After a 52-point victory in its first exhibition game against Marian, the Illini didn’t do much wrong. After a decided win in their first tune-up game, the Illini managed to have an even better showing in its 120-29 win over Division III Concordia (Ill.) on Tuesday.

The Illini dictated the tempo of the game from the start. Five minutes into the first half, the Illini already led 10-0, forced nine turnovers and allowed only one field goal attempt. The rest of the half didn’t go much better for the Cougars.

The Illini led by 52 at halftime, matching the same margin of victory as last week’s win over Marian. Concordia mustered only 13 points by halftime and had less field goals made as a team (four) than Illini sophomore point guard Alexis Smith (six).

At times, the Division III Cougars had trouble even advancing the ball past half court. On one play in particular, the Illini held Concordia in the backcourt for 22 seconds before forcing a turnover that led to an easy layup. The Illini have forced 93 turnovers in its two exhibition games combined and won by an average margin of victory of 71.5 points per game.

Smith led the Illini once again, following up her 19-point performance with a 17-point, eight-assist effort. Sophomore Taylor Tuck provided a spark off the bench, leading all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. Senior forward Karisma Penn, who racked up seven steals in the first exhibition game, grabbed another five steals and also finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Even after a 91-point rout in which the Illini only allowed 29 points, head coach Matt Bollant was disappointed with the team’s communication on the defensive end.

“The one thing that was really glaring was our inability to talk and unwillingness to talk on the defensive end,” Bollant said. “That’s something we’ve got to get better.”

Smith is beginning to develop regularity with the new fast-paced offense.

“Very comfortable,” Smith said of how she feels in Bollant’s offensive scheme. “I really like it a lot. It fits our team so well and it’s really fun to play in.”

Smith, like Bollant, knows the team needs to improves its communication.

“Like the coaches were saying, our talking needs to get better,” Smith said. “Because when we were (talking) in the beginning of the game, we were getting stops and steals, we had energy, we had momentum. And when we wouldn’t, that’s when we saw different flaws in our defense.”

Junior forward Kersten Magrum scored 16 points in a bounce-back-game after finishing with only six points against Marian. Although the Illini’s last two games were only exhibitions, Magrum gave advice to her teammates to enjoy the wins while they’re happening.

“There are going to be moments when you’re really high and really low,” Magrum said. “Just keep an even keel and go in every day and work hard. Just work on soaking everything up and not taking anything too seriously, because being in college four years, it goes by quickly. Be sure and enjoy everything.”

Bollant expects to show off his team’s talents come Sunday even against stiffer competition in Evansville.

“One of the exciting things about our team is that we’re really physically gifted,” Bollant said. “In order to go into battle, we’ve got to have some weapons and we’ve definitely got some weapons, and that’s exciting. That’s why as a coaching staff we’re pushing so hard for them to get better and do the little things because we have the ability to get better.”

Michael can be reached at [email protected] and @The_MDubb.