For Karisma Penn, there is no place like home.

The Shaker Heights, Ohio, native has played some of her best basketball in her home state. During her four years at Illinois, Penn has played four games in Ohio, averaging 21.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in the contests, including a career-high 34 points at Ohio State earlier this season.

Penn will get another opportunity to play in her home state when Illinois heads to Toledo on Thursday for the third round of the WNIT.

“It’s definitely exciting to go back home,” Penn said. “Anytime I go home, (the crowd is full of) people that haven’t gotten to see me play here at Illinois.”

The crowd at Toledo will include Penn’s brothers, who have yet to see the senior forward play this season, and many of her high school friends who attend Toledo.

“I texted everybody when I found out, ‘Come to the game. Wear orange. You can’t cheer for Toledo,’” Penn said.

If the six hour bus ride northeast will help Penn, the Illini will take it. Illinois has gone 11-3 this season when Penn scores at least 20 points, and the 6-foot-2 forward will be key to stopping the MAC regular season champions.

The Rockets only lost two games in the regular season, both to NCAA tournament participants, but lost in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament, causing them to miss the NCAA tournament.

“They deserved to be in the NCAA tournament, and certainly they’re one of the best teams in the NIT,” Illinois head coach Matt Bollant said.

Bollant said the Rockets’ lack of quality wins was likely what left them on the outside of the NCAA tournament bubble looking in. During his tenure at Green Bay, Bollant faced the same problem with lack of quality opponents in Horizon League play. Last season, he scheduled a home-and-away series with Toledo to beef up his team’s resume. His Lady Phoenix won both matchups, and he said his familiarity with the Rockets should help Illinois.

Though Illinois has never played Toledo, its upperclassmen will see a familiar face across the court Thursday evening. Toledo forward Brianna Jones began her career at Illinois with Penn, Adrienne GodBold and Amber Moore, but she was dismissed the team for an unspecified violation of team rules following her freshman season. Jones has played at her hometown school since, and has been unable to achieve meaningful minutes.

The season with Jones, 2009-10, was the last time Illinois played past the Big Ten Tournament. The Illini went to the WNIT quarterfinals that year, and a quarterfinal berth will be on the line Thursday night.

Unlike Illinois, Toledo is familiar with the postseason. The Rockets are in the field for the fourth straight year and won the 2011 WNIT championship.

Defense has been a strong reason for Toledo’s success the past few seasons. The Rockets tout one of the nation’s top scoring defenses, allowing just 51.2 points per game. They also have a +5.6 rebound margin, while Illinois struggles with a -4.1 margin on the boards. The Illini were outrebounded 44-33 by Eastern Illinois on Monday.

Illinois has also relied on its defense for success in the first two rounds of the WNIT. The Illini held their first to opponents to a combined 35 percent shooting, while recording 12.5 steals and 24 turnovers per game. Forced turnovers generate a large part of Illinois’ offense, but it struggled to convert many layups off turnovers Monday.

Slow starts have plagued the Illini in the WNIT’s first two rounds.

“This is not a team you can spot 11-2 like we did against Eastern Illinois or 8-0 like Miami (Ohio),” Bollant said. “We’re going to have to get off to a good start and be ready to go.”

“We have to come out strong from the jump,” senior Adrienne GodBold said. “Mentally we just have to be prepared at the tip of the ball. It’s coming out aggressive and making sure we know everything and which players to stop.”

GodBold cited EIU’s Ta’Kenya Nixon as an example of Illinois’ lackadaisical first halves. The Illini let the Panthers’ point guard score 14 points in the first half, but limited her to three second-half points.

Illinois was able to overcome the first half against EIU largely because of Penn. When the Illini fell eight points behind in the second half, she told her teammates she wasn’t concerned with the score, but with her team’s effort.

GodBold said she has noticed that Penn always shines in games in her home state, and that the team will do its best to help her out.

“I’m glad that she gets to go back,” GodBold said. “We get to put on another show for her in her home state.”

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