When former Illini Cindy Dallas graduated, the women’s basketball team was left with a big hole in the middle – but freshman forward Danyel Crutcher has shown she can fill the void.

Dallas led the Big Ten in rebounding for three years straight and is the Illini’s all-time career leader in that category.

Coming into Tuesday’s game against Bradley, Crutcher was fourth in the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 8.4 per game. Last week, Crutcher led the conference.

Crutcher is also averaging 9.4 points per game.

“Any time you lose great players – and I’ve graduated many great players – there is always a trolley car full waiting to take their place,” said head coach Theresa Grentz. “If you look at the turnover from last year, we were fortunate to have Cindy Dallas around, but now we have Danyel playing well. (Junior center) Brittney (Daugherty) is playing well. Audrey Tabon, who would have ever thought she would be able to do what she has done? She pulled nine rebounds down against Louisiana Tech.”

It was in the Illini’s upset over Louisiana Tech where Crutcher came up huge. In that game, Crutcher scored 12 points, including six in the overtime period. She also pulled down five rebounds.

“She was playing at Louisiana Tech, with their storied history, and she was just a freshman,” Grentz said. “And she wasn’t nervous at all; she was fearless.”

Grentz said that before last Saturday’s game, she could tell Crutcher was ready to play when she was diving for balls in the pregame shoot-around.

“The more the Illini fans get to know this girl, the more they will grow to love her,” Grentz said. “She is a wonderful person.”

Crutcher said she knew it was going to be tough to take over for Dallas, but she accepted it as a challenge.

“I just tried to come in and contribute as much as I could,” Crutcher said. “I didn’t expect that I would be able to do what I’ve done so far. I just play hard.”

In high school, Crutcher was a Blue Star Report Top 100 player for Orange High School in New Jersey. She became the first player in her school’s history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

“It was a big transition,” Crutcher said. “In high school it was not as demanding. The competition is a lot better here in college. In high school, I was more dominant, and in college, everyone is at the same talent level.”