March 6, 2008

Our final game of the day will feature the No. 8 seed Wisconsin Badgers (16-12, 9-9 Big Ten) against the No. 9 seed Illinois Fighting Illini (16-13, 9-9).

4:45 p.m. ET: We are ahead of schedule, the ball is in the air, and we are underway in today's final contest.

1st, 15:52, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 9, Wisconsin 4
Illinois' Jenna Smith has the Illini out to an early lead. Smith has four points and the the team is shooting 44 percent from the field. Wisconsin is just 2-of-8 shooting so far.

1st, 10:33, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 23, Wisconsin 14
The Illini have continued their hot shooting, as they are hitting on 53 percent of their shots from the field. They are 9-of-17 on the day and a perfect 2-of-2 from the perimeter.

1st, 5:52, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 23, Wisconsin 18

1st, 3:54, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 27, Wisconsin 20

Wisconsin's Jolene Anderson, the Big Ten's co-Player of the Year, is having quite the balanced game so far. With 3:24 left in the first half, Anderson has 7 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Anderson is also the two-time defending conference scoring champion, as she netted 19.6 points per league outing this season.

1st, 2:52: Illinois 27, Wisconsin 23

1st, 0:30.0, TIMEOUT (WIS): Illinois 32, Wisconsin 28

HALFTIME: Illinois 34, Wisconsin 28
The final game of session one looks as if it could go down to the wire. We are seeing fantastic performances by Illinois' Smith and Wisconsin's Anderson. Smith has 13 points (5-of-9 shooting) and 6 rebounds, while Anderson leads the Badgers with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

2nd, 13:34, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 47, Wisconsin 35
Illinois has maintained its momentum in the second half and has now distanced itself from the Badgers by 12 points.

2nd, 10:47, TIMEOUT (WIS): Illinois 54, Wisconsin 35
Illinois has scored seven-straight points since the last timeout, forcing Wisconsin's Lisa Stone to call a quick 30-second bench break.

DID YOU KNOW?: Illinois and Wisconsin have met only once before in the Big Ten Tournament. The sixth-seeded Illini upset No. 3 seed Wisconsin in the 2001 quarterfinals by a score of 80-68. It appears as if the Illini are inching closer to their second tournament victory over the Badgers.

2nd, 7:15, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 61, Wisconsin 41

2nd, 6:01, TIMEOUT (WIS): Illinois 61, Wisconsin 45
Illinois is shooting 61 percent in the second half. The Illini are 11-of-18 from the floor. Jenna Smith now has a solid double-double in 20 points and 10 rebounds.

2nd, 3:24, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 64, Wisconsin 49
Wisconsin's Jolene Anderson is trying to get her Badgers back in the game. She has 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists on the day. Her classmate, Janese Banks, is one of 10 Indiana natives among the 11 teams and one of just three Indianapolis natives. Banks has 8 points on the day.

2nd, 1:58, TIMEOUT (WIS): Illinois 64, Wisconsin 51

2nd, 1:37, TIMEOUT (WIS): Illinois 66, Wisconsin 54

FINAL: Illinois 73, Wisconsin 58
With the win, Illinois improved to 11-13 all-time in Big Ten Tournament play. First-year head coach Jolette Law earned her first BTT win and now joins Michigan's Kevin Borseth as 1-0 at the postseason event. By percentage, the two rookie coaches now rank at the top of the all-time coaching marks with Purdue's Carolyn Peck at 6-0. We'll see how they do tomorrow!