CHAMPAIGN  Theresa Grentz already was wary of her team walking into an ambush on Friday at Ohio State.

   Then it dawned on the University of Illinois women''s basketball coach. Don''t the history books refer to a famous sneak attack that also took place on Feb. 14?

   "This could be the St. Valentine''s Day Massacre," Grentz joked on Tuesday.

   If the 10th-place Buckeyes are laying in wait, Grentz is doing her best this week to make sure her Big Ten Conference co-leaders are prepared for it when the teams meet at 6:30 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio.

   On the surface, that would appear to be no easy task, what with a critical showdown looming two days later at Michigan State. Fifteenth-ranked Illinois and No. 20 MSU  both 18-4 overall  are tied for the league lead at 10-2 with four games left.

   But Grentz says her team has focused all season on the task at hand, and she doesn''t expect that to change this weekend.

   Just to make sure, though, the second-year UI coach plans to get their attention with this startling fact: No Illini women''s basketball team ever has won at Ohio State. Ever. It''s a streak that takes in 14 games and almost 18 years.

   "Another one of those infamous streaks we face this year," said Grentz, whose current team already has ended several such skids.

   The Illini defeated both of their weekend foes earlier this season at Huff Hall. Illinois upended Michigan State 90-81 on Jan. 3 and Ohio State 89-73 on Jan. 6.

   The Spartans have won nine of their last 10 games since their loss to Illinois. MSU went 2-0 last weekend despite being without leading scorer Nicole Cushing-Adkins. Cushing-Adkins, who leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage, was sidelined with tendinitis in one elbow.

   Although listed as questionable for this weekend, Cushing-Adkins figures to play if at all possible because of the games'' importance. Before hosting Illinois, the Spartans visit third-place Purdue on Friday.

   Ohio State, 11-12 and 3-10, has lost six of its last seven games.

Records in sight.

   The Illini are bearing down on the single-season school record for overall victories and Big Ten wins.

   Illinois, 18-4, needs three more wins to match the overall mark of 21 set by the 1981-82 team. At 10-2 in the Big Ten, the Illini are two victories shy of the standard set by the 1985-86 squad. However, that team had the benefit of two more conference games.

   The Illini can''t match the school record for home victories, but they still can become the first UI team to go undefeated at home. Illinois is 9-0 at Huff Hall with two home games left. The 1981-82 team finished 12-1 at home, including a 10-0 start.

In the seats.

   The Illini already are guaranteed of setting a school single-game attendance record, based on advance sales, in their regular season finale.

   More than 7,000 tickets have been sold for the Feb. 23 contest against Purdue at the 16,450-seat Assembly Hall, UI sports information assistant Bridget Toomey said.

   The current record is 4,050 for the Jan. 19 game at Huff Hall against Indiana. The UI moved its home games from the Assembly Hall to Huff Hall, which has a listed capacity of 4,000, at the beginning of the 1993-94 season.

   Illinois is averaging 3,095 fans this season, sixth in the Big Ten. In league games only, the Illini rank seventh at 3,114. Wisconsin leads in both categories, at 8,596 and 8,308.

Nonleague record.

   With one nonconference game left this season, Big Ten schools have a .679 winning percentage (72-34) outside the conference. The league''s final nonconference game has Northwestern visiting Northern Illinois on Feb. 18.

   Illinois was 8-3 against nonconference opponents.