No. 25 Illinois (14-4, 4-3) is back at State Farm Center on Sunday for its matchup against Northwestern (8-10, 2-5). After a two-game stretch on the road, the Illini are finally back in Champaign to take on their in-state rival the Wildcats. Sunday’s contest comes a few short days after Illinois’ disappointing loss against Michigan (15-2, 6-1).
“We know we can play one of the best teams in the country when we’re locked in and when we’re guarding and when we’re disciplined,” said head coach Shauna Green. “We can’t just go rouge and do our own thing.”
The Illini’s last several games have been messy offensively and defensively. A matchup at home against Northwestern is the perfect way for Illinois to get back on track before it faces harder opponents and for it to earn a win. With recent lackluster performances, Illinois needs to learn how to shine in conference play.
Evening out scoring across the board
In the Illini’s last contest, sophomore forward Berry Wallace and junior guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger carried the Illini offensively. Green even mentioned that other than those two, no one else on the team showed up for the offense.
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Wallace and Brown-Hagger made up 60.87% of Illinois’ total points from Thursday’s game. Moving forward, the Illini need to learn to even out scoring and split up the work offensively. Thursday is also not the first time Wallace has carried her team offensively. This shows that it is an ongoing issue for the Illini that they need to fix.
“We got to be able to stay disciplined and know what we want in certain situations,” Green said.
Illinois needs to make sure they are all taking shots across the board and making those shots. Northwestern is the perfect opportunity for Illinois to get back into the swing of things offensively. Northwestern is also a great chance for Illinois to stay disciplined on the court.
Learning to navigate injuries/absences
Illinois took a big hit with redshirt sophomore guard Gretchen Dolan’s absence on Thursday. If Dolan’s absence proved one thing, it’s that the Illini can’t rest on their laurels. The Illini can’t always count on a healthy team. They need to learn to work around injuries that pop up.
Injuries are also a great way for Green to start to rotate more of her bench in during conference play. When sophomore center Hayven Smith played against Penn State, she was an excellent example of bench players stepping up to the challenge. Smith is also a great addition to have on the court due to her size and what she can provide defensively for the Illini.
While Smith didn’t play on Thursday, Green had sophomore forward Irene Noya Catoira and freshman forward Naomi Benson subbed in to get some minutes. Noya Catoira and Benson are two additions from the bench that Green can start to rotate in more if injuries arise in her main starters. Since the Illini are up against the Wildcats, Green should use that opportunity to have her bench get acclimatized to Big Ten play.
Better flowing defense
“I’m just… filled with excitement,” said Northwestern sophomore forward Tayla Thomas. “I think this (win) just showed what we’re capable of. We’re starting to see slowly that we can beat anybody that we put our minds to.”
After their recent win, the Wildcats have a new sense of hope and optimism when it comes to beating any of their opponents. This should raise concern for the Illini.
Illinois’ defense has been less than optimal in the last two weeks. The Illini have been letting their opponents get the better of them and score more than they need too.
It was also evident in their matchup against the Wolverines that some of the Illini guards need to clean up their defense. Green had four of her guards have three or more personal fouls against Michigan. The Illini can’t risk players fouling out. It’s clear the Illini struggle to adjust when players are missing, so they need to make sure fouls stay at a minimum.
The Illini also need to start forcing more turnovers. In their last three matchups, the Illini have gotten more turnovers than they have forced. By forcing turnovers and playing clean defense, the Illini will start to have a better flowing defense that is sure to stop their opponents.
Illinois is set to take on Northwestern at State Farm Center on Sunday at 2 p.m. CDT.
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