The Illinois women’s basketball team has begun the season on quite a hot streak.

In the past two games, the Illini have reeled off consecutive victories, forced 93 turnovers and averaged 104.5 points per game — albeit against non-Division I competition.

But come Sunday, the stellar exhibition performances won’t matter.

The Illini will play their first game of the regular season against Evansville. After facing the likes of NAIA Marian and Division III Concordia, the Illini will have to shift gears for a Division I opponent.

Despite the games not counting in the win-loss column, junior forward Kersten Magrum took away some positives from the exhibition season.

“I think it gets our team in our rhythm,” Magrum said. “I don’t think necessarily the point differential gives us confidence, I think just seeing the system work and just being more confident in each other is what gives us confidence. People, especially guards, they’ve been really getting after it, and that leads to easier turnovers for people like me and Karisma (Penn).”

Illini head coach Matt Bollant has been pleased with his team’s on-ball pressure and effort so far but said the team has found its Achilles’ heel.

“Our talking,” Bollant said. “You can’t be a good defensive team, you won’t win games in March if you’re not willing to talk. One of the things I said to them is everything we’ve asked you to do, you’ve done so far, but we’re asking you to talk and it’s definitely a glaring weakness of our team and something we gotta take to heart.”

Even with the shortcomings on the defensive end, the Illini allowed only 33 points per game during the preseason. The Illini had room to make mistakes because of the disparity in talent and superior athleticism.

Bollant said he isn’t worried about his team’s lack of competition so far since the players have been facing one another during practice.

“The good thing is we play against a really good squad everyday,” Bollant said. “Our second group with Sarah Hartwell and Adrien GodBold are extremely good. We said in the locker room, ‘I don’t think there’s many Big Ten teams that have a second group as good as ours.’”

Sophomore guard Alexis Smith, who averaged 18 points and 6.5 assists per game the last two games, will make her first career regular season start Sunday. Smith has a plan to avoid underestimating Evansville after cruising so far.

“Just having the same mentality we’ve been having,” Smith said. “Just continuing to run the floor and making easy passes, going to practice and doing what you have to do, you’ll be fine.”

The Purple Aces, although a Division I opponent, struggled last season. The team finished last in the Missouri Valley with a record of 5-25 — six wins less than the Illini endured last year. The Illini’s only game against the MVC last year came in a 66-56 victory against Illinois State in Normal, Ill.

The Redbirds won 20 games last season, good for second-best in their conference. Bollant’s Green Bay squad defeated Northern Iowa 75-67 in its only game against the MVC last season.

Magrum, who is starting to get more comfortable on the floor after recovering from a concussion suffered prior to the start of the exhibition season, said she expects the coaching staff to keep the team from experiencing an emotional letdown.

“I don’t think our coaching staff will allow that,” Magrum said, followed by laughs from Bollant nearby. “I think they’re gonna push us in practice, they’re gonna treat it just like everything else. They’re not gonna let this large point total get to our heads. We know we have a lot of things to do.

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