While the UNLV basketball facilities were playing host to NBA All-Star festivities, its softball stadium, Eller Media Stadium, hosted the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.

The Illini lost to the Running Rebels 6-4 Sunday to fall to 5-5 on the young season.

Molly Lawhead hit a sixth-inning grand slam to give the Ilini a lead, but it would be short-lived, as the Rebels came back in the bottom half with two runs to retake the lead. Illinois’ Ashley Wright (2-3) pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief, giving up two runs and taking the loss.

“Today, I felt that our team was not ready to play hard for seven innings,” head coach Terri Sullivan said. “We put ourselves in a position to win, but I have to give credit to UNLV to come back. I think they wanted it a little bit more than us.”

The loss to the Rebels came after the Illini dropped both Saturday’s games against No. 1 Tennessee and Brigham Young University.

Illinois lost a high-scoring game to BYU 11-9 early in the day. The Illini scored six runs in the bottom half of the sixth, but it was too little, too late, as BYU hung on for its eighth win of the year.

In the evening, the Illini looked to rebound from their earlier loss, but the top-ranked Tennessee proved to be too much.

The Lady Vols shut out the Illini 5-0 to earn their seventh victory of the season. Illinois pitchers controlled the first three hitters in the Volunteer’s lineup, holding them hitless in nice chances. But Tennessee slugged three home runs and its All-American pitcher Monica Abbott struck out 17 and held Illinois to just one hit on the day.

“This was a day our team can continue to grow upon,” Sullivan said. “BYU is one of the top hitting teams in the country and we didn’t come with the type of defense and pitching to shut them down. We challenged our team between games and thought that Ashley Wright had one of best performances of the year and our defense was up to the task versus Tennessee.”

The Illini started their weekend in the desert in fine shape, winning twice Friday night against Southern Utah 11-10 and Oklahoma State 10-2.

Illinois’ Claire Devreese pitched just one inning in relief against Southern Utah, but managed to earn her first victory of the season.

The team will continue their non-conference season next weekend in Florida at the FAU Pepsi Classic.