After needing late-game heroics to defeat Minnesota on Jan. 28, the Illini women’s basketball team had the game in hand in the closing minutes against the Golden Gophers on Sunday.

In front of 2,703 Assembly Hall fans in attendance at the Play 4Kay Pink Game, Illinois (14-9, 7-4 Big Ten) picked up where it left off in a 76-66 win over Minnesota (15-10, 4-7) on Sunday. The win is Illinois’ fourth in its last five games and second consecutive home victory after losing its first three Big Ten home games. Illinois was led by three 20-point efforts from junior guard Amber Moore (25), senior forward Karisma Penn (22) and senior guard Adrienne GodBold (20).

“Really happy for our team,” Illinois head coach Matt Bollant said. “This is a great cause to play for, something to fight for. We’re a really good basketball team when we play with joy.”

Just like the first time they met on Jan. 28, when Illinois won 91-86, the game was off to an up-tempo start.

The Illini scored with regularity in the early going, shooting 46.7 percent from the field by the under-12 minute media timeout. Minnesota shot only 2-for-7 from the field, but its 6-for-6 performance from the free-throw line kept them close at a 15-10 deficit.

After the fifth straight missed 3-pointer to begin the game by the Illini, the Gophers answered with a longball by freshman guard Mikayla Bailey to tie the game at 17-17 with 7:43 remaining in the half.

Amber Moore ended a 7-0 Minnesota run with Illinois’s first 3-pointer of the game at 5:52 to give the Illini a 20-19 lead.

An and-one layup by Mikayla Bailey with 3:31 remaining in the half ended a 10-0 Illinois run and cut the Gophers’ deficit to 27-21.

Moore’s third consecutive 3-pointer put Illinois up 32-22, its largest lead of the half, with 1:50 remaining.

Illinois entered the break with a 32-27 lead, but if not for fouls, the lead could’ve been much larger.

The Illini outshot the Gophers 40.6 percent to 30.4 percent in the first half, but Illinois attempted only four free throws compared to Minnesota’s 16.

Senior forward Karisma Penn led Illinois in the first half with nine points and eight rebounds, shooting 4-for-6 from the field. Moore contributed 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and three 3-pointers in the first half.

After scoring 37 points against the Illini on Jan. 28, sophomore guard Rachel Banham was limited to an 0-for-8 first-half performance from the field.

“They pressured me a lot,” Banham said of what was different from her last game against Illinois. “I think they always had two people really close by, so I felt like I was always being trapped, or someone was flying out at me. They were better about doubling.”

Banham was called for a flagrant one foul at the 17:16 mark of the second half after tripping sophomore guard Ivory Crawford following a steal. Crawford left the game briefly with a bloody nose.

A steal and layup by Crawford at the 12:00 mark gave Illinois a 49-42 lead. After having only nine turnovers in the first half, Minnesota turned the ball over seven times in the first 8:27 of the second half.

Illinois looked like it was going to pull away after GodBold hit a layup to put the Illini up 53-44, capping off a 12-4 Illini run. But Minnesota responded with three layups of its own, closing the gap to 53-50 at the 8:49 mark.

Two free-throws by Banham, her seventh and eighth attempts of the game, tied the score at 58 with 5:54 remaining in the game.

GodBold took a pivotal charge on a would’ve been Banham made layup with 3:45 left to preserve Illinois’s 64-60 lead. GodBold followed her defensive play with jumper to extend the Illini’s lead to six.

After committing 11 first-half fouls, Illinois was whistled five times the entire second half and allowed only six free throw attempts.

Moore’s fifth 3-pointer of the game, following a 3-pointer by Banham, iced the game for the Illini, stretching the score to 70-63.

“I think our energy helps a lot,” Moore said of how she found her 3-point stroke after starting 0-for-6 from behind the arc. “When we don’t bring energy and enthusiasm, it really affects the way we play. When our team is happy for each other, it makes a big difference.”

Illinois’ starters outscored Minnesota’s starters 73-36. Moore, Penn and GodBold combined for 67 of Illinois’ 76 points, with no one scoring five points other than the trio.

“That’s part of being a team,” Bollant said. “Different players have different nights, and some nights we’re gonna have great balance, other nights, as talented as those three are, there should be some nights where they really dominate, and they did tonight.”

Illinois will have three days off of practice this week for the first time this season because of an eight-day break the team has before it faces Wisconsin at Assembly Hall on Feb. 18.

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