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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Illinois put Utah in a hole from which it
could not escape.
Allison Curtin scored 22 points, Susan Blauser had 20 and
Illinois set the tone early with aggressive defense in beating Utah
73-58 Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional.
Illinois (23-10) built a 22-point lead, then saw Utah (23-8) get
to within seven before Blauser and Curtin converted three-point
plays to put it away and send the Illini into a second-round game
Sunday night against Iowa State, a 92-63 winner over St. Francis.
"These kids are gutsy," Illinois coach Theresa Grentz said.
"It may not be pretty and it may not look like something that is
written in a textbook on basketball, but they do put it out there
and play."
The game started as if Illinois would win in a walk. The
sixth-seeded Illini played outstanding defense in jumping to a 28-7
lead and led 56-34 early in the second half.
It was 58-39 when all-Big Ten forward Tauja Catchings, the
Illini's most athletic player, fouled out with 8:41 left. Utah then
started making its shots and rallied, which did not surprise
Grentz.
"This is the NCAA," she said. "People aren't going to die.
They aren't going to fall over. Til less than a minute remained and
Illinois put it out of reach. Blauser was fouled while making a
turnaround shot and sank the free throw to stretch the lead to
66-56.
After Gibbons missed a 3-point shot, she fouled Curtin on a
driving basket and Curtin added the free throw for a 69-56 lead
with 2:26 to play. Curtin said she knew then the Illini were back
in control.
"It kind of broke it open," she said. "We threw our final
punch and I don't think they could get back up after that."
When the Utes failed to score on their next two possessions,
losing the ball on a traveling call and missing a shot, their last
hopes vanished.
Lori Red led Utah with 11 points, while Herbert and Lauren
Beckman each scored 10. Kylie Martin added 14 points for Illinois,
which has only nine healthy players and is now perfect in four
first-round NCAA games under Grentz.
"Early in the game, we were in a hurry," Utah coach Elaine
Elliott said. "We tried to do things we're not good at and we
tried to do things at the wrong time."
The 73 points were the most scored this season on Utah, which
was leading the nation in scoring defense at 51.5. Early, however,
it was Illinois setting the tone with its defense.
Utah rarely got a good shot in the opening minutes and Illinois
steadily built its lead. With 7:07 left in the first half, Utah was
3-for-13 from the field with eight fouls and nine turnovers and
trailed 26-7.
"They came right at us and we didn't respond," Red said. "It
took us about 10 minutes to respond and by then, we were too far
behind. It's hard to play catchup against a good team."
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
Utah NCAA Team Report
Illinois NCAA Team Report
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