By Andrew Lovdahl

Gargoyle staff reporter

Posted Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007, The OG, girls basketball & sports

URBANA — The Illineks were the victims of a 43-point rout Thursday night at Donovan, but on Friday evening they reciprocated with a 66-18 conference victory over the Buckley Christ Lutheran Crusaders at Kenney Gym. The contest was part of a home doubleheader with the boys varsity.

“We all went into the game really fired up,” said junior guard Sarah Pfander, who led the team with 19 points. “After losing by so much to Donovan, we were excited to do some thumping of our own. We quickly set the pace of the game, and the quicker tempo gave us a lot of fast-break opportunities, which is how we all scored a majority of our points.”

Uni is now 7-3 in the East Central Illinois Conference, good for third place behind leader Decatur Lutheran and Normal Calvary Baptist. Uni's overall record has broken even again (11-11), while the Crusaders stand at 1-21, 1-9.

The Illineks entered the contest without three key starters. Junior point guard Samantha Nguyen and sophomore center-forward Rachel Skoza are both out for the season with injuries, and sophomore forward Jessi Sullivan missed another game because of illness.

Nguyen has been out with a torn ACL since the second half of the team's season opener in November. Skoza broke the fifth metacarpal in her right hand (her shooting hand) late in Monday's win over Judah Christian. She was the team's leading scorer (11.9 points per game) and rebounder (7.8 per game). Sullivan is Uni's second-leading rebounder (7.1 per game).

The Illineks struggled Thursday against Donovan trying to adapt without Skoza, but in Friday's game they looked as coordinated and controlling as ever, taking the lead in the opening minutes and never relinquishing it.

The scoring had a slow start; halfway through the first quarter Uni led only 7-5. But in the next 4 minutes the Illineks netted 15 unanswered points.

Only one of the game's starters, junior Karen Woodley (who finished with 5 points and 7 rebounds) started the second quarter, indicating the depth of Uni's bench and the thinness of BCL's (the Crusaders had only six players on hand).

The lead had swelled to 34-11 by the end of the first half. BCL did not score during the third quarter, while Uni scored a total of 32 points in the second half.

Pfander led the way for Uni with 7 steals and 7 assists in addition to her 19 points. The junior's point total was the highest for any Illinek this season, surpassing the 18 that Skoza netted against LeRoy on Dec. 16.

Junior guard Ruthie Welch finished with a double-double: 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Aran Yoo, also a junior guard, recorded 9 steals, 7 assists, and 7 points. Her body of work included a flashy behind-the-back pass in the fourth quarter that garnered raucous applause.

Junior Marika Iyer (6 points) and senior Bianca Zaharescu (5 points, 6 rebounds) had solid games off the bench. Additionally, freshman Erika Belmont scored the first 2 points of her varsity career in the fourth quarter.

The girls will play their last home game of the season Monday night against conference foe Decatur Christian. In honor of both Senior Night and Spirit Week, all Uni students who wear orange or royal blue (not navy) will get into the game for free. The JV game begins at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity at 7:30.

VARSITY RECORD: 11-11 overall, 7-3 East Central Illinois Conference
(Games at Kenney Gym in bold)

Season Preview: Illineks ready for season opener tonight

Nov. 16: Atwood-Hammond, W 37-35
— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 14 pts
— story: Illineks triumph in season opener

Nov. 18: Hoopeston (at Oakwood/Westville Thanksgiving Classic), W 45-23
— leading scorer: Ruthie Welch, 13 pts
— story: Illineks win one, lose one in Oakwood

Nov. 18: Chrisman (at Oakwood/Westville Thanksgiving Classic), L 50-48
— leading scorers: Rachel Skoza & Jessi Sullivan, 15 pts each
— story: Illineks win one, lose one in Oakwood

Nov. 20: Blue Ridge (at Oakwood/Westville Thanksgiving Classic), W 52-47
— leading scorer: Sarah Pfander, 13 pts
— story: Illineks down Blue Ridge in tournament action

Nov. 21: Oakwood (at Oakwood/Westville Thanksgiving Classic), L 72-39
— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 16 pts
— story: Shorthanded Uni loses to undefeated Oakwood

Nov. 24: Milford (at Oakwood/Westville Thanksgiving Classic), L 44-24
— leading scorer: Aran Yoo, 10 pts
— story: Uni finishes sixth in Thanksgiving Classic

Nov. 28: Shiloh, L 45-25
— leading scorer: Ruthie Welch, 5 pts
— story: Uni drops third straight

Nov. 30: Villa Grove, game postponed because of bad weather

Dec. 5: Paxton-Buckley-Loda, L 34-23
— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 9 pts
— story: Slump continues as Uni falls to PBL

Dec. 8: Decatur Lutheran, L 57-38 *
— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 14 pts
— story: Uni begins conference play with loss to defending champ

Dec. 9: Villa Grove, L 38-27
— leading scorer: Kaylie Dastrup, 9 pts
— story: Villa Grove hands Illineks fourth home defeat of season

Dec. 11: Judah Christian, W 44-29 *
— leading scorer: Aran Yoo, 13 pts
— story: Illineks end six-game losing streak

Dec. 14: at DeLand-Weldon, W 64-26 *
— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 16 pts
— story: Illineks win by 38

Dec. 16: LeRoy, W 43-33
— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 18 pts
— story: Girls basketball: Skoza, Yoo lead Uni to third straight win

Jan. 2: at Buckley Christ Lutheran, W 57-19 *
— leading scorer: Aran Yoo, 12 pts
— story: Four players score in double figures as Uni gets back to .500

Jan. 4: at Decatur Christian, W 53-26 *
— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 15 pts
— story: Uni wins fifth straight game, record improves to 8-7

Jan. 6: Fisher, L 52-41
— leading scorer: Aran Yoo, 15 pts
— story: Fisher ends Uni winning streak

Jan. 8: Normal Calvary Baptist, L 48-36 *
— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 12 pts
— story: Uni loses showdown for second place in conference

Jan. 11: DeLand-Weldon, W 58-14 *

— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 13 pts
— story: Uni completes sweep of DeLand-Weldon

Jan. 19: at Decatur Lutheran, L 79-41 *

— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 16 pts

— story: Conference leader Decatur Lutheran tops Uni

Jan. 22: at Judah Christian, W 49-47 *

— leading scorer: Rachel Skoza, 14 pts

— story: Illineks win close call against Judah, lose Skoza

Jan. 25: at Donovan, L 84-41

— leading scorer: Aran Yoo, 12 pts

— story: Minus three players, Illineks lose big to Donovan

Jan. 26: Buckley Christ Lutheran, W 66-18 *

— leading scorer: Sarah Pfander, 19 pts

— story: see above

Remaining games: see schedule

*East Central Illinois Conference opponent