Early in the first half, senior guard Tiffanie Guthrie blocked a Pacific shot and dove to the sidelines to save the ball – she was not able to save it, but it was that play and many more that showed it was a different Illini team than the one in last Tuesday’s loss to Bradley.

The scoreboard was another indicator that it was a different team as the Illini defeated Pacific 74-31 at the United Center in Chicago, moving their record to 5-2.

Not only did Guthrie lead the team defensively, but she was also the game’s top scorer with 20 points.

“(Head coach Theresa Grentz) wanted enthusiasm, effort and energy,” Guthrie said. “We tried to go out there and give it to her. Today, we accomplished things we knew we could do.”

In the loss to Bradley, Grentz felt the Illini did not play good team basketball. After Saturday’s game, Grentz was happy with one stat – 26 team assists.

“I really thought we worked together well today,” Grentz said. “It was a pretty good team attempt. Yet, we still have some things we need to work on from a team standpoint.”

The Illini jumped out to a 23-9 lead in the first half, inspired by an 11-0 run. They went into halftime with a 38-18 lead.

The Illini dominated Pacific inside, outscoring the Tigers 40-18 in the paint. Freshman forward Danyel Crutcher continued her strong play, scoring 12 of those points.

Illinois also converted on many easy scoring opportunities from Pacific’s 24 turnovers, turning them into 29 points, many of them layups in transition.

“Any time you get steals and blocks, it gives you an extra opportunity to score,” Guthrie said. “We just tried to go out and tried to get at them.”

In the second half, the Illini tightened up the defense and went on a 25-2 run, putting the game out of reach for Pacific. The Illini held the Tigers to just 13 points in the second half. Pacific’s 31 points is the lowest scoring total by the opponent of a Big Ten team so far this season.

“I think we can do this if we play hard and hustle every game,” said senior forward Angelina Williams. “Our defense created offense and that’s what we want to do. That was the big difference between today’s game and Tuesday.”

Junior guard Janelle Hughes gave the Illini a spark off the bench. Hughes, who did not play on Tuesday because of a hamstring injury, returned on Saturday with 14 points and a career-high four steals. Hughes was 2-2 from behind the arc. In one stretch in the second half, Hughes hit a three-pointer, stole the ball on defense and scored on a layup in transition.

“That is the best I’ve seen Janelle,” Grentz said. “She was all over the place, offensively and defensively. Janelle is in a different place right now. Our team captains sat her down and talked with her. They told her that we cared about her and that we needed her. She came out and played well today.”

Williams and junior point guard Maggie Acuna both turned in strong performances in their return to the Chicago area. Williams, who is a Chicago native, added 13 points for the Illini, while Acuna, who is from Oak Brook, had a career high in assists with seven.

“It’s always exciting,” Williams said about playing at the United Center. “This is the same court Mike played on.”

The Illini return to action on Sunday, when UCLA comes to the Assembly Hall.