The Illini lost two of their three games over the weekend, falling to Arizona State and No. 11 North Carolina, but beating Arkansas State. 

Both the offense and defense struggled in the team’s losses, as the Illini recorded their three lowest point totals of the year, scoring only 60 and 51 points in their losses and 70 in their win.

In the opener Thursday, Arizona State took control from the get-go by going on two 9-0 runs to take a 43-25 halftime lead. Illinois had previously gone into every game this season with a halftime lead. Foul trouble plagued the Illini in the second half, as junior guard Ivory Crawford fouled out with more than 12 minutes remaining. Starters Sarah Hartwell and Amber Moore played with four fouls for the majority of the half. The Sun Devils went on to win the game 84-60. Arizona State held Illinois to 31.8 percent shooting while the Sun Devils shot 55.6 percent. Freshman forward Jacqui Grant tied for the leader in points with Moore, as each scored 14. Moore, however, was held without a 3-pointer made for the first time all season, as she went 0-for-4.

“We didn’t have much courage today,” head coach Matt Bollant said in a press release. “We just didn’t make many shots early and that affected our defense. It starts with playing as a team and playing with courage.”

In their next contest, the Illini brought the courage Bollant asked of them, as Illinois beat Arkansas State 70-54. The Illini controlled play in the first half, but the Red Wolves were able to go into the half down 29-28. Illinois and Arkansas State stayed close for the first 12 minutes of the second half until Moore caught fire. The senior broke an 0-for-6 3-point slump in the second half by hitting two of her next three. Moore scored 13 of her 17 points in the game in the half and led the Illini to a comfortable 16-point victory. Crawford chipped in 20 of her own points in the game.

“We were a lot more aggressive (Friday) and more confident,” Bollant said in a press release. “We weren’t ourselves (Thursday). A lot of that was Arizona State, who showed it today by knocking off a ranked North Carolina team. We were more ourselves and defended a lot better today for 40 minutes.”

The final game of the weekend proved to be the toughest challenge for Illinois, as it faced its first ranked opponent of the season. The Illini came out strong in the first half, taking a seven-point lead, but could not hold on. Going into the second half up 10, the Tar Heels dominated the Illini, outscoring them 45-19. North Carolina also shut out Illinois for more than five minutes at one point in the half, taking the game 87-51. Foul trouble plagued the Illini once again as Crawford fouled out with 11 minutes to play and Grant, Moore and junior guard Alexis Smith had four apiece.

“I was proud of the way we played in the first half,” Bollant said in a press release. “I thought we fought and even though we went down 10 at the end of the half, I thought we were the more aggressive team and played with a lot of energy. At the start of the second half, we cut it to seven and felt like we had some things going, but we then got a little tired and didn’t fight. That was really disappointing. They weren’t doing the things we were asking them to do and weren’t very coachable during that (North Carolina) run.”

Points in the paint made the difference between the two teams, as the Tar Heels’ Stephanie Mavunga dominated in the post, scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. North Carolina outscored Illinois 50-28 in the paint, 32 coming in the second half.

Bollant said in a press release that some positives his team can take away from the weekend included the team’s resiliency against Arkansas State and the consistency of Hartwell; however, he also said Crawford needed to be more consistent and the team still needed to “grow and get better.”

Blake can be reached at [email protected]