The Illini women’s basketball team got its first test of the season against Wisconsin-Green Bay on Wednesday night and did not fare well, losing 72-43.

Coming into the game, the Illini knew they would have their hands full. Although the Illini were undefeated in three games, they have been beating up on teams with a combined record of 4-9.

The Phoenix came into Wednesday’s game 4-0 and had received votes in both Top 25 polls after winning 13 consecutive home games.

Despite that, the Illini jumped out to an early lead, but squandered it when the Phoenix went on a 22-0 run to take control of the game. By halftime, the Illini were down 37-19.

In the Illini’s past two games, they have gotten off to bad starts, falling behind both St. Peter’s and St. Joseph’s last week.

“We had the lead early,” said head coach Theresa Grentz. “It seemed like the team was waiting for something to go wrong. That is a mentality we are going to have to overcome.”

The Illini were outscored 35-24 in the second half and fell by

29 points.

The Illini shot just 33.9 percent from the field as a team. Senior forward Angelina Williams, who is the Illini’s leading scorer, averaging 19.3 points per game, was held to a season-low seven points and shot just 3-12 from the field.

“They are a very good team,” Grentz said of Wisconsin-Green Bay. “They are very disciplined, very unselfish and they play with a lot of energy. They have a great crowd and they feed off that.”

In the losing effort for the Illini, senior guard Tiffanie Guthrie led the way with 11 points.

The loss is the first of the season for the Illini and their record moves to 3-1. Their next game is scheduled for Saturday against No. 20 Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La.