoring the final 10 points of the game over the final two and a half minutes; however, it was too little, too late, as Illinois was able to cruise home with a 64-44 victory.
Leading Illinois was Smith, who poured in a game-high 29 points, hitting 12-of-17 shots, including the junior’s 1,000th career point with 6:12 remaining in the contest. Lacey Simpson flirted with a triple-double, scoring 17 points while pulling down nine rebounds and picking up nine steals. Smith pulled down eight rebounds to nearly complete the double-double, as three players, Smith, Simpson and Macie Blinn each dished out three assists.
IPFW remains at home for three of their next four contests, with the next one coming on Tuesday, November 18 when the squad plays host to the Bulldogs of Butler University with tip-off slated for 7:00 PM at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.
~Dons~
