On Women's Basketball

Penn State review

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Monday, February 23, 2009 1:12 AM

Plenty of interesting happenings on Senior Day at the Assembly Hall on Sunday:

--Lacey Simpson didn't seem like herself from the start. She seemed to have less energy, and as I've written before, I think her enthusiasm flows into her teammates. She seemed a bit lethargic. Illinois won the opening tip and the ball went to Simpson, who hesitated instead of immediately taking off for the basket. She seemed uncertain which basket the Illini were shooting at. Strange, indeed.

In any case, when Simpson is not at full throttle, the Illini feel the effects. She's as valuable to her team as anyone in the Big Ten.

--Was impressed with Lydia McCully's play on both ends. On defense, she was handed the assignment of defending the league's top scorer, Tyra Grant, and did a respectable job. Grant had five points in the first half.

Going forward, this could be a key role for McCully. If she develops into the UI's best perimeter defender, she'll find herself on the court more often when the influx of prep talent arrives next season. 

Offensively, McCully appears much more confident in her duties, providing leadership, looking to score and making better decisions. She had five turnovers in 40 minutes, and that's probably too many, but I think McCully's development over the second half of the season has been one of the key areas for the Illini. 

Two months ago, I didn't know what to think about her future. Now, I think she has a shot to develop into a solid Big Ten point guard, one that can help a talented team with multiple scoring options, as she'll get next season.

--Sort of a strange moment with 5:17 left. Illinois trailed 54-49 and Jenna Smith picked up her third foul. Jolette Law then removed her from the game, a surprising move given the score, Smith's importance to her team's offense and the fact that Smith NEVER leaves the game, let alone in the key moments.

Law said she wanted to use the upcoming media timeout to give Smith a blow before the final few minutes.

"She just picked up her third foul and I didn't want her to think, 'Oh, I can't play good defense because I have three fouls.' I wanted her to gather her thoughts for the next four minutes because I knew we would go inside a lot to her. At that point, I thought I could give her a break."

Smith re-entered after the media timeout with the Illini trailing by five.

--Funny moment during a break in the action, but I'm not sure how many of the 2,386 in attendance got the joke. During a videotaped segment called "This and That" -- a UI player is asked to pick between two items, like "Jimmy John's or Subway" -- questions were fired at Chelsea Gordon.

At one point, the questioner asked, "Juice or Rejus?" Gordon busted out in laughter, saying, "I have to pick Rejus, don't I?" The unspoken punchline: Rejus -- Arrelious Benn -- is Gordon's boyfriend.

--Law had a funny line last week when asked about Gordon's "girlie" tendencies. Gordon loves fashion, perhaps more than any person on the team.

"She loves to read Cosmopolitan," Law said. "Off the court she wants to be all dolled up. You'll see her with the Coach shoes. And the Coach purse. That's Chelsea. But on the court, she brings it. She says, 'Coach, when I'm on the court, I play one way. When I'm off the court, I am all woman.'"

--On a serious note ... Gordon's presence in the program will be missed. Few players in recent years have shown more of a willingness to be a team player, suppressing her ego for the good of the program.

When Law took over almost two years ago, Gordon asked a member of the coaching staff, "What do I need to do to get on the court? I want to play." Told she needed to embrace defense -- not a strength of Gordon's during her first two seasons at Illinois -- she immediately worked herself into great shape and learning the intricacies of Law's defensive system.

"I hadn't been a huge defensive stopper my first two years, but when I found out that's who Coach Law was, that's who I became," Gordon said. "I never had a problem with not scoring because that's not important to me. It was just about playing the game and winning."

Gordon never became a consistent factor on offense, but that wasn't her role.

"You normally don't have kids approach a coach and say, 'What do I have to do to contribute?'" Law said. "It gave me the utmost confidence in her."

--As you'd expect, Ashley Berggren handled her jersey retirement with class and humility. Speaking briefly to the crowd, Berggren -- the first Illini honored in such a manner -- said, "I look forward in the future to sharing this honor with more deserving women."

One nit-pick: the on-court ceremony was filled with moments of awkward silence, especially while Berggren and her family waited for the jersey to be lowered from the rafters. No band music. No one speaking on the PA system. Ceremony probably could have been a little tighter, which might have added some emotion. Just a thought for next time.

--UI recruit Adrienne GodBold was named the Chicago Sun-Times' Player of the Year, the first future Illini to receive that honor since ... care to guess? ... Dawn Vana in 1998. The story is here.

--Recruit Kersten Magrum broke Lincoln-Way East's single-game record with 43 points. Read about it here. There's a feature story about her here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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