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Women's Basketball
vs Western Colorado (EXHIBITION)
Friday, March 17
Ames, Iowa (NCAA Tournament)
TBA
University of Utah
58
at
73
Illinois
Women's Hoops Falls To Illinois, 73-58
3/17/2000 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 17, 2000
By CHUCK SCHOFFNER
AP Sports Writer
AMES, Iowa - Allison Curtin scored 22 points, Susan Blauser had 20 and each converted a key three-point play to lead Illinois past Utah 73-58 Friday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Illinois (23-10) made the plays it needed at the end after Utah (23-8) cut a 22-point lead to seven, and the Illini will play either Iowa State or St. Francis on Sunday night.
The Midwest Regional game started as if Illinois would win in a walk. The sixth-seeded Illini played outstanding defense in jumping to a 28-7 lead and were ahead 56-34 early in the second half.
It was 58-39 when all-Big Ten forward Tauja Catchings, the Illini's most athletic player, fouled out with 8:41 left. Utah then started making its shots and rallied.
Erin Gibbons made two 3-pointers to get the 11th-seeded Utes going, and Lindsay Herbert hit another to cut the lead to 63-54. When Carley Marshall scored inside, Utah trailed just 63-56 with 3:43 remaining.
But Utah did not score again until less than a minute remained and Illinois put it away. Blauser was fouled while making a turnaround shot and sank the free throw to stretch the lead to 66-56.
After Gibbons missed a 3-point shot, she fouled Curtin on a driving basket and Curtin added the free throw for a 69-56 lead with 2:26 to play. When the Utes failed to score on their next two possessions, losing the ball on a traveling call and missing a shot, their last hopes vanished.
Lori Red led Utah with 11 points, while Herbert and Lauren Beckman each scored 10. Kylie Martin added 14 points for Illinois, which has only nine healthy players and is now perfect in four first-round NCAA games under coach Theresa Grentz.
The 73 points were the most scored this season on Utah, which was leading the nation in scoring defense at 51.5. Early, however, it was Illinois setting the tone with its defense.
Utah rarely got a good shot in the opening minutes and Illinois steadily built its lead. With 7:07 left in the first half, Utah was 3-for-13 from the field with eight fouls and nine turnovers and trailed 26-7.
By the time the Utes finally got settled into their offense, it was too late.
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