January 18, 1999
By TARA BURGHART
Associated Press Writer
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Purdue coach Carolyn Peck acknowledges she is biased, but thinks she might have the best pair of guards in the country.
Ukari Figgs and Stephanie White-McCarty helped back up her opinion Monday, scoring 20 points apiece as No. 3 Purdue defeated Illinois 71-60.
"It's a partnership. They spread the wealth," Peck said. "These two are a dynamic duo."
The victory extended the winning streak of Purdue (14-1 overall, 6-0 Big Ten) to 12 games and broke an 18-game winning streak at home for Illinois (10-7, 4-3 Big Ten).
Purdue led 39-28 at halftime and took advantage of several steals to help stretch that lead to 18 points five minutes into the second half.
Illinois used a 9-0 run to cut Purdue's lead to 52-43 with 11:29 left to play.
But the teams traded baskets for the rest of the game - neither scored twice in a row until the final seconds - and Illinois could not close the gap.
"It's very frustrating," said Illinois' Allison Curtin, who finished with 11 points. "We knew we could beat this team, but we knew we had to get over that hump of eight points, seven points, and we could never get over it.
"That's what you have to do with a good team - you have to break them - and we never broke them,"
Susan Blauser led Illinois with 16 points, and Tauja Catchings added 10 in the Illini's lowest-scoring game of the season.
Illinois outrebounded Purdue 45-26, with Catchings grabbing 12 and Blauser 11.
Katie Douglas added 12 points for Purdue, which made six of seven 3-point attempts in the first half but only one of in the final 20 minutes.
Figgs scored 13 of the Boilermakers' first 16 points - including three 3-pointers - as they took a 16-8 lead 10 minutes into the game.
"I haven't been shooting the ball this season as well as I've wanted to," Figgs said. "Today I came out focused and I was knocking my shots down."
The Boilermakers then used an 11-2 run to stretch the lead to 27-12 with about seven minutes left in the half.
The Illini closed within nine points with 2:18 left in the first half, but Figgs hit another 3-pointer to stretch the Boilermakers' lead back to double figures, and a shot by Camille Cooper at the buzzer put Purdue up 39-28 at halftime.
Figgs got 16 of her points in the first half, while White-McCarty scored 13 of hers in the second half.
"I don't think you can stop any of them," said Illinois coach Theresa Grentz. "I think you try to contain them. They're very good players, and they each do some different things."