March 8, 2008
Tonight's second semifinal contest features the No. 5 Michigan State Spartans (19-12, 10-8) against the No. 9 Illinois Fighting Illini (18-13, 8-10). Tip-off is scheduled for 8:37 p.m. ET
PREGAME THOUGHT:The winnner of this contest will head into the Big Ten Tournament final with a first-year head coach. Illinois' Jolette Law and Michigan State's Suzy Merchant are two of four rookie coaches this year in the Big Ten. Ironically, one of the two will face another interesting person in Sharon Versyp, who is the only coach in tournament history to coach two different teams at the event.
ALL-TIME BTT SERIES BETWEEN THE TWO TEAMS
1997 Semifinal - #3 Illinois 77, #2 Michigan State 66
2000 Quarterfinal - #4 Illinois 72, #5 Michigan State 67
2005 Quarterfinal - #2 Michigan State, #7 Illinois 50 (OT)
8:40 p.m. ET: Ball is in the air and we are underway!
1st, 15:52, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 5, Michigan State 2
We are off and so is Illinois' Jennna Smith. She has all five Illini points right now. As for Michigan State, Kalisha Keane, well, has all the Spartan points right now.
1st, 11:49, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 9, Michigan State 4
Illinois' Smith continues to impress as she now has seven of the Illini's nine points. MSU is just 2-of-11 from the floor.
1st, 7:35, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 12, Michigan State 12
Illinois' Lori Bjork has now scored the team's last five points and joins Smith as the lone Illini socrers of the game. MSU is being paced by Keane, who now has six points and two rebounds. Brittney Thomas, last night's leading scorer, has yet to find the basket but has a team-high four rebounds.
1st, 3:23, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 14, Michigan State 13
The game has become sloppy as both teams are 5-of-19 from the field, which is just 26 percent. Each team has eight turnovers and Illinois has yet to make it to the free-throw line.
1st, 0:35.5, TIMEOUT (ILL): Michigan State 17, Illinois 14
HALFTIME: Michigan State 19, Illinois 15
Well, we survived last night's final matchup with the Spartans when it was 23-23 at the half. We'll see if we make it though this one as it has been a struggle in the first 20 minutes. Illinois is shooting 24 percent and Michigan State is at 30 percent. Leading scorers are Michigan State's Keane (10 points) and Illinois' Keane (7).
2nd, 15:49, TIMEOUT (ILL): Michigan State 27, Illinois 20
2nd, 15:23, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Michigan State 27, Illinois 22
2nd, 11:51, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Michigan State 34, Illinois 29
Shooting has been much better this half as Illinois is 50 percent and Michigan State is 67 percent from the field. Illinois has nearly outscored itself from the first half, having scored 14 points in 8:09 to only 15 points in 20 minutes. Michigan State is quickly approaching its first-half mark of 19 points, with 16 already in an eight-minute span.
2nd, 9:06, TIMEOUT (MSU): Illinois 35, Michigan State 34
Illinois is now on a 6-0 run prompting MSU's Suzy Merchant to call a quick 30-second timeout. Rebecca Harris has turned up the intensity for the Illini and has brought the Illinois fans to their feet several times.
2nd, 7:57, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 35, Michigan State 34
Now that Illinois has taken the lead, it should be noted that only two teams in tournament history have played four games in a single event. Ohio State did so as the seventh seed in the first tournament in 1995 and lost in the finals to Penn State. The Lady Lions made a run in 1998 as the No. 7 seed and lost by 10 in the final to Purdue. It should be noted that if Illinois wins, it would be the first team in BTT history to play four games in FOUR straight days. Prior to this year, the tournament rested on Saturday before finishing up on Sunday and Monday.
2nd, 3:15, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 45, Michigan State 38
Illinois has extended its lead and clearly is the most motivated team on the court right now. Senior Rebecca Harris does not want this game to be her last and her passion right now is infectious to everyone in the arena right now, except for the people wearing green. Harris now has nine points and five rebounds on the night.
2nd, 0:39.4: Illinois 52, Michigan State 41
Michigan State is now in a fouling position and Illinois has emptied its bench. A No. 9 seed is going to play for the Big Ten Tournament Championship!
FINAL: Illinois 55, Michigan State 41
Illinois was the first team to reach the semifinals as a seed higher than No. 7. Now the Illini will try to become the first team to win the tournament with that distinction. Illinois will face six-time BTT champion Purdue on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. EDT. The Orange and Blue have twice been to the final (1997 and 1999) and dropped an 80-76 decision to Purdue in the latter.
