With the regular season officially starting in one week, Illini women’s basketball head coach Matt Bollant finally has an idea of who will be getting playing time on a team full of uncertainty.

Just three weeks ago, Bollant said he had no idea where minutes would go aside from starters Sarah Hartwell, Ivory Crawford and senior Amber Moore, all listed as guards. Now, Bollant said freshmen forwards Sarah Livingston and Jacqui Grant are in a battle for the center position.

“They both have good size with good length, and they run the floor extremely well,” Bollant said. “They’ll both play. One of things is, our system is difficult for big players because we pressure the ball so hard and we switch one through five, so it’s difficult for those players to adjust and it’s not an easy development.

“It’s hard for big post players to play in our system right away, but both of those kids have done extremely well. They’re learning and developing.”

Whether the freshmen are truly ready remains to be seen. Illinois has one of the smaller rosters in the conference in terms of size, as the 6-foot-2 Livingston and 6-foot-3 Grant are the only two players on the team standing above six feet, making them default candidates for the center spot. Bollant also noted that the McKenzie Piper, a 6-foot sophomore, was in the mix for the spot, but a concussion has sidelined her for a week or two.

Hartwell nearly 100 percent, others out

A hamstring injury caused Hartwell to miss a few weeks, but the sophomore starting point guard said the hamstring is nearly back to full health and she does not have much trouble playing on it. She expects to start in the Illini’s exhibition game against Cardinal Stritch on Sunday.

The injury bug has made its way around to others on the team, though. Bollant announced that junior Alexis Smith, who started all 33 games at point guard last season, is out for two weeks with a pre-stress fracture. Junior guard/forward Taylor Tuck will start against Cardinal Stritch as a result of Smith’s injury.

Additionally, Bollant said freshman guard Kennedy Cattenhead suffered a torn ACL over the summer and will be redshirted.

“She was going to play,” Bollant said. “She was extremely competitive and doing well, but we’ll redshirt her now.”

Freshman guard/forward Mikaala Shackelford has had a scope on her knee and has no timetable for her return.

New backcourt rule should benefit Illini

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a 10-second backcourt rule in June that will be effective this season. The rule forces teams to move the ball past the midcourt line in 10 seconds. Previously, teams could use as much as 30 seconds to get the ball across the line.

Last season, the Illini defense showed a knack for generating turnovers, as they finished first in the Big Ten in turnovers per game (23.4) and turnover margin per game (+5.24). The new rule should complement Illinois’ full court press and, in turn, create even more turnovers for opposing teams.

“I think the rule is a really great idea,” Crawford said. “It really fits our program and our system, so it helps whenever we use the Buzz (defense) and our turnovers and all of that stuff.”

From an offensive standpoint, Bollant said the new rule won’t have a negative effect on the team.

“We want the ball past half court in two or three seconds,” he said. “We want to play extremely fast. Certainly, teams are going to try and deny the point guard and come up, but it’s going to be hard with us since we play so fast and Sarah (Hartwell) is so athletic.”

Blake can be reached at [email protected].