Note: For a breakdown of stats from this game, click here to visit the Gargoyle Scoreboard. To listen to senior Sarah Pfander's comments about the game, click the box at right.

CHAMPAIGN — The Illineks finished their season Wednesday night with a 50-38 loss to Georgetown-Ridge Farm in the first round of the IHSA Class 2A playoffs. The game was played at St. Thomas More High School, host site of Uni's regional tourney.

Junior Jessi Sullivan led the ninth-seeded Illineks with 11 points. Classmate Rachel Skoza added 8 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Kaci Lierman of the seventh-seeded Lady Buffs led all scorers with 14 points. Georgetown Ridge-Farm advances to the regional semifinals tonight against second-seeded Monticello.

Before the game, Sullivan and senior Samantha Nguyen advanced to the next round of the IHSA 3-point shooting contest.

Sullivan, who made it to the state finals of the 3-point showdown last year, led all shooters with 7 treys. Nguyen tied for second with 6. They will compete again at 5:15 p.m. today at St. Thomas More.

With the loss, Uni finished 12-13 overall (12-12 in the regular season), an impressive accomplishment considering the team started off 2-8. In East Central Illinois Conference play, the Illineks went 9-3 to place second behind 12-0 Decatur Lutheran.

This was the second time Uni and Georgetown-Ridge Farm played each other this season. The Lady Buffs defeated Uni 51-29 at the McDonald's Comet Classic on Nov. 20.

Junior Rachel Skoza passes to a teammate during the first half of Uni's playoff loss to Georgetown-Ridge Farm.
Gargoyle photo (click to enlarge)

In Wednesday's game, the Illineks stayed close for most of the first half. The Lady Buffs led 16-13 by the end of the first quarter and expanded their lead to 20-15 about midway through the second period.

But with 3:16 left before halftime, senior guard Sarah Pfander hit a 2-pointer to cut the lead to 22-20. The momentum seemed to shift Uni's way, but the Illineks couldn't capitalize. They found themselves stuck in a scoring drought the rest of the quarter and trailed 29-20 at the half.

Troubles on offense continued in the third period as Uni scored only 6 points and fell behind 42-26 entering the final 8 minutes. The fourth quarter was a bit better for the team, with Uni outscoring the Lady Buffs 12-8, but by then the deficit was too big to overcome, and the Illineks left the court with a 12-point defeat.

"Not that you can really blame a loss on bad luck, but it really was almost like all of our shots weren't falling and all of theirs were," said Pfander. "And it was also one of those games when, like, we're working really hard but we just can't quite seem to … find our zone. [W]e're playing this amazing defense and then we get the ball and we throw a bad pass, so that they get it back and then we have to play good defense again. So it was just little mistakes that kept us from ever really being able to go on a run and get ahead of Georgetown."

Besides Sullivan and Skoza, who combined for 19 of Uni's points, other Illineks who scored were Pfander (6 points) and fellow seniors Karen Woodley (6 points, 8 rebounds), Aran Yoo (4 points, 4 steals, 3 assists), and Ruthie Welch (3 points).

This was the second straight year in which the Illineks finished 12-12 in the regular season. The team's second-place finish in the ECIC marked an improvement over last year, when Uni went 8-4 in the conference and ended up third behind champion Decatur Lutheran and No. 2 Normal Calvary Baptist.

"It was a hard season," Pfander said, summing up the 2007-08 campaign. "We were a fairly inconsistent team, so that was rough. A lot of really close games — like Fisher, Villa Grove, Atwood-Hammond — all went against us. In general, we never really got our morale high enough and our confidence high enough.

"But I feel pretty good about the season. I'm glad we finished at .500, glad that we got second in the conference. If I had to do it all again, I don't know what I would do differently."

MORE PHOTOS: UNI VS. GEORGETOWN-RIDGE FARM (IHSA CLASS 2A PLAYOFFS)

Senior Aran Yoo had 4 steals against Georgetown-Ridge Farm. Gargoyle photos (click to enlarge)

Junior Jessi Sullivan (14) fights for the ball. Senior Karen Woodley (42) is on the left.

Woodley and senior Sarah Pfander (4) battle Georgetown-Ridge Farm's Dani Land for possession. Ruthie Welch is on the right; Sullivan (14) is at left.

Pfander refuses to give up.