Even coming off an 84-point victory, Illinois women’s basketball head coach Matt Bollant still says there is work to do.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect game,” Bollant said. “There’s lots of things that you can get better at this time of year.”

The Illini (3-1) hope to continue to make improvements when they host in-state foe Southern Illinois (0-3) on Thursday at State Farm Center.

Coming off of a 112-28 victory over Alcorn State, one particular aspect Bollant pointed to that needed improvement was the Illini’s man-to-man defense. Illinois alternates between a full-court press, a “Buzz” zone and traditional man-to-man defenses to keep opponents off guard. The Illini were able to get a lot of game practice in their man-to-man sets last game against the Lady Braves, something that senior guard Amber Moore thought was a key takeaway from the blowout victory.

“We’re learning how to guard the ball with one person and not need help,” Moore said. “The first few games we had to rely on the Buzz defense and we work a lot in practice on man-to-man, so it was good to have that translate to the game.”

While the Salukis are still searching for their first victory on the season, they present a matchup problem for the Illini in the post. Forward/center Dyana Pierre is averaging a double-double with 14 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per contest.

One key to stopping Pierre could be sending her to the free throw line. Pierre is an abysmal 26.7 percent from the charity stripe this season, despite shooting 67.9 percent from the field in game action. As a team, the Salukis shoot just 50.9 percent from the free throw line.

Southern Illinois dropped its first two games of the season by a combined five points. The team lost its opener to Wright State 67-64 and dropped a 71-69 decision to Austin Peay.  

“They’ve lost some close games against some good teams,” Bollant said. “They’ve got some talent.”

The emergence of freshmen Jacqui Grant and Sarah Livingston at the center position has provided depth in a very weak frontcourt for the Illini. Livingston recorded her best collegiate game against Alcorn State by putting up her first career double-double. Grant leads the team in blocks, steals and is second on the squad in rebounds.

Moore is looking to extend her streak of consecutive 20-point games — the senior has topped 20 points in each of the team’s first four games.

This will be the last game for the Illini before heading to Cancun, Mexico for the Cancun Challenge. In the tournament, Illinois will face its toughest opponents of the season in Arizona State and North Carolina. Bollant said that the softer schedule to start the season is by design, to help a young Illini team learn and grow early in the season.

“Each game is an opportunity to learn and games are different than practices,” he said. “That’s why it’s good to get a lot of games in here early, to get an opportunity to grow.”

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.