CHAMPAIGN – Theresa Grentz always had a nagging suspicion her University of Illinois center could play like this.

"She's been harping on me the whole time I've known her to go to the basket and to take it hard," Alicia Sheeler said Sunday. "And that's just what I did tonight."

Good thing for the Illini she did because the sixth-ranked team in the nation needed all of Sheeler's considerable help to fend off feisty Marquette 99-86 in a nonconference game at Huff Hall.

The 6-foot-3 junior virtually was unstoppable around the basket, shooting 11 of 15 from the field and 11 of 14 from the foul line en route to a career-high 33 points. Add in nine rebounds – six offensive – and it was the kind of dominating performance her coach says Sheeler is capable of producing consistently.

"I've said all along that nobody can stop Alicia Sheeler," Grentz said. "When she turns around with her strength and her hands and goes to the basket, you can't stop her.

"You can look in the other players' eyes that have to defend her. You can see it. They're very, very happy and very excited when she gets the ball and kicks it back out. They're thrilled. They don't really care for it when she decides to take it to the basket."

Marquette had no defensive answer whenever Sheeler powered to the basket. Just as Puerto Rico-Mayaguez had none three games ago when Sheeler scored a then-career high 25 points.

In between, however, there were modest outputs of 10 and eight points. Sheeler's assertiveness training, it seems, is a work in progress. And reason for Grentz to keep up the nagging.

"She tells me over and over and over again," Sheeler said. "Like she says, I'm the only one who can hold me back."

Holding back the Golden Eagles was virtually a gamelong chore for the 4-1 Illini. Ahead 46-38 at halftime, Illinois saw its lead vanish five minutes into the second half.

While Illinois was turning the ball over six times during that span, Marquette's inside duo of Abbie Willenborg and Lisa Oldenburg led a 12-4 run that tied it at 50.

"When we came out after half, I said to one of my staff, 'What was in the water at halftime?' " Grentz said. "You're just watching and thinking, 'I'm not seeing this.' We're throwing the ball to people who aren't looking. Our point guards are dribbling and stopping and picking up their pivot foot.

"There had to be something in the water."

Although Illinois managed to dam the flood of turnovers, it took more than taking good care of the ball to sink the Golden Eagles. Such as Sheeler, under ever-tighter defensive pressure, getting some long-distance shooting help from UI guards Krista Reinking and Katie Coleman.

"I think it was important that we recognized the double-team on Alicia," Reinking said, "and she did an excellent job of kicking it out."

Illinois trailed 72-70 when Reinking sank a three-pointer with 6:15 left. After the Golden Eagles missed a shot, Coleman connected from beyond the arc, too, as the Illini lead reached 76-72.

"Those two shots were both wide-open looks, and we knocked them down," said Reinking, who finished with four three-pointers.

Just like that, Marquette's defense had been stretched to the breaking point.

"Our plan was to zone and double the low post," Oldenburg said. "But they have a lot of good shooters on their team, and we had to spread out."

After Reinking tossed in two free throws and another three-pointer, Sheeler and forward Nicole Vasey combined for six points as Illinois' lead grew to 87-79 with 3 1/2 minutes left.

Marquette, 4-2, never got closer than six thereafter.

Sheeler was just 1 of 6 Illini who scored in double figures against a Marquette team that had held its first five opponents this season to an average of 59.8 points.