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Game 21

UI women at Minnesota, 4 p.m. Sunday

LINEUPS

minnesota (11-9, 4-5)

Probable starters

P Name HT. YR. PPG

G Kiara Buford 5-11 So. 14.2

G Brittany McCoy 5-10 Sr. 7.2

G China Antoine 5-3 Jr. 9.6

F Ashley Ellis-Milan 6-2 Sr. 10.6

F Jackie Voigt 6-1 So. 9.1

Top reserves

F Zoe Harper 6-3 Sr. 5.3

G Katie Ohm 5-11 Sr. 5.1

G Leah Cotton 5-8 Fr. 4.3

illinois (11-9, 3-7)

Probable starters

P Name HT. YR. PPG

G Fabiola Josil 5-7 So. 2.5

G Lydia McCully 5-9 So. 3.0

C Jenna Smith 6-3 Sr. 18.7

F Lacey Simpson 6-1 Sr. 9.1

F Karisma Penn 6-2 Fr. 11.9

Top reserves

G Macie Blinn 5-10 So. 3.3

G Whitney Toone 5-10 Sr. 3.1

G Adrienne GodBold 5-11 Fr. 6.6

Facts & figures

Site: Williams Arena, Minneapolis.

Radio: Dave Loane and Mike Koon call the action on WDWS 1400-AM and WDAN 1490-AM.

Series: Illinois leads 30-23 after a 64-62 victory in Champaign on Jan. 10. The Gophers have a 14-10 edge in Minneapolis, although the Illini won there last March, 61-50.

Coaches: Pam Borton (163-82 in eighth season at Minnesota; 232-128 in 12th season overall); Jolette Law (41-45 in third season at Illinois and overall).

TONY BLEILL'S Storylines

1

Starting over

So, after Thursday's benching of the Illini's three seniors, where do the Illini go from here? They have lost five straight, the last win coming against today's opponent on Jan. 10. Since then, the wheels have fallen off. Illinois is winless in Big Ten road games (0-4), a bad sign for a team that is struggling to find any sort of confidence. It is expected that the seniors will return to the regular rotation today, and if they don't, the results might be as ugly as they were in Thursday's lopsided loss to Michigan that dropped Illini into a tie for 10th place.

2

Mirror, mirror

Speaking of struggling teams, the Illini will see one on the opposite bench. The Gophers have been good at home (4-1 in the Big Ten), but they're scuffling along, too. Minnesota has dropped three straight and four out of five, the latest setback a 23-point drubbing – it really wasn't that close – at Ohio State on Thursday. Opponents have been efficient against the Minnesota defense, shooting 41 percent, one of the top figures in the league. (The Illini are last, giving up 43 percent shooting.)

3

Picking up the pace

Smith's lack of scoring lately – she has failed to crack double figures in three of her last five games, due to injury or benching – has put her in some jeopardy of not reaching Ashley Berggren's career scoring mark, once considered a foregone conclusion. Smith has at least nine games remaining, but if the Illini don't finish at least .500 overall at the conclusion of the Big Ten tournament – and that's a real question mark given the team's five-game skid – she'll have only those nine. And she would need to average 19 a game in that span to break the record.

PREDICTION

MINNESOTA 59, ILLINOIS 50

The reeling Gophers would seem to be ripe for the picking ... if not for the fact that Illinois has hit the skids to an even greater degree. It's impossible to forecast how the Illini will respond from the past two weeks of drama and failures. The guess is that things will get better today, but probably not enough to get a victory. (N-G prediction record: 13-7).