Illinois head coach Matt Bollant remembers the first time he played against Adrienne GodBold at Green Bay as a part of a Thanksgiving tournament. The Illinois guard was strong-willed defensively, and she prevented his Green Bay team from running one of its best plays.

“It was the only time all year that the one play wasn’t effective because she wasn’t going to let the ball be dribbled where we wanted to go,” Bollant said. “We saw right away that she can change a game and change a play with her defense.”

It seems Big Ten women’s basketball coaches realize what Bollant saw in his team’s win over Illinois by naming GodBold the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

GodBold averaged a second-best 2.9 steals per game in the Big Ten, in addition to 7.1 rebounds per game. The senior also averaged 17.1 points, and her all-around talents led to her being named second-team all-Big Ten by the coaches and third-team all-Big Ten by media.

Senior Karisma Penn was named first-team all-Big Ten by media and second-team by coaches. Penn is the first Illini to be named first-team all-Big Ten since Jenna Smith in 2010. This marks Penn’s third straight year being named all-conference, as the coaches and the media awarded her third-team last year. She was named second-team by media and third-team by coaches in 2011.

Bollant thought Penn, who averages 19.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.2 blocks, deserved more.

“I’m excited that she made the all-conference team, and I appreciate the media for voting her first-team,” Bollant said. “I don’t know how with the stats that she had that she’s not on the first-team for both the media and coaches, and you could certainly make a very strong argument for Player of the Year.

“I’m disappointed for her not to make the all-defensive team and not to be first-team on the coaches. I think that was a slight, and I’m disappointed for her and our program.”

Bollant was not named Coach of the Year despite turning Illinois around from 11-19 to a tie for fifth in the conference at 16-12 and possibly coaching the team to its first NCAA tournament bid in 10 years.

Big Ten coaches voted Nebraska head coach Connie Yori as this year’s Coach of the Year, while the media chose Penn State head coach Coquese Washington.

Junior Amber Moore was honored with a Big Ten Sportsmanship award for Illinois.

Tourney time

The Illinois women’s basketball team will be a No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which starts Thursday in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Illinois will play Wisconsin at 2 p.m. Thursday. The winner will play No. 3 seed Purdue on Friday.

The No. 6 seed is the highest earned by the Illini since 2007, when they secured a No. 4 seed. Illinois fell to Penn State in the first round that year and failed to make the NCAA tournament.

Illinois has had its fair share of success in the conference tournament the last few years. Former head coach Jolette Law went 7-5 in five years, winning 58.3 percent of her games, eighth-best in Big Ten Tournament history.

One of Law’s best tournament runs occurred during Penn’s sophomore season, when the Illini became the first No. 11 seed to make the Big Ten semifinals after upsetting Wisconsin and Michigan. Illinois’ current leaders — Penn, Moore and GodBold — were the only Illini to score in double figures in the upset of No. 3 seed Michigan, so they have experienced success in a tournament before.

“I’ve played on the first day every time I’ve been to the Big Ten Tournament,” Penn said after Sunday’s game. “I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as everybody makes it.”

It may be a bigger deal for Illinois this season because of its lack of depth. Only six Illini play significant minutes, making it more difficult for Illinois to win four games in four days.

The Big Ten Tournament may be more important for the Illini considering their late-season slide.

Illinois lost its final two games of the regular season and closed with three losses in four games, with the only win coming against last-place Indiana.

During the stretch, Illinois struggled converting turnovers to points, being outscored 84-81 in a category that the Illini have dominated all season. Illinois uncharacteristically committed at least 20 turnovers three times in the stretch.

Illinois was contending for second place in the conference before the team fell to a tie for fifth. The late slide also may have hurt Illinois’ NCAA tournament chances.

EspnW bracketologist Charlie Creme moved Illinois to the “first four out” in his latest bracket, which was released Monday.

Creme wrote that he believes Illinois still has a good shot at making the tournament, but it must beat Wisconsin and Purdue to feel comfortable on Selection Monday.

Bollant thinks his team is worthy of a spot in the NCAA tournament because of a 6-4 record in its last 10 games and a top-five finish in the Big Ten, the No. 2 conference in the country, according to the RPI.

Creme has six Big Ten teams in his current bracket: Penn State, Nebraska, Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan and Iowa.

Iowa finished 8-8 in the Big Ten and is a No. 10 seed. Illinois is joined in the first four out by Ohio State, a team that finished 7-9 in the conference and defeated Illinois on Thursday.

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