Head coach Jolette Law had high expectations for her Illinois women’s basketball team before the season, but a 0-9 start to the Big Ten schedule crushed any hopes of contending for a conference title.

However, the young Illini team, whose six freshman make up more than half the roster, may have finally matured.

The Illini have won three of four games heading into the matchup with Northwestern Thursday evening.

“What I have right now is what I thought I’d have all year,” Law said.

The surge in wins, oddly enough, has come without the Illini’s only senior, Chelsea Gordon, who went down with a torn ACL in the first half against Indiana on Jan. 20 – the first conference win for Illinois.

Since then, freshmen guards Lydia McCully, Fabiola Josil and Macie Blinn have stepped up to the plate, adding to the already formidable frontcourt tandem of Jenna Smith and Lacey Simpson to create a team that can be dangerous down the stretch.

Law doesn’t think it was a coincidence that her young guards have played well in Gordon’s absence.

“It hurts the team with Chelsea going down, but now it’s, like, ‘Uh, you have no choice,'” she said of the trio.

“I think now it’s, like, ‘OK, now I can’t hide behind Chelsea anymore, we have to do it,'” she later added.

Overall, the improvement seems to have come from the natural development of switching from the high school to the college game.

“These young people are starting to understand all of the things we’ve been taking them through all year,” Law said. “Now, they’re not going to be little freshmen. They’re going to take those little bows out of their hair; they’re not little girls anymore.”

Josil, who Law said has a new “pep in her step,” showcased this newfound maturity and assertiveness with two quick drives to the basket for layups in the Illini’s win against Indiana on Sunday.

“I’m being more aggressive, looking to penetrate more,” said Josil, adding that Law told her to “be more confident on the offensive end.”

The Illini will show off their newly confident team when they try to sweep the season series against the Wildcats at the Assembly Hall at 7 p.m. The Illini narrowly defeated the Wildcats just two weeks ago in Evanston, Ill.

One player they’ll be keeping an eye on will be Wildcats’ forward Ellen Jaeschke.

The cousin of Northwestern’s star center Amy Jaeschke scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the last meeting of the in-state rivals.

“We knew (Ellen Jaeschke) was going to be good, but not do as well as she did,” Illini center Smith said.

“Other than that, I think we know everything that we can. We know their personnel; we know their go-to players. It’s just about containing them.”