By Gargoyle sports staff

Posted Friday, Feb. 2, 2007, The OG, girls basketball & sports

NORMAL — The good news for the Illineks after they lost 54-36 Thursday night to conference opponent Normal Calvary Baptist was that they finished their regular season with 50 percent more wins than last year.

The bad news was that they missed an opportunity to claim a piece of second place in the East Central Illinois Conference.

Uni went into the road game with an 8-3 conference record. The Crusaders sported a 9-2 mark. Both teams had been swept by Decatur Lutheran, which won its third straight ECIC title. Uni's other conference loss was to Normal Calvary. If the Illineks were to beat the Crusaders, the teams would share second place.

But some precise long-range shooting by three of the Crusaders prevented that. Sarah McCorkle, Alisha Strong, and Emily Borst combined to make eight 3-pointers, including six in the first half.

That was good enough to give NCB a 34-21 lead going into halftime, a deficit Uni couldn't overcome.

Uni concludes its regular season 12-12 overall and 8-4 in the ECIC. Last year, the Illineks finished 8-16 overall (7-15 in the regular season) and 5-5 in the conference. Unlike last year, when the team had to share third place with Judah Christian, the girls have the No. 3 spot to themselves this time.

Normal Calvary finishes the regular season 17-5, 10-2.

The story of the evening (Senior Night for NCB) was the Crusaders' accuracy. Their eight treys came on just 15 attempts — 53 percent shooting.

“In the first half, every one they put up seemed to go in,” head coach Rebecca Murphy said. “One gal was at least 5 feet behind the 3-point line and made it.”

Overall, the hosts sank 22 out of 42 field goal attempts — 52 percent of their shots.

“That's the game right there,” Murphy said. “Just 40 percent shooting is good for a high school team.”

For the Illineks, senior forward Mandy Grill was the high scorer in her last regular-season game. She netted 10 points, followed by junior guards Sarah Pfander and Aran Yoo with 8 apiece.

Yoo came into the contest averaging an area-high 5.6 steals per game. But she recorded only 2 against the Crusaders. Sophomore Jessi Sullivan led the team with 3.

Sullivan and junior Ruthie Welch each grabbed 5 rebounds. Pfander had 4. Yoo contributed 6 assists.

The game was close in the first quarter, ending with NCB ahead 14-10. But by halftime the Illineks trailed by 13. At the end of three quarters NCB led 46-25.

Despite the loss, Uni can look back at a turnaround year that could have been even better had starting point guard Samantha Nguyen not suffered a torn ACL in the season opener.

“We went .500 on the season, and that's always one of our built-in goals,” Murphy said.

In the ECIC, the girls finished 8-0 against Judah Christian, Decatur Christian, Buckley Christ Lutheran, and DeLand-Weldon. But the two top schools, Decatur Lutheran and NCB, swept Uni by double digits in each game.

“Both of those teams are athletic and they're deep,” Murphy said. “They're very similar in that they have strong perimeter shooting as well as the ability to go inside.”

One positive development to come out of Thursday's game was the return of sophomore forward Kaylie Dastrup. She had missed a string of games due to illness. Murphy was impressed by what she saw.

Dastrup didn't score much — 2 points — but she gives the Illineks another player to help replace sophomore center-forward Rachel Skoza, the team's leading scorer (11.9 points per game) and rebounder (7.8 per game). Skoza is out for the season after injuring her shooting hand in the team's Jan. 22 victory over Judah Christian.

Uni will need Dastrup next week when the team enters the 22-team Watseka sectional in the IHSA Class A playoffs. The 17th-seeded Illineks face No. 7 Oakwood 8 p.m. Wednesday in a first-round regional game at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

The Illineks are gunning for their fifth straight first-round regional win, but Murphy knows that Oakwood was a tough draw.

The Comets defeated Uni 72-39 Nov. 21 during the Oakwood/Westville Thanksgiving Classic.

“Oakwood's been up and down lately,” Murphy said. “They lost to Georgetown-Ridge Farm, a 16 seed, but before that they beat Bismarck-Henning, a 2 seed.”

If Uni defeats Oakwood, the Illineks would play for the regional title Thursday against the winner of the 6 p.m. Wednesday game between St. Joseph-Ogden (No. 1 seed) and Judah Christian (19) or Hoopeston (21).

VARSITY RECORD: 12-12 overall, 8-4 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 Illineks return to .500, improve ECIC record

Jan. 29: Decatur Christian, W 47-40 *

— leading scorer: Aran Yoo, 21 pts

— story: Grill, Zaharescu go out winners on Senior Night

Feb. 1: at Normal Calvary Baptist, L 54-36 *

— leading scorer: Mandy Grill, 10 pts

— story: see above

Remaining games: see schedule

*East Central Illinois Conference opponent