Women look to end slide, change fortunes in Iowa
February 15, 2007
The Illinois women’s basketball team traveled to Iowa City, Iowa on Wednesday for their first meeting of the season with the Hawkeyes. Tonight’s game will give the Illini a chance to snap their current three-game losing streak.
The game will also serve as an opportunity for the Illini (16-8, 6-6 Big Ten) to get some revenge for their troubles against Iowa (12-13, 4-6 Big Ten) last season. The Illini lost both contests against the Hawkeyes last year and the all-time record in the series is lopsided in favor of Iowa. The Illini are 4-22 all time on the road versus the Hawkeyes.
With recent losses to the top three teams in the Big Ten marring their record, Illinois will look to get back on track and finish the season strong. The most recent setback was the nine-point loss that the Illini endured Sunday against the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes.
After the dust settled from Sunday’s Big Ten action, the Illini sat a half game behind Wisconsin for fourth place in the conference. Iowa, however, sits in eighth place after a disappointing season of conference play has left them with a 4-8 record.
The Hawkeyes come into the game having lost six of their last seven games. Their only win since mid-January came at home last Thursday against Michigan.
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Since the Iowa men’s basketball game against Northwestern was postponed until tonight due to the recent weather conditions in the Midwest, the women’s game will now take place as part of a doubleheader and will get underway about 30 minutes after the conclusion of the men’s contest.
Lori Bjork, an Iowa native, will look to break the single-season record for three-point shooting. The sharpshooting Illini guard needs only five more triples to break Illinois’ single-season mark of 74 that was set by Krista Reinking over the 1995-96 season. She will also try to earn her first victory in her home state since coming to college.
Senior forward Erin Wigley will be looking to collect a milestone of her own as she is only 17 points from becoming the 20th player in Illini history to reach 1,000 points in their career.
