The Illinois women’s basketball team is hoping to end its eight-day break on a better note than it started.

A 62-58 loss to Northwestern on Jan. 20 began one of Illinois’ longest breaks of the season. The Illini had defeated the Wildcats by 18 points just 10 days earlier.

Illinois (10-8, 3-3 Big Ten) will end the stretch against Minnesota (13-7, 2-4) in Minneapolis, Minn., on Monday night.

Illinois head coach Matt Bollant hopes the team will be re-energized after its lack of liveliness in the loss to Northwestern. Bollant gave the team two days off during the break in hopes of relieving fatigue.

“As a coach, anytime you lose, you don’t want a break,” he said. “You want to get back and be playing again, but I think it’s probably good for our players. Certainly there’s a lot for us to work on and get better at.”

Illinois focused its efforts on defensive communication and gaining a more complete knowledge of Bollant’s systems to make better decisions.

“This is definitely a time where you either get better or you get worse,” sophomore point guard Alexis Smith said. “The coaches are really pushing us to get better and move forward.”

Bollant gave forward Karisma Penn an extra day off of practice.

“She’s trying to help her body recover from the wear and tear, and she’s had some hurt knees a little bit, so it’ll be good for her,” Bollant said.

After its loss to Northwestern, Illinois decided to hold a players-only meeting Thursday.

“We just want to make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone’s good,” Smith said.

Illinois is ending its break against a Minnesota squad on a three-game losing streak. The Golden Gophers are doing better than their record suggests; they gave No. 8 Penn State a scare in State College, Pa., on Thursday before the Nittany Lions pulled away for a 64-59 victory.

Sophomore point guard Rachel Banham, who averages 20.3 points and 4.0 assists per game, leads Minnesota.

“Their point guard is really good, so they will try to run with her,” Bollant said of Banham. “She’s one of the best point guards in the country.”

Banham and Micaella Riche are the only Golden Gophers who average double digits in scoring. Head coach Pam Borton plays nine players 10 minutes or more per game.

Bollant defeated Minnesota two years ago in his first and only trip to Williams Arena as a head coach. His Green Bay team won the Golden Gophers’ season-opening Best Buy Classic with a 79-75 win over Borton’s squad.

Bollant grew up just two hours away from Minneapolis, in Winona, Minn., and he expects many family members to be in attendance Monday night.

Early in Big Ten play, Illinois has had more success when the team travels. The Illini are 3-0 on the road, but 0-3 at home in conference play. Illinois has defeated Nebraska, Ohio State and Northwestern at each of their home arenas.

Illinois will be forced to play without junior Kersten Magrum, whose career ended last week after doctors medically disqualified her from playing college basketball again after recurring symptoms from her fourth concussion.

Johnathan can be reached at [email protected] and @jhett93.