Smith, inside game lead Illinois women past Oakland

Size paid off for the Illinois women’s basketball team on Saturday.

Ten days after a loss to Marquette, the Illini leaned on their inside game to defeat Oakland, 64-50.

On paper, Illinois was the heavy favorite under the basket. Oakland listed just one active player in the frontcourt, and no active player was listed as taller than 5-foot-11.

That opened up an opportunity for a big day for center Jenna Smith, who was honored before the game for holding the Illinois record for career blocks.

Smith was in double figures within the first nine minutes of the game and tied for the most double-doubles in school history (40) well before the game concluded. She finished the game with 24 points and 11 rebounds. She also moved to second on Illinois’ career rebounding list with 944.

While Smith and Illinois’ frontcourt dominated throughout the game, the backcourt did not heat up until the second half.

“The team that I know is the team that came out in the second half and started dictating on defense, and once we started doing that our offense started getting involved,” head coach Jolette Law said.

In the first half, Smith and freshman Karisma Penn combined for 22 of Illinois' 31 points. The Illini succeeded in finding the duo under the basket, but rarely looked outside, as Illinois went 0-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first half. Penn ended the game with 14 points and nine rebounds.

After a back-and-forth opening half, Illinois pulled away in the second after seeing more balanced scoring and tighter defense.

“I need more from my guards,” Law said. “I keep challenging my guards to be more offensive-minded. Every day we’re working on getting better and looking to attack more so we won’t be a frontcourt-only team.”

The game marked an end to Illinois’ nonconference season, and the Illini (8-2) will enter Big Ten play having learned from its losses, Law said.

“I haven’t really heard much about what to expect, but I think we’re ready for it,” said freshman Adrienne Godbold, who scored 15 points after coming off the bench against Oakland.