FITHIAN — Rachel Skoza scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds this afternoon to lead Uni to a 52-40 victory over Hoopeston Area at Oakwood High School.

With the win, the Illineks finished 2-3 to place ninth in the 10-team McDonald's Comet Classic, which began Saturday and will end tonight. Skoza, a junior post player, was named to the all-tournament team. Uni is now 2-4 overall.

"We did a nice job of pressing," coach Rebecca Murphy said. "The full-court press helps our intensity. We didn't really run a set offense today. Our approach was to see what the defense gives us and take advantage of that."

The Cornjerkers finished the tournament 0-5, but they proved a tough opponent for much of the game.

The Illineks led just 14-11 at the end of the first quarter, but they outscored Hoopeston 13-5 in the next 8 minutes to take a 27-16 advantage into halftime.

When the 6-foot Skoza hit a 3-pointer to begin the second half and added another basket 40 seconds later to extend Uni's lead to 32-16, the Illineks seemed to have the contest in hand.

The Cornjerkers, however, methodically got themselves back into the game, outscoring Uni 14-4 to narrow the score to 36-30 with 2 minutes left in the third.

Senior Ruthie Welch briefly turned the momentum back to the Illineks with a basket at the 1:06 mark. But Hoopeston connected on two free throws with 11 seconds left, and the teams went into the final period with Uni ahead only 38-32.

The Cornjerkers got to within 4 points twice in the fourth quarter, closing the gap to 38-34 with 7:40 remaining and 42-38 with 4:58 left.

The game turned Uni's way for good when Aran Yoo hit a jumper at 3:58 and fellow senior guard Sarah Pfander connected on another basket 20 seconds later to increase the Illineks' lead to 46-38. Uni outscored Hoopeston 6-2 the rest of the way to win by 12.

Pfander and Yoo finished the game with 8 points each. Pfander added 5 assists, while Yoo recorded 5 steals.

Junior Jessi Sullivan had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Senior Karen Woodley grabbed 6 boards to go along with 4 points. Also scoring for Uni were seniors Samantha Nguyen and Ruthie Welch with 4 and 2 points, respectively, and junior Joy Shapley with a free throw.

The Illineks will have a three-day break, their longest since the season began on Nov. 15, then they will return to action Tuesday night at Kenney Gym against Shiloh. The Raiders (4-0) will play Oakwood (4-0) tonight for the Comet Classic title.

THE SEASON SO FAR

2007-08 GIRLS VARSITY BASKETBALL: 2-4 overall, 0-0 East Central Illinois Conference
(home matches listed in bold)

Nov. 15: at Atwood-Hammond, L 66-59 (OT)

• Story: Illineks drop season opener in overtime
• Points: Rachel Skoza 16, Ruthie Welch 13, Aran Yoo 10, Sarah Pfander 9
• Rebounds: Pfander 6, Skoza 5, Welch 4
• Blocks: Skoza 4
• JV game: Atwood Hammond def. Uni 35-12
• JV record: 0-1, 0-0

Nov. 17: Heritage (at Oakwood H.S., McDonald's Comet Classic), L 55-48

• Story: Uni falls to Heritage, Oakwood in Comet Classic
• Points: Rachel Skoza 18, Aran Yoo 12, Samantha Nguyen 6, Ruthie Welch 4, Sarah Pfander 4, Karen Woodley 2, Marika Iyer 2
• Rebounds: Skoza 10, Welch 7, Pfander 6, Woodley 5
• Blocks: Skoza 5
• Assists: Yoo 3
• Steals: Yoo 3
• JV game: none
• JV record: 0-1, 0-0

Nov. 17: Oakwood (at Oakwood H.S., McDonald's Comet Classic), L 75-57

• Story: Uni falls to Heritage, Oakwood in Comet Classic
• Points: Rachel Skoza 18, Aran Yoo 13, Ruthie Welch 11, Sarah Pfander 6, Samantha Nguyen 5, Karen Woodley 4
• Rebounds: Skoza 10, Welch 9, Woodley 8, Pfander 7
• Blocks: Skoza 5
• Assists: Nguyen 3, Pfander 3
• Steals: Yoo 7
• JV game: none
• JV record: 0-1, 0-0

Nov. 19: Milford (at Oakwood H.S., McDonald's Comet Classic), W 63-45

• Story: Illineks beat Milford for first win of season
• Points: Aran Yoo 19, Ruthie Welch 14, Rachel Skoza 10, Samantha Nguyen 6, Jessi Sullivan 6, Karen Woodley 4, Sarah Pfander 3, Michelle Wong 1
• Rebounds: Skoza 13, Sullivan 7, Welch 6, Pfander 5, Woodley 4
• Blocks: none
• Assists: Pfander 5, Welch 4, Nguyen 4
• Steals: Yoo 4
• JV game: none
• JV record: 0-1, 0-0

Nov. 20: Georgetown-Ridge Farm (at Oakwood H.S., McDonald's Comet Classic), L 51-29

• Story: Lady Buffs too much for Illineks
• Points: Rachel Skoza 12, Jessi Sullivan 5, Ruthie Welch 4, Aran Yoo 4, Samantha Nguyen 2, Karen Woodley 2
• Rebounds: to be posted
• Blocks: to be posted
• Assists: to be posted
• Steals: to be posted
• JV game: none
• JV record: 0-1, 0-0

Nov. 23: Hoopeston (at Oakwood H.S., McDonald's Comet Classic), W 52-40

• Story: see above
• Points: Rachel Skoza 18 (one 3-pointer), Sarah Pfander 8, Aran Yoo 8, Jessi Sullivan 7, Samantha Nguyen 4, Karen Woodley 4, Ruthie Welch 2, Joy Shapley 1
• Rebounds: Skoza 11, Woodley 6, Sullivan 5
• Assists: Pfander 5
• Steals: Yoo 5
• JV game: none
• JV record: 0-1, 0-0

Next game: Tuesday vs. Shiloh at Kenney Gym. Visitors click here for directions to Uni High.

2007-08 schedule: Click here for the Gargoyle Scoreboard.