Coatney's Call: Illinois Game Preview

#19 Nebraska (17-3, 6-2) vs. Illinois (7-14, 1-7)
Sunday, Jan. 29, Noon (central)
The Assembly Hall (Champaign-Urbana, Ill.)
Radio: 25-Station Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney-PBP; Jeff Griesch-Analyst)
B107.3 FM-KBBK (Lincoln); The Wolf 93.3 FM-KTWI (Omaha); 880 AM-KRVN (Lexington); 1400 AM-KCOW (Alliance); 960 AM-KNEB (Scottsbluff); 1450 AM-KWBE (Beatrice); 94.5 FM-KLIQ (Hastings)
Internet: Free live audio on Huskers.com
Live Internet Video: BTN.com (subscription required) 

I am having so much fun calling games for this wonderful Husker women's basketball team. They are so young, yet they keep finding ways to win. Nebraska has won seven games this season when shooting less than 40 percent from the floor. In Thursday night's 60-53 win over Iowa, NU posted a season low 32.1 percent field goal percentage, yet it was the Husker defense that kept the Huskers in it. Nebraska held Iowa scoreless for more than 12 minutes at the end of the first half. 

Kaitlyn Burke's 100th career three-pointer gave Nebraska an insurmountable six-point lead late in the game. Jordan Hooper had her Big Ten-leading ninth double-double of the season with 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, as NU swept the season series from the Hawkeyes. 

The Huskers are 17-3 overall and tied for third in the Big Ten with a 6-2 record. Nebraska heads to Champaign, Ill., for a Sunday afternoon game against the Fighting Illini at Noon.

Illinois (7-14, 1-7) lost their final 12 consecutive regular-season Big Ten games last season and had started the 2012 league season winless in their first seven tries. The Illini went on the road Thursday night and got their first conference win, 71-62 in overtime at Michigan State. Illinois is a dangerous team as they made history by being the first No. 11 seed to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals last year. 

The upset No. 6 seed Wisconsin and No. 3 seed Michigan before losing to No. 2 seed Penn State. Although their record only shows one league win, Illinois has pushed several teams, including a one-point loss at Northwestern, a three-point loss to Wisconsin and an overtime win at Iowa. Five of their league losses have been by a combined 18 points.

The Fighting Illini have seen the injury bug bite them hard this year. They anticipated returning all five starters from last season, but 5-7 sophomore guard Centrese McGee suffered an ACL tear in her right knee just prior to the start of the school year and will miss the entire season. She started 32 games during her freshman campaign and led all Big Ten freshmen in rebounding. 

Before Thursday night's game at Michigan State, 6-1 sophomore forward Kersten Magrum had missed the last four games recovering from a concussion suffered Jan. 8 against Wisconsin.  She had been averaging 12.2 points per game. She came off the bench and played 28 minutes against the Spartans, scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds.

Junior Karisma Penn, a 6-2 forward, was a preseason All-Big Ten selection. She leads the team in scoring (14.8 ppg), rebounding (7.7 rpg) and blocked shots. Penn was a second-team all-conference pick last season and is currently second in the league in field goal percentage and third in blocks. Penn only played 19 minutes in the win at Michigan State Thursday night due to foul trouble. She had six points and four rebounds.  

Sophomore guard Amber Moore has established herself as a three-point specialist.  Having played a mere one and a half seasons in an Illini uniform, Moore already ranks sixth in school history in three-point field goals made. She is third on the team in scoring (9.9 ppg) and leads Illinois in three-pointers (42). She had 14 points in the win over MSU Thursday night. Freshman Ivory Crawford has started the last nine games and averages 7.2 points per game. 

Senior point guard Lydia McCully ranks sixth on Illinois' career assist list and leads the team in assists and steals. She averages 5.6 points per game. Sophomore Alexis Burke has started the last four games due to the injury to Magrum. She averages 6.0 points per game.  Although not considered a starter, 5-11 junior forward Adrienne GodBold plays starter-like minutes and Coach Jolette Law has stated she prefers to bring in GodBold as a spark off the bench. GodBold has started six games and averages 7.3 points per game. She hit the game-tying basket with 9.4 seconds left in regulation and the go-ahead basket in overtime against Michigan State, just missing a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.

Fifth-year Illini Head Coach Jolette Law was a 12-year assistant at Rutgers to former Iowa Coach C. Vivian Stringer, Law has led the Illini to two WNIT appearances.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Illinois 3-2, but the teams haven't met since an 84-67 Husker victory in Lincoln in 1992. NU is 1-1 at Illinois, winning in 1991 and suffering a defeat in 1985.

I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska women's basketball on the Husker Sports Network. Our radio broadcast Sunday begins with the Husker Courtside pre-game show at 11:45 a.m. (central) with the tip-off scheduled for 12:05 p.m. on the Husker Sports Network, including Lincoln affiliate KBBK 107.3 FM (B107.3), KTWI 93.3 FM (The Wolf 93.3) in Omaha, KRVN 880 AM in Lexington, KCOW 1400 in Alliance, KWBE 1450 in Beatrice, KNEB 960 in Scottsbluff, KLIQ 94.5 FM in Hastings and available to our entire 25 network stations. All Husker women's basketball broadcasts are also available for free worldwide on the internet at www.huskers.com. I hope you can join us. 

There are a number of ways to get enhanced information about our broadcast and Husker women's basketball via social media.  You can learn more about the team on the Nebraska Women's Basketball Facebook  page or follow the team on their official Twitter page @huskerswbb.  I also invite you to friend me on Facebook (Matt Coatney) or follow me on Twitter @coatman1.

Go Big Red! 

Matt