Illini Dupps making her mark

By BRAD YOUNG
Collegian Sports Writer

It started back in November 1991 with a 73-48 season-opening loss to Southern Illinois. Starting at forward for the Illinois women's basketball team was freshman Kris Dupps.

She has not departed the starting lineup since. Through Sunday's 85-79 win over Indiana, Dupps has started 104 consecutive games for the Illini.

With her 14.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game this season, Dupps has been climbing in the Illini record book. She is currently seventh on the all-time scoring list and fourth on the all-time rebounding list.

Boilermaker Update

Last season, Purdue's Leslie Johnson was Big Ten freshman of the year. This season, she may be the Big Ten disappointment of the year.

The sophomore forward left the team earlier this season for personal reasons and will not play again in the 1994-95 campaign, but Coach Lin Dunn is keeping faith that Johnson will be back in the black and gold next year.

"She's in school and she's on scholarship," Dunn said. "We certainly hope that she'll rejoin us this summer."

But Johnson's absence has actually helped the Boilermakers. When she missed four games earlier this season with injuries, Purdue was undefeated. The same can be said for the six games the Boilermakers have played since Johnson bolted, making them 10-0 without her this season.

"I think we've become a little more versatile in that we mix up who's in the block and who's at the high post," Dunn said.

Spartan Spurt

The biggest crowd to see a Big Ten women's game this season filled the Wisconsin Field House to see its beloved Badgers take on Michigan State Sunday.

But the 11,500 fans that set an all-time Wisconsin attendance record went home disappointed, as the Spartans came away with a shocking 78-62 romp over the then-No. 25 Badgers. It was Wisconsin's first home loss of the season and it could not have come at a worse time.

The loss puts the Badgers (16-6, 8-4) one full game behind conference front-runner Purdue with just four games left to play.

The win was Michigan State's second over Wisconsin this season and its fourth in a row. It is the Big Ten's second-longest current streak (behind Purdue's seven), and it has pushed the Spartans up to sixth in the conference with a 6-6 mark.

The leading reason for the resurgence? Forward Kisha Kelley.

The 5-foot-10 senior was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time this season, a result of her 26 points and 10-of-11 shooting in the Wisconsin win.

"She was putting the ball in the hole and playing good defense," Michigan State Coach Karen Langeland said. "When Kisha's playing well, we usually play well."

Kelley has put the ball in the hole a lot this season -- she is second in the Big Ten in scoring with 19.1 points per game. She is shooting at .510 clip, good for fifth-best in the conference.

Game of the Week

Wisconsin at Ohio State (7:30 p.m. tomorrow). Both the Badgers and Buckeyes (14-8, 7-5) desperately need a win to have any shot at the Big Ten's regular season title. More importantly for Ohio State is an NCAA tournament berth, which may be tough should they falter again this season. The Buckeyes still have to host Purdue and travel to Penn State.