“Obviously, a very disappointing game,” said head coach Shauna Green.

Yet another slow start cost Illinois (19-10, 9-9) a game against No. 22 Minnesota (22-7, 13-5) at home for Senior Day on Sunday. The Illini fell 78-73 to the Golden Gophers despite a surge late in the game.

Sunday’s loss now mixes up Illinois’ seeding going into the Big Ten tournament. While the Illini were expecting a bye, they will now have to play on Wednesday and face yet another two-day prep.

With the opponents and stakes getting higher, Illinois needs to lock in to finish out the end of the season. After Sunday’s tough loss, Green shared her thoughts on where her team is and where they can improve.

Playing for 40 minutes

“You got to play 40 minutes in this conference against a team like Minnesota, against any team,” Green said. “And when you don’t do that, that’s what happens. So we were there the rest of the game, beat them in two of those quarters, but you got to have a better start.”

The Illini have struggled all season to consistently play a full 40 minutes. This was evident more than ever on Sunday against the Golden Gophers.

While the Illini were able to tie up the game late into the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough to erase the messy mistakes from early on. More than half of Illinois’ turnovers came from the first half. On top of that, Illinois only grabbed 11 rebounds and let Minnesota grab 22 in those first 20 minutes.

If a lack of rebounding and increased turnovers wasn’t enough, the Illini were unable to match the Golden Gophers’ offensive intensity.

While the Illini may have had a better shot percentage at times and attempted more shots on paper, the reality is that the Golden Gophers had better shot selection and more intensity with their shots. Illinois needs to stop being hesitant about attempting shots early in games. It causes the Illini to be slow and fall behind their opponents.

Adjustments need to be made

“I mean, we tried a lot of different things tonight,” Green said. “Fronting, doubling, digging. We kind of threw everything out there. So, we got to be better.”

While Green and the Illini may have tried several tactics and strategies, it was not enough to walk away victorious. Illinois has been successful against ranked conference teams earlier this season, but it seems to have hit a rut. It is more important than ever that Illinois figures out just what adjustments it needs to make before entering the postseason.

“People are going to try and exploit that inside, and we have to … show more resistance,” Green said.

While showing resistance is one key that Green says her team needs to work on, they also need to come out of the gate with more energy. That goes back to the Illini struggling to play a full 40 minutes from start to finish.

Illinois needs to adjust some of its offense and defense moving forward. The Illini are now 2-7 when it comes to their performance against currently-ranked opponents. This is even more concerning for the Illini since they are projected to play some powerhouse teams in the coming weeks.

Grit from Parchment, Wallace

Freshman forward Cearah Parchment took a hard fall just minutes into the first quarter. However, the Canadian quickly came back onto the court with her knee taped up and continued to show up for her team.

“I think it kind of screwed us up a little bit outside of rhythm when Cece (Parchment) went down,” Green said. “I don’t know if she was ever the same.”

Despite her determination to return, it was clear that Parchment was hurting. She fell several times throughout the game, but continued to keep playing. Her initial fall was clearly detrimental to the offensive rhythm of the Illini. However, Parchment still had 13 points and eight rebounds and continued to be a defensive presence.

Parchment wasn’t the only Illini who had an injury scare. Sophomore forward Berry Wallace also took a hard hit to the face and had to leave the court for a couple of minutes. However, with the same grit and determination Parchment showcased, Wallace was back like nothing had happened.

“She got hit and hurt,” Green said of Wallace. “I think her nose again, and I looked down there, and she’s like, ‘Coach, I’m ready to go.’”

Even after getting hit in her nose again, Wallace came back and continued to be a force for the Illini. Wallace was Illinois’ leading scorer with 15 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds and three assists and had zero turnovers.

“I love that about them,” Green said of Parchment and Wallace’s ability to come back after getting hurt on the court. “They’re tough, they are gritty, they want to be out there.”

Improvements in paint, glass, defense

“The last two games, we’ve gotten beat in the paint and we’ve gotten beaten badly on the boards,” Green said. “And that’s not us.”

Minnesota grabbed a total of 39 rebounds, and Illinois only grabbed 25. Eight of the Golden Gophers’ rebounds were offensive ones in the first half. The Illini, on the other hand, had zero offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.

Additionally, the Golden Gophers beat out the Illini 46-26 when it came to points in the paint. These two areas are in need of major improvement, as Green said, in order to be a winning team.

“We got to get back to our defensive intensity and mindset and really being able to have some resistance, keep people out of the paint,” Green said. “That’s who we are.”

The Illini also struggled on the other end of the court when it came to a defensive mindset. The Illini let the Golden Gophers take advantage of the holes in their defense, and the Golden Gophers snuck away with the win.

Moving forward, Illinois needs improvement in these three areas if it hopes to succeed far in postseason play.

“There’s a lot on the line, and I thought we’d been playing really well up to this point,” Green said. “I just thought we’d maybe played 20, 15 minutes of how we had been playing.”

With a lot on the line, the Illini only have a couple of short days before playing in Indianapolis on Wednesday for the Big Ten tournament. Illinois clinched the No. 10 seed in the tournament and will play against the No. 15 seed Wisconsin (13-16, 5-13) 25 minutes after the 2:30 CST game ends.  The Badgers are on a nine-game losing streak, including a 92-60 loss to the Illini in February. 

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