University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Illinois
Golden Gopher Women Win in Overtime at Illinois
1/31/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The 22nd-ranked Golden Gophers were once again led by All-America candidate Lindsay Whalen, as the sophomore guard scored 26 points, including nine in overtime.
"This is a great win," Minnesota head coach Brenda Oldfield said. "It's great when you can go on the road and steal a game. I thought we played inspired basketball in the second half and in overtime."
It was Minnesota's first overtime victory since a 75-71 decision over Michigan State, Feb. 27, 2000 and Illinois' fist loss at home this season.
Minnesota took a 68-65 lead in the extra session following a Lindsay Lieser three-pointer. After an Illinois basket, Corrin Von Wald made a pair of free throws to again put Minnesota up three, 70-67. Whalen extended the Golden Gopher lead to six on the ensuing possession with a three-point play, but Illinois fought back.
Following a pair of free throws by Whalen, Cindy Dallas made a short jumper to get Illinois back within three. After Whalen drilled another pair of free throws, Shavonna Hunter made a three-pointer to close the gap to 77-76 with 5.5 seconds remaining. Whalen continued to be rock solid making two more free throws, icing the game with 4.3 seconds remaining as a desperation Illinois three-point attempt failed.
Minnesota made all nine of its free-throw attempts in the overtime and made 24-of-31 in the game, while Illinios was just 7-of-7.
Trailing 44-30 at halftime, the Golden Gophers opened the second half with a 13-4 run to climb back into the game. In the midst of a 16-0 run, the Gophers claimed a 58-57 lead and extended their advantage to six (63-57) with four minutes remaining, but three straight Illinois baskets tied the game with under a minute to play.
"We wanted to get the game up tempo," Oldfield said. "We wanted to be much more aggressive and we did a better job of that in the second half and in overtime."
Whalen was called for an offensive foul, handing the ball back to Illinois, but first-year center Janel McCarville blocked Iveta Marcauskaite's shot to give the Golden Gophers the final possession. McCarville had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, but missed a pair of free throws with 3.6 second remaining. McCarville had been 10-of-12 from the line prior to that final trip.
The 14-point deficit was the largest comeback this season by the Golden Gophers, while ending an 11-game losing streak at Illinois.
McCarville finished the game with her fourth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. It was her second double-double against Illinois, after 23 points and 11 boards during Minnesota's 89-75 victory in the Sports Pavilion, Jan. 3.
"We wanted to be physical and take their post players out of the game," McCarville, who had 15 second-half points, said. "We were able to do that in the second half and then Lindsay took over from there."
Lieser finished the game with 11 points, while Von Wald added eight points and nine rebounds. Marcauskaite and Dallas both posted career- highs for Illinois, scoring 28 and 20 points, respectively.
The Golden Gophers will next be in action when they travel to Iowa City, Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes, Sunday at 1 p.m. Minnesota returns home to play Ohio State next Thursday in Williams Arena at 7 p.m.
