Iowa 72, Illinois 62

Iowa beat Illinois by 10 points tonight, 72-62 at Assembly Hall in Champaign, IL.  Iowa wins its second-straight game and improves to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in league play.  Illinois lost its eighth-consecutive contest, falling to 4-14 overall and 0-7 in the Big Ten.   Tonight was the 59th meeting between the two schools.  Iowa now leads the all-time series, 43-16.  The Hawkeyes improved to 18-10 against Illinois at Champaign, including winning the last five.  The Black and Gold have won eight of the last nine meetings.  The 43 wins are the most Iowa has against any other Big Ten team.   Iowa led by as many as 17 points (53-37) in the second half.   Iowa recorded a season-low eight turnovers tonight.  Also, the Hawkeyes assisted on 21 of their 26 field goals.   Three Hawkeyes tallied double figures tonight to lead the Black and Gold: Kristi Smith, Megan Skouby and Kamille Wahlin.  The trio combined for 50 of Iowa's 72 points.    Smith netted 17 points and had five assists and no turnovers, while Skouby registered a game-high 21 points.  Tonight marked the fourth this season Skouby scored 20 points or more.  Smith was 6-11 from the field, including 5-6 from 3-point range tonight.  Skouby was 8-15 from the floor, including 1-1 from 3-point range and 4-5 from the foul line.  Wahlin was 4-5 from both the field and the foul line tonight.   Kristi Smith has been on fire from long distance the last three games.  Smith has made 13 triples (11-20, .550) the last three games.  For the second-consecutive game, Smith sank five triples.  Smith was 5-7 from 3-point range vs. Minnesota in Iowa's last contest.   Iowa made seven of its nine (.778) first-half 3-point attempts.  Kristi Smith made four (4-4), while Wendy Ausdemore (1-2), Hannah Draxten (1-2) and Megan Skouby (1-1) each drained one.  For the game, Iowa shot a staggering 10-16 (.625) from behind the 3-point arc, while Illinois was only 1-7 (.143).   Kachine Alexander pulled down eight of her team-high 10 rebounds in the first 20 minutes.  After collecting a career-high eight assists vs. Minnesota last Sunday, Alexander bested that performance with a career-high nine dimes and only one turnover tonight.  The sophomore also scored six points.  Alexander has now reached double-digit rebounds six times this season.   Four different Hawkeyes netted Iowa's first nine points.  JoAnn Hamlin, Megan Skouby, Kachine Alexander and Kristi Smith scored the first three minutes.   Iowa led by as many as 14 points in the first half.  Illinois closed the half on a 10-3 run.  The Hawkeyes scored only one basket the last 7:42 of the first half.   Iowa assisted on all 11 first-half field goals, seven of which were 3-pointers.   Iowa improves to 131-17 when leading at the half in nine years under Coach Bluder, including a perfect 10-0 mark this year.   Illinois did out-rebound the Hawkeyes tonight, 46-29.   Iowa improves to 3-0 in bus trips this season.   Iowa and Illinois will play again, Feb. 26, in Iowa City on the Hawkeyes' "Senior Night".   Iowa returns to action Sunday when the Hawkeyes entertain the Northwestern Wildcats.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.    Post-Game Quotes Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder "We felt confident coming in that if we play a good game that we could come away with a victory."   "Kristi is playing with a different type of confidence right now.  I love the way she is leading the team and shooting the ball."   "I also thought Megan (Skouby) and Kachine (Alexander) had nice games tonight."   Senior Kristi Smith "Right now, I'm having a lot of fun out there."